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THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
<img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4179/34537748622_91ce537d39_k.jpg" width="600" height="500" alt="A ground's eye view of the JWST in all its honeycomb glory.">
* [[About|about]]
* [[Start building!|build]]
* [[Further reading|reading]]"There must be some mistake."
Your voice sounds faint to your ears. The messenger looks at you sympathetically.
"I'm not chief engineer," you explain. "I'm not chief anything. I'm just… some random person!"
The messenger claps your shoulder. "Tough luck, kid. You've been put in charge of…"
[[Of…|start]]The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest telescope in space! It uses infrared technology to take pictures of space that are clearer than any we've seen before. Its goals are:
* Search for the first galaxies or luminous objects formed after the Big Bang
* Determine how galaxies evolved from their formation until now
* Observe the formation of stars from the first stages to the formation of planetary systems
* Measure the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems, including our own Solar System, and investigate the potential for life in those systems
This game was made through [[Twine|https://twinery.org/]], an open-source tool for interactive stories. You can check out the code in our [[Github|https://github.com/webbwonderland/play]].
All images are sourced from [[NASA's Image Galleries Webb|https://webb.nasa.gov/content/multimedia/images.html]] — thank you for so many cool pictures!
[[Back to main menu|start]]STAGE ONE: 1990s–2003
//[[faster, better, cheaper|s1]]//So now you're the chief officer of a project you know basically nothing about. This is fine. This is so fine.
Nothing to do but make the best of it!<<set $energy to 5>><<set $knowledge to 0>><<set $morale to 0>>
* [[Read up on the HST & Beyond report about the project|hstandbeyond]]
* [[Talk to your new team about what they think|talktoteam]]
* [[Oh God this is not fine.|notfine]]HST & Beyond, it turns out, stands for "Hubble Space Telescope & Beyond." The organization was created in 1994, and the very enthusiastic report you're reading is from 1996. It takes until the ninth chapter to find what you're looking for: "A GENERAL ASTROPHYSICS PROGRAM FOR A LARGE FILLED-APERTURE, INFRARED-OPTIMIZED SPACE TELESCOPE AND FOR THE POST-2005 HST."
The report goes on to detail how the Hubble Space Telescope — launched in 1990 and still operational today! — is great and all, but it'd be even better if it could see further-away stars. Which requires the titular large filled-aperture, infrared-optimized, post-2005 telescope.
Hm.<<set $hstandbeyond_investigated to "true">><<set $knowledge to $knowledge + 5>><<set $energy to $energy - 1>><<if $talktoteam_headofengineering_investigated eq "true">> "Large aperture" must have been what the head of engineering meant when they explained the 4-meter-wide idea.<</if>>
<ul><<if $talktoteam_headofengineering_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Large aperture?|hstandbeyond_large]]</li>
<</if>><li>[[Infrared-optimized?|hstandbeyond_ir]]</li>
<li>[[Well that's enough research for a day.|hstandbeyond_end]]</li></ul>
<!-- https://www.stsci.edu/stsci/org/hst-and-beyond-report.pdf -->It's probably a good idea to speak to the people you'll be working with for the foreseeable future, yes.
<<if $energy <= 0>>Unfortunately, you're pretty much drained for the day. You'll just have to meet them another time.
* [[Clock out for the day|clockout]]<<else>>You stand up and look around.
There's the messenger who broke you the news — she's just entered through the doorway and is looking around. Maybe she has more info?
Over there is the head of the engineering sub-section, reading over papers.<<if $hstandbeyond_investigated eq "true">> Maybe the same report as the one you were looking at earlier.<</if>> You could go find out more details about the mission from them.
Finally, there's an intern who's working his way around giving coffee to everyone. He probably won't be able to tell you anything, but you really want coffee.
* [[Messenger|talktoteam_messenger]]
* [[Head of engineering|talktoteam_headofengineering]]
* [[Coffee!|talktoteam_intern]]<</if>><<set $energy to $energy - 1>><<if $morale > 0>><<set $morale to $morale - 1>><</if>>You bury your head in your hands.
What were they thinking? You're not prepared for this! There is no possible way your existing credentials would make you qualified to work on a NASA project!
