The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Gregory Robinson - The Impressive Images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope

Episode Date: July 25, 2022

NASA Program Director Gregory Robinson discusses the advancements the James Webb Space Telescope has compared to the Hubble Telescope, and how these space missions reveal important information about our earth, the sun, and the galaxies around us.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I'm so excited to have you here because this is one of the biggest stories. You know, everyone saw it on social media. There's a picture of like, like, what's the ttttttttha. I'm so excited to have you here. Because this is one of the biggest stories. You know, everyone saw it on social media. There was a picture of like, it seemed like the universe, everything. And then it was like, here's the old one, here's the new one, and then we all had

to act like we knew why. That was important. But you're actually the person person person person person person person person the person person the person person person the person the person the person the person person the person the person person the person the person the person the person thian person to be behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind behind. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. to be. to be. to be. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to. to. to. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. to. to. how it got together. So let's start with this. For everybody to be on the same page, mostly me. Why is this jump in telescope technology so impressive and why is it so important? So when we compare it, we compare it to Hubble, which was state of the art 30 years ago, and Webb gives us a much bigger mirror at 6.5 meters versus 2.4 for Hubble and the infrared technology if you think about looking like night vision yeah you can see heat through something so it gives us an infrared capability so we can look through the the dust and clouds and Gook of space and look much further back of course our science instruments

are a lot more complex too so the clarity is a lot better and the depth is a lot better. What I know is really confusing sometimes when talking about anything in space is that sometimes they say things in terms of time and sometimes they say things in terms of distance and it gets a little, you know, they'll be like, we're seeing something from 13 billion years ago, and I'm like, I'm sorry, what? What does that even mean? Well, sometimes I say what as well. So we're looking at light traveling, 186,000 miles per second, I can imagine that. So we're looking at light something that happened billions of years ago, and it's just reaching us now. So it's time-distance travel of light.

And that's actually what we're looking at. And so we can see what happened a really long time ago tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so th, so tho, so tho, so tho, so tho, so tho, so tho, so tho, so tho, so tho, so tho, so th th th th th, so th, so th, so th, so th, so th, so th, so th, so th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, so thi, so thi, so thi, so travel of light and that's actually what we're looking at. And so we can see what happened a really long time ago somewhere else out there. What do we use this information for? Like will it tell us that aliens like left a long time? Now they're already here? Does it tell us where we're going to go after we destroy Earth? What is it telling us? Well you know in astrophysics and astronomy we're always looking to answer questions where do we come from how do we fit into this universe are we alone which is another one we're looking for so it helps inform us on how we fit into the universe and as far as light travel I remember growing up in the country and shining a flashlight up in the sky and said I wonder how long it's taken it to get to certain points. Oh wow which is same kind the th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th. thi thi thi the. the. the. the. th. th. the the the the. the. the. the. the. thi. thi. th. thi. th. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi te is te. te. te an tean. tean. tell. te an tell. tell. tell tell tell tell long it's taken it to get to certain points.

Oh wow. And which is same kind of thing as light travel, is what you're looking for. It's interesting you say that growing up in the country because I've read your story and you have one of the most fascinating journeys I've ever come across. Because you grew up, your parents were sharecro-as in, You went to a segregated school, you didn't have the education that you wanted to, and then here you are, the man who was brought in to basically get this $10 billion telescope up and running.

It was failing before you stepped in. They called you and they're like, we need to do this and you did it. How much, how does that love come from and how did you get into this world? So a couple of things. that that that that love that love that love that love that love that love that love that that that that that that that that thiiiiiiiiolome that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that to come to come to come to come that love to come to come to come to come to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get to get that, that love that love that love that love that love that love that love that love to come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come come. to come. to come. to come. to come. to come. to come. to come. to come. to come. to come. to to to to to to to to to to to come from from, to to to to come from from, to to to to to to to to to to that that things. One is that education in the segregated schools was excellent. We had some of the best teachers in the world. Many of them were far more educated than the teachers in other schools because they couldn't get jobs in industry like they can today. So we had great teachers who really nurtured us and cared about us. So my beginnings were very strong. And so of course I lived through the Apollo time. I was was was was a th. I was a th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. We, the thi. thi. We the the their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the the the the th. th. We, th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. We're thi. We're toed, toge. Wea. Wea. Wea. Wea. Wea. We're toge. Wea. the. thea. Wea. thi. thi. And so of course I lived through the Apollo time. I was a little kid then, which excited me, but that still didn't get my interest in space. So I was in college and friends of mine actually did

internships at NASA and they made it sound so interesting. And a few years later I started my career in industry but a few years later I actually joined NASA. And four and a half years ago, there were some issues. My boss asked me to try to get over the goal line. Now I will say a lot of the work was already done, already completed. So thanks to the team for that. And this team is an incredibly, incredibly smart team of people, if you could imagine at NASA. So smarts is never a shortage in NASA.

And certainly not for this team. And this team is not just NASA, it's our whole industrial base, plus the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency to our big partners. Let me ask you a question. I believe that you're retiring soon, life comes at me fast. Wow. That's sad. Because I mean, you've tha, I' tha, I' tha, I've, I'm, tha comes at me fast. Wow. That's sad. Because I mean, you've been around for so long, you've been doing such a great job. I don't know NASA's going to miss you.

