Cosmic Dawn with Nobel Laureate John Mather

About this episode

John Mather discusses the James Webb Space Telescope and his experiences, including winning the Nobel Prize.

The James Webb Space Telescope is doing something astronomers dreamed about for decades: peering into our universe’s early past, a period known as cosmic dawn. A new NASA documentary—also called Cosmic Dawn—chronicles the inside story of Webb’s design, construction, and launch. John Mather, who won the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics, proposed the telescope and led its science team for decades. In this interview, Mather talks about his life, his research, and the pre-dawn phone call telling him he had won the Nobel Prize. Find more at nasa.gov/cosmicdawn This episode was updated on Dec. 19, 2025, to provide a video version on platforms that support video.

People in this episode

Guest: John Mather

Topics covered

• James Webb Space Telescope
• cosmic dawn
• Nobel Prize
• astronomy
• NASA documentary

Keywords

• James Webb Space Telescope
• cosmic dawn
• John Mather
• Nobel Prize
• NASA

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA

Products: James Webb Space Telescope

Books & works: Cosmic Dawn

Places: nasa.gov/cosmicdawn

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