You groan into your desk. They're going to figure out their mistake and fire you and then you won't have a job and you'll go penniless and you'll die —
You don't even realize you're hyperventilating until the messenger's voice above you says, "Hey, breathe."
* [[I am breathing too fast that is the problem.|notfine2]]<<if $hstandbeyond_ir_investigated eq "true">>You scroll up and read some more…
<</if>>The report recommends an aperture of at least 4 meters (about 13 feet). You investigate and discover this means a circular hole that light can pass through that's 4 meters across. That'd be the height of three children stacked on top of each other!
According to the paper, larger width means more light, which means greater sensitivity, which means the new telescope will be able to detect more stars than Hubble (2.4 meter aperture). Nice.<<set $hstandbeyond_large_investigated to "true">><<set $knowledge to $knowledge + 5>><<set $energy to $energy - 1>>
<ul><<if $hstandbeyond_ir_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Infrared-optimized?|hstandbeyond_ir]]</li>
<</if>><li>[[I think I'm done here.|hstandbeyond_end]]</li></ul><<if $hstandbeyond_large_investigated eq "true">>You scroll down and read some more…
<</if>>IR (the abbreviation for Infrared in the report) is the kind of light that the telescope should be built to detect. Hubble mostly looks at regular light and ultraviolet, but distant, hotter objects — like ancient suns from "primeval galaxies" — shoot IR light. So if the new telescope is going to look at forming stars and galaxies, it'll need to capture IR.
Easier said than done, you think. But you //are// starting to warm up to this job. Ancient stars sound neat!<<set $hstandbeyond_ir_investigated to "true">><<set $knowledge to $knowledge + 5>><<set $energy to $energy - 1>>
<ul><<if $hstandbeyond_large_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Large aperture?|hstandbeyond_large]]</li>
<</if>><li>[[I think I'm done here.|hstandbeyond_end]]</li></ul>You close the report (after bookmarking it) and contemplate what else you can do today.
* [[Talk to your teammates?|talktoteam]]
* [[It's still not too late to break down!|notfine]]
* [[Clock out for the day.|clockout]]You punch out of work and head home.
That was… terrible and draining<<if $energy <= 0>> (you are absolutely //exhausted//)<</if>>, but also one of the more exciting days you've had in, what, years?
Maybe this project will be fun after all.
* [[A few months later…|s1endgame]]<<if $energy <= 0>>You would love to catch up with the person who broke you this news, but you don't have the energy left in you.
* [[Clock out for the day|clockout]]<<else>><<set $energy to $energy - 2>><<set $talktoteam_messenger_investigated to "true">><<set $morale to $morale + 2>>You make your way over to the messenger, who waves at you. "Hi," you say.
<<if $hstandbeyond_investigated eq "true" or $talktoteam_investigated eq "true">>"You look like you're settling in already," the messenger observes.<<else>>"Settling in?" the messenger inquires.
You shrug. She laughs, but quickly sobers:<</if>> "I have some news from the higher-ups."
"I thought I was the higher-up here," you joke weakly.
"Ha ha. So, they want this project to be cheap. But a single huge mirror is really expensive."<<if $hstandbeyond_investigated neq "true">>
"Right," you say. "Because telescopes need mirrors. I knew that."
She gives you an exasperated look. "Yes, and they're expensive, so…"<</if>>
* <<if $talktoteam_intern_investigated eq "true">>[["Faster, better, cheaper."|talktoteam_messenger2]]<<else>>[["Yes…?"|talktoteam_messenger2]]<</if>><</if>><<if $energy <= 0>>You would love to, but you don't have the energy left in you.
* [[Clock out for the day|clockout]]<<else>><<set $energy to $energy - 2>><<set $morale to $morale + 5>><<set $talktoteam_headofengineering_investigated to "true">>You make your way over to the head of engineering.<<if $hstandbeyond_investigated eq "true">> You were right — they //are// looking at the HST & Beyond report.<</if>>
They look up. "Can I help — oh," they say, breaking off. "You're the new head of the project, aren't you?"
[["Y-yes."|talktoteam_headofengineering2]]<</if>><!-- this doesn't require energy because the energy you lose from talking is made up by the coffee --><<set $talktoteam_intern_investigated to "true">><<set $morale to $morale + 2>>You wave to the intern, who hurries over, tray of coffee mugs miraculously not spilling.
