After decades of development, the James Webb Space Telescope takes flight. Scientists have been thinking about this moment since the 1990s — a new set of eyes that will see father into our universe than ever before.

The James Webb Space Telescope launches this week, an event that has astronomers and scientists on edge. Hundreds of things could go wrong during deployment with this massive machine. And there’s no chance we can fix it if something happens.

In its complexity comes its power. We’ll talk with NPR science correspondent Nell Grenrenfield Boyce about the secrets it aims to unlock and the things it might see once fully deployed.

Further Reading

• This new space telescope should how us what the universe looked like as a baby (NPR, Nell Greenfieldboyce)
• We have one shot to see the universe like never before (The Atlantic, Marina Koren)
• Shadowed by controversy, NASA won’t rename its new space telescope (NPR, Nell Greenfieldboyce)
• Why astronomers are “crying and throwing up everywhere” over the upcoming telescope launch (Slate, Jaime Green)