Societal impact of the James Webb Space Telescope and astronomy

The phenomenal success of the James Webb Space Telescope has not just impacted astrophysics but has reminded all of us that audacious science missions undertaken by our space agencies (NASA, ESA, and the CSA) can also have considerable public impact. None of this was a foregone conclusion. The original costs of JWST were greatly underestimated, as were its technical complexity and the program management challenges. Dennis Overbye later wrote in the New York Times, “I have a confession to make: I underestimated the James Webb Space Telescope. For years, as NASA struggled to build the designated successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, I came to think of the Webb as a problem child, ever-delayed, swallowing dollars that could have gone to other telescopes and space missions… It was an infrared telescope, which would give astrophysicists a new angle on what was going on out there, but I didn’t think it could have the impact Hubble had. I was wrong” (NYTimes, 23rd August 2022). This summary for The Pontifical Academy of Sciences meeting on JWST summarizes three lessons I have learned from being with the mission since 2003, which I believe reflect JWST’s societal impact. I then posed a question at the end, which we needed more time to cover in our discussion.