"Hi," you say, when he reaches you. "Could I have some coffee, pl—"
"Of course!" He hands over a mug, and you take a long, grateful pull. Ahhhhh. The warm, jittery embrace of caffeine.
"Thank you," you say, placing the half-full (half-empty?) mug on your desk.
"Of course!" He smiles at you. "It is my mission to get coffee to everyone //faster, better, and cheaper.//"
* [[Uh?|talktoteam_intern2]]<<if $talktoteam_intern_investigated eq "true">>She blinks. "Oh, you know that already?"
"Heard it around," you say.
She nods and continues. <</if>>"So the higher-ups are thinking: one mirror made of several mirror-bits."<<set $knowledge to $knowledge + 5>>
* [[What.|talktoteam_messenger3]]
* [[What?|talktoteam_messenger3]]
* [[What…|talktoteam_messenger3]]She cracks a smile at the look on your face.
"But it's never been done before," you say.<<if $knowledge == 5>> (You're pretty sure. You think.)<</if>>
"Yep."
"I'm supposed to direct the building of a mirror that is actually made of multiple mirror segments," you clarify. "A feat that has never been performed in the history of space telescopes.<<if $hstandbeyond_large_investigated eq "true">> And it's supposed to be four meters wide?<</if>>"
She claps you on the shoulder again. "Tough going, eh, kid? Good luck."
You wave as she leaves, presumably to deliver more earth-shattering information to other people.
Well then.
<ul><<if $talktoteam_headofengineering_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Talk to the head of engineering?|talktoteam_headofengineering]]</li>
<</if>><<if $talktoteam_intern_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Get that coffee?|talktoteam_intern]]</li>
<</if>><li>[[I'm done talking, thanks.|talktoteam_end]]</li></ul>"Well." They lean back in their seat and raise the papers in their hand: "You should look at this."
<<if $hstandbeyond_investigated eq "true">>"I already did, actually," you say.
"Oh." They look impressed.<<set $morale to $morale + 5>> "So you know they're looking for a 4-meter mirror?"
"Yep."<<else>>You peer closer. It's the HST & Beyond report you haven't looked at yet.
"I'll spare you some time," they say. "They're aiming for a 4-meter-wide mirror. The larger it is, the more light it can catch and observe."
"Okay…?"<</if>>
"Well, I was thinking we could aim bigger," they explain. "Hubble's 2.4 meters. Four meters isn't even two times that. We could go for six or seven."
* [["Sounds fascinating."|talktoteam_headofengineering_pos]]
* [["Sounds expensive."|talktoteam_headofengineering_neg]]<<set $morale to $morale + 2>>They smile a little. "Isn't it?" Then, hastily: "We're not even close to actually building the thing, I know, but…"
"No, I understand," you reassure.
"And if we //did// make it larger," they muse, "it'd have to be light. Much less dense than any other telescope so far. It'd have to fold to fit into the rocket we send up, because no rocket is going to fit a 6-meter-wide thing straight out."
Some more small talk later, you head back to your desk.
Where to now?
<ul><<if $talktoteam_messenger_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Talk to the messenger?|talktoteam_messenger]]</li>
<</if>><<if $talktoteam_intern_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Get that coffee?|talktoteam_intern]]</li>
<</if>><li>[[I'm done talking, thanks.|talktoteam_end]]</li></ul><<set $morale to $morale - 1>>They wince a little. "Yes. But it would mean much more data when the telescope does launch."
You nod.
"Just something to think about," they say. "We're not even close to actually building the thing, but…"
"No, I understand," you reassure.
"And if we //did// make it larger," they muse, "it'd have to be light. Much less dense than any other telescope so far. It'd have to fold to fit into the rocket we send up, because no rocket is going to fit a 6-meter-wide thing straight out."
Some more small talk later, you head back to your desk.
Where to now?
<ul><<if $talktoteam_messenger_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Talk to the messenger?|talktoteam_messenger]]</li>
<</if>><<if $talktoteam_intern_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Get that coffee?|talktoteam_intern]]</li>
<</if>><li>[[I'm done talking, thanks.|talktoteam_end]]</li></ul>He blinks. "You haven't heard?"
"What?"
