NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Dr. John C. Mather is a Senior Astrophysicist in the Observational Cosmology Laboratory located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Image Credit: NASA

This James Webb Space Telescope full-scale model at Goddard Space Flight Center. Image Credit: NASA

Like our Milky Way, this galaxy has a blue disk of young stars peppered with bright pink star-birth regions. Image Credit: NASA

Have you ever wondered how our galaxy was formed? In 2006, Dr. John C. Mather won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work with understanding the Big Bang Theory. Mather analyzed data from NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer, or COBE, which studied the pattern of radiation from the first few instants after the universe was formed.

On May 17, 2011, NASA Explorer Schools welcomed Dr. Mather for a talk about what he is working on now, the James Webb Space Telescope. He discussed how it will give us a look into the past to see how galaxies have formed since the Big Bang.

A recording of this chat is located at the bottom of this page.

Test Your Knowledge!
NASA scientists and engineers are challenged every day to solve problems and answer questions about their missions. Students were given the chance to challenge themselves by answering questions about some of Dr. John Mather's missions. The links listed with each question provided the information needed to answer the questions correctly. Watch the video to learn what the correct answers to the questions are. Note: The questions are now closed to answering, but will remain archived.

› Go to Question One
› Go to Question Two
› Go to Question Three
› Go to Question Four
› Go to Question Five
› Go to Question Six

Related Content:
› James Webb Space Telescope Website
› NASA's Gravity Probe B Confirms Two Einstein Space-Time Theories

GENESIS: Exploring Data – A First Look
› http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/images_nirspec12.html
› http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/images_fgs1.html
› http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/images_mirror1.html
› http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/people.html
› http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/images2/hdr_bobbybradley.jpg