Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
“If John asks you to work with him, you want to work with him.”
John Mather’s passion for science started at a young age. Years after reading biographies of Darwin and Galileo, and with a Nobel Prize in Physics under his belt, he turned his focus to Webb. As the telescope’s senior project scientist for almost 20 years, John led the Webb science team through the challenging design, build, and launch process.
Experience how his enthusiasm for the unknown led to one of the world’s great modern scientific achievements – the Webb Space Telescope – in our new NASA+ documentary, streaming now:
plus.nasa.gov/video/cosmic-dawn-the-untold-story-of-the-james-webb-space-telescope
youtube.com/watch?v=uSMGENDH_QI&t
Video description:
0:00: John standing in front of a wall-sized digital screen with a starry visualization.
0:03: John talking to camera.
0:04: Colorful Webb images of space. “A NASA+ Original” appears.
0:07 “Cosmic Dawn, The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope” appears.
0:14: John talking to camera. “John Mather, Fmr. Webb Senior Project Scientist, NASA Goddard” appears.
0:17: Consecutive three-panel shots of retro space videos.
0:30: John standing in front of Hubble model, facing away from camera.
0:33: John speaking to group, motioning towards a TV displaying Webb.
0:36: John speaking to group, pointing towards starry projector screen.
0:40: John talking to camera.
0:45: Black screen fades into animation of Webb assembling with starry space background. “A NASA+ ORIGINAL,” “COSMIC DAWN,” and “THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE” fade in.
0:50: All text fades away, replaced by “WATCH NOW” and “NASA+.”
Credit: NASA
Ashlee Nichols (eMITS): Producer
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14834. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14834.
For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/. If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard
Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram: instagram.com/nasagoddard
· X: twitter.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: facebook.com/NASAGoddard
· Flickr: flickr.com/photos/gsfc
“If John asks you to work with him, you want to work with him.”
John Mather’s passion for science started at a young age. Years after reading biographies of Darwin and Galileo, and with a Nobel Prize in Physics under his belt, he turned his focus to Webb. As the telescope’s senior project scientist for almost 20 years, John led the Webb science team through the challenging design, build, and launch process.
Experience how his enthusiasm for the unknown led to one of the world’s great modern scientific achievements – the Webb Space Telescope – in our new NASA+ documentary, streaming now:
plus.nasa.gov/video/cosmic-dawn-the-untold-story-of-the-james-webb-space-telescope
youtube.com/watch?v=uSMGENDH_QI&t
Video description:
0:00: John standing in front of a wall-sized digital screen with a starry visualization.
0:03: John talking to camera.
0:04: Colorful Webb images of space. “A NASA+ Original” appears.
0:07 “Cosmic Dawn, The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope” appears.
0:14: John talking to camera. “John Mather, Fmr. Webb Senior Project Scientist, NASA Goddard” appears.
0:17: Consecutive three-panel shots of retro space videos.
0:30: John standing in front of Hubble model, facing away from camera.
0:33: John speaking to group, motioning towards a TV displaying Webb.
0:36: John speaking to group, pointing towards starry projector screen.
0:40: John talking to camera.
0:45: Black screen fades into animation of Webb assembling with starry space background. “A NASA+ ORIGINAL,” “COSMIC DAWN,” and “THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE” fade in.
0:50: All text fades away, replaced by “WATCH NOW” and “NASA+.”
Credit: NASA
Ashlee Nichols (eMITS): Producer
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14834. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14834.
For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/. If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard
Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram: instagram.com/nasagoddard
· X: twitter.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: facebook.com/NASAGoddard
· Flickr: flickr.com/photos/gsfc