"That's what the Administrator said," he tells you, and puts on a deeper voice. "'This is the Faster, Better, Cheaper Era of Aerospace Engineering!'"
[[Huh.|talktoteam_intern3]]You are left to ponder upon this maxim as the intern hurries away to deliver more coffee.
<ul><<if $talktoteam_messenger_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Talk to the messenger?|talktoteam_messenger]]</li>
<</if>><<if $talktoteam_headofengineering_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Talk to the head of engineering?|talktoteam_headofengineering]]</li>
<</if>><li>[[I'm done talking, thanks.|talktoteam_end]]</li></ul><<if $energy <= 0>>You're just about drained for the day, too.
* [[Time to clock out.|clockout]]<<else>>You sit and ponder what else you can do today.
* [[Read up on the HST & Beyond report about the project|hstandbeyond]]
* [[It's still not too late to break down!|notfine]]
* [[Clock out for the day|clockout]]<</if>>"It's okay," the messenger says, and you realize she is inhaling and exhaling deliberately slowly. It makes a flare of irritation go through you — you're not a //actual// kid — but you try to match her, and slowly your heart rate goes down.
"Sorry for bothering you," you get out when you can speak properly again.
The messenger shrugs. "Hey, coworkers help coworkers."
You scrub at your eyes, although they're dry. "Still, thanks."
She nods — you get the sense she's used to this kind of thing — and after sticking around for a while, probably to make sure you won't have another panic attack, departs.
Well. Okay. Okay.
What else can you do now?
<ul><<if $hstandbeyond_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Read the HST & Beyond report|hstandbeyond]]</li>
<</if>><<if $talktoteam_investigated neq "true">><li>[[Talk to your team|talktoteam]]</li>
<</if>><li>[[Clock out for the day|clockout]]</li></ul>A few months later, you are looking out on a panel of higher-ups — well, "scientific administrators" is probably the more suitable term. There's a sheet of paper in your hand. Notes.
You are meant to be presenting your final proposal for the James Webb Space Telescope.
* [[Glance over your notes again.|s1endgame_notes]]
* [["Thank you all for being here today…"|s1endgame_start]]Your notes read,
- IR<<if $hstandbeyond_ir_investigated neq "true">>(?)<</if>>
- Large<<if $hstandbeyond_large_investigated neq "true">>(??)<</if>>
- Foldable
- Light<<if $talktoteam_headengineer_investigated neq "true">>(???)<</if>>
- Faster better cheaper<<if $talktoteam_intern_investigated neq "true">>(???<<if $talktoteam_headengineer_investigated neq "true">>???<</if>>)<</if>>
- Remember to make eye contact!!!!!
Honestly, couldn't past-you have spent more words on the telescope than the eye contact thing?
* [["Thank you all for being here today…"|s1endgame_start]]You clear your throat and begin.
…
"…Any questions?" You finish. (Please let there not be questions.)
A million hands go up.<<set $correct to 0>>
* [["Um, you there?"|s1q1]]"What does IR stand for?" asks someone in a cherry-red suit.
"Er."
<ul><li>[["Infrared?"|s1q1_right]]</li>
<li>[["Information retrieval?"|s1q1_wrong]]</li>
<li>[["Iridium?"|s1q1_wrong]]</li><<if $knowledge > 5>>[[Call on your ''knowledge.''|s1q1_knowledge]]<</if>></ul><<set $correct to $correct + 1>>Nods all around. Someone jots down a note. This is a good thing, you think.
Another hand goes up.
"Yes?"
"How are you going to make the telescope lightweight?"
Right. You'd gone over that in your presentation: cheaper implementation means you're going to have to find the least dense material possible<<if $talktoteam_headofengineering_investigated eq "true">>, as the head engineer speculated so long ago<</if>>.
* [[Beryllium.|s1q2_beryllium]]
* [[Silicon carbide.|s1q2_siliconcarbide]]
* [[Uh…|s1q2_uh]]Whispers. Frowns. The jotting of notes. None of this is enough to indict you, but you're pretty sure that wasn't the right answer.
Another hand goes up.
"Yes?"
"How are you going to make the telescope lightweight?"
Right. You'd gone over that in your presentation: cheaper implementation means you're going to have to find the least dense material possible<<if $talktoteam_headofengineering_investigated eq "true">>, as the head engineer speculated so long ago<</if>>.