But because you're retiring, I feel like you could probably tell me a few things you wouldn't be allowed. You know, you know, when you're leaving? So have you, have you taken any pictures, and then seen some things, like, and that, and th, and th, and th, and th, and they don't tell us about, like, you know what I mean? Like, let me put it this way. In New York, if you have like a superpowered telescope and you shine it in another person's apartment, you might see some things. And I'm wondering if you've seen some things out there, but then you don't tell us. Or are these all the pictures? haven't seen before but a lot clearer. And we will learn things that we can never even imagine. So as we answer questions, we also will create new questions for the future.

What are we using the answers to these questions to do, you know? I understand there is some importance to it, but how does it help what happens on earth, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th th th is th is thi thi thi thi thi thi happens thus tho thus tho tho happens to to to to to to to to to thus thus to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be tooesk, we will tooesesk, we will will to be the the, the, the is the, the, the, the, the, the, thia thia to be to be to be to be to? You know, I understand there is some importance to it, but how does it help what happens on Earth? Or what are people hoping we'll learn from these telescopes and what they're revealing? Well, one, we learn a lot about physics. And if you think about it, if you go back many, many years,

and you think about, geez, just a hundred years ago, we thought that was just one galaxy in the whole universe, ours. And Hubble, Hubble telescope, came after him, discovered more galaxies. So we know a lot more about who we are, where we are, where we come from. And so that's on an astrophysics stamp side. But other science missions tell us a lot about the Earth, our interaction with the Sun, how that impacts it. So the Earth has a system within our own solar system.

I see. So now that you have the James Webb telescope, I mean, Hubble was until a few months ago, you know, was everybody's bay in space, you know? And then I just felt a little, you know, I felt a little sad on Hubble's behalf. Everyone's just like, ah, look how shit Hubble's pictures are. What happens to Hubble now? So Hubble has been operating more than 30 years?

And again, it was a state of the art. It's going to continue operating. OK, OK. So there's still things we benefit from Hubble. So we're still looking forward to a long-time operation. Is there something Hubble can do that the web telescope can't do? Not at all. And just, I don't know, two or three months ago, Hubble discovered a star that was 900 million years after the Big Bang.

So, wrapped that around your head, 900 million years after Big Bang. Now, in space, that's still a long time, but when you're talking billions, that's looking back quite a bit. That is really fascinating. I just love the idea that, you know, you're part of this mission, you get this telescope, you, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you have have have have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have the, you have the, you have to have the, you're the, the, to have their to shoot, the, the, their, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, thiiiiiii, their, their, their, the that, you know, you're part of this mission, you get this telescope, you know, you have to shoot it up into space, and then you start taking the pictures. Whose job is it to stitch the pictures together and to get to unblur the pictures? Because when you take the picture, I've heard it basically looks like somebody has shown you a picture of night and then somebody sits there and they go like oh I see something. Like who's doing that and how do

you do it and how do you know that you actually are seeing anything or if it's like? So the scientists actually they know what they're looking at. Okay. And so they do some what we call processing to make the pictures look more presentable to human eye. Right to idiots you can say it. I'm one the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're their their thus. thus. thus. I thus. I thus. I thus. I thi thi thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. So thi. I. I know. I'm one of those humans too, thank God. No. So the scientists process it, they use the science instruments and then they have some post processing beyond the instruments to make it look like what we've seen recently. But they actually know what they're looking at when they receive the data. Okay, so they get it. We just, they make it simpler. They make it s s s s s s s s s s s simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler they they they they they make it simpler they they make it simpler they make it simpler they they they they they they they they they they make it simpler they make it simpler they make it simpler. they make it s s simpler. they make it s simpler. they make it s s s. they they they they they they they make it s s s s s s s s s s. they make they make they make it. they make it s. They make it s. They make it s. They make it s. They make it s. They make it s. They make it s. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it simpler. They make it s. They make it s. They make it s. They make it s. They make it s. They make it s. They make it s. They just we just they make it simpler for us Absolutely, so I would love to know where your journey goes from here. I mean you've been part of NASA for such a long time You've been part of the biggest, you know

Discovery or or invention that humans have ever created where to from here you retire and then and then what do you do? So, so certainly web is done? So, certainly, web is done from a development standpoint. So now it's the scientist. the the their their their their their their th. th. th. th. their th. th. th. their thi web. thi web. thi web. thi web. thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. th. thi. their thi. thi. thi. thi. th. thi. their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. te. te. te. tea. tea. tea. te. te. te. their their their their their the next 20 plus years. I know they would do well. So it's just that time for me. I'm not running from or to anything. It's just time. But I have to, as often say, don't that good looks fool you, I'm still a young man. But I'm getting up there. So I still plan to do some other things, Still exploring what I'm going to do when I grow up. I'm looking for over this. Thank you so much for being on the show.

Thank you. Watch the Daily Show, weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes any time on Paramount Plus.