Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
You’ve never seen the James Webb Space Telescope like this. Experience every close-call, technological feat, and scientific marvel through NASA’s eyes in our new documentary “Cosmic Dawn,” streaming now on NASA+ and YouTube. We recorded hundreds of hours of behind-the-scenes footage, from the very beginning of Webb’s inception to the triumphant release of its first science nearly three decades later. Now, we’re bringing it to you. Relive the journey of the telescope through the eyes of the scientists, engineers, and dreamers who made it possible: youtube.com/watch?v=uSMGENDH_QI
Learn more about Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Telescope: nasa.gov/CosmicDawn
Video credit: NASA
Video description:
0:00: Person in a clean room suit stands in front of Webb's gold mirrors.
0:01: Montage of different celestial bodies.
0:02: Rocket exhaust.
0:03: Woman in a clean room suit looks at the camera.
0:04: Two people in clean room suits shine headlamps around a dark space.
0:05:00: Person in clean room suit raises a piece of bristly equipment above their head. They touch the equipment to a larger object.
0:06: Split-screen of two panning videos, showing workers in clean room suits videoing Webb
0:08: Man wearing a dark blue polo, headphones, and a face mask looks upwards.
0:09: Person in a clean room suit looks into a large, black piece of equipment.
0:10: A rocket launches, creating a fiery plume of smoke.
0:11: A folded, gold panel of the Webb telescope vibrates.
0:12: Webb floating through space, stars in the background.
0:14: 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. The initial text fades away, replaced by “Watch now/NASA+.”
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/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard
If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAExplorer
Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram instagram.com/nasagoddard
· Twitter twitter.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: facebook.com/NASA.GSFC
· Flickr flickr.com/photos/gsfc
You’ve never seen the James Webb Space Telescope like this. Experience every close-call, technological feat, and scientific marvel through NASA’s eyes in our new documentary “Cosmic Dawn,” streaming now on NASA+ and YouTube. We recorded hundreds of hours of behind-the-scenes footage, from the very beginning of Webb’s inception to the triumphant release of its first science nearly three decades later. Now, we’re bringing it to you. Relive the journey of the telescope through the eyes of the scientists, engineers, and dreamers who made it possible: youtube.com/watch?v=uSMGENDH_QI
Learn more about Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Telescope: nasa.gov/CosmicDawn
Video credit: NASA
Video description:
0:00: Person in a clean room suit stands in front of Webb's gold mirrors.
0:01: Montage of different celestial bodies.
0:02: Rocket exhaust.
0:03: Woman in a clean room suit looks at the camera.
0:04: Two people in clean room suits shine headlamps around a dark space.
0:05:00: Person in clean room suit raises a piece of bristly equipment above their head. They touch the equipment to a larger object.
0:06: Split-screen of two panning videos, showing workers in clean room suits videoing Webb
0:08: Man wearing a dark blue polo, headphones, and a face mask looks upwards.
0:09: Person in a clean room suit looks into a large, black piece of equipment.
0:10: A rocket launches, creating a fiery plume of smoke.
0:11: A folded, gold panel of the Webb telescope vibrates.
0:12: Webb floating through space, stars in the background.
0:14: 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. The initial text fades away, replaced by “Watch now/NASA+.”
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/multimedia/guidelines/index.html.If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard
If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAExplorer
Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram instagram.com/nasagoddard
· Twitter twitter.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: facebook.com/NASA.GSFC
· Flickr flickr.com/photos/gsfc