* [[Beryllium.|s1q2_beryllium]]
* [[Silicon carbide.|s1q2_siliconcarbide]]
* [[Uh…|s1q2_uh]]<<set $knowledge to $knowledge - 5>>IR cannot possibly stand for Information Retrieval. Any telescope has to retrieve information and send it back to Earth; it wouldn't make this telescope special.
Then it stands for…
* [[Infrared?|s1q1_right]]
* [[Iridium?|s1q1_wrong]]<<set $correct to $correct + 2>>
You hear many approving noises and resist the urge to pump a fist in the air. Beryllium makes sense as a choice: it's super-light and super-strong, so supersonic airplanes and such usually have parts made out of it. You don't particularly //need// the strength, but there aren't many materials as strong as beryllium is for its weight, and it wouldn't do for the mirror to break apart while in space.
The downside is that it's incredibly toxic to breathe in, but hey, nobody's perfect.
* [[Another hand goes up.|s1q3]]<<set $correct to $correct + 1>>A few considering nods. You exhale in relief. Unlike beryllium, silicon carbide (SiC) isn't toxic to breathe in, which feels like a major win in your book; it //is// slightly heavier, though.
* [[Another hand goes up.|s1q3]]<<set $correct to $correct + 0>>"We haven't decided yet," you say very diplomatically.
That gets a few grumbles.
* [[Another hand goes up.|s1q3]]"How large are you planning for the mirror to be?" asks a reporter near the front.
Right. You'd planned for this. It'd taken lots of agonizing on everyone's behalves.
* [[Four meters, as originally planned.|s1q3_4]]
* [[6.5 meters.|s1q3_6-5]]
* [[Eight meters. Go big or go home!|s1q3_8]]Lots of nodding. This was the expected answer, you feel. Some people look a little disappointed that you didn't aim higher, but they're not in charge of making a huge segmented space telescope.<<set $width to 4>>
That looks like the end of the Q&A session.
* [[Time for closing remarks.|s1_conclusion]]Lots of nodding, some low whispers. The problem with 6.5-meter width is that the mirror won't fit into the rocket, so we'll have to find some way to fold it, but the extra observations it'll get are worth it.<<set $width to 6>><<set $correct to $correct + 1>>
* [[Time for closing remarks.|s1_conclusion]]The whole hall goes abruptly silent, and then comes alive with furious whispering. Agh, you can taste the newspaper articles already. "Stunningly ambitious" and "somewhat extravagant" and "is this really where our noble taxpayer money is going to?" and so on.
Eight meters //is// a lot. But just thinking about the amount of space you could capture with that mirror is exciting.
* [[Time for closing remarks.|s1_conclusion]]"Thank you again for coming today," you say formally. "I hope you'll all agree with me that the James Webb Space Telescope is the next step towards a brighter future, where we'll be able to understand much more about space and, perhaps, the beginnings of our universe.
"There's a famous saying around these parts," you continue, and glance down at your notesheet for the briefest of moments. "And I'd like to go on record to say that we are aiming for faster, and we're definitely aiming for cheaper" — that gets a laugh — "but most importantly, we will be //better.// Thank you."
* [[And with that, you're out.|demo_end]]Thank you for playing the demo version of Building the Impossible! Here are your stats:
You have <<print $knowledge>> Knowledge points, <<print $morale>> Team Morale points, <<print $correct>> marks for your final presentation (out of a potential 4), and 100 Coolness points. (No, just kidding, Coolness points aren't a thing. But you did spend time playing this, so…)
Some idle random facts that didn't make it into this demo:
* The James Webb Space Telescope was not known as that, but rather as the Next Generation Space Telescope, for up until 2002. This is why everyone keeps saying "the new telescope" instead of its proper name.
* The mirrors //are// made with beryllium, but they're plated with gold, which our player character leaves out
* Unfortunately, I didn't get the time to mention the honeycomb structure of the telescope, but the shape is absolutely iconic.
Other thanks I need to give: the Flickr repository of Webb images that I went through to grasp a sense of the history of this project; the Wikipedia page for the JWST; my coding teacher, for helping me set up the main and demo webpages; and my parents, for everything.
See you next time!* [[The 1996 report of HST & Beyond|