![Why is the James Webb Space Telescope a big deal? - podcast episode cover](https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/d/6/2/1/d6211061f23c8b7e/Big_Questions_Podcast_grreen_HIGH_RES.jpg)
Episode description
Are we alone in the Universe? What exactly lies at the centre of our galaxy? Just like our podcast, the James Webb Space Telescope aims to answer some *very big questions*. Launched on Christmas Day 2021 and hurtling towards an orbit 1.5 million miles from the Earth, the JWST (as it's known to those in the business!) is a follow-up to the Hubble Space Telescope - and it's three times bigger. Decades in the making, the JWST will begin collecting and transmitting scientific data in July 2022, making this a really exciting time for astrophysicists such as Dr Becky Smethurst. We catch up with her to find out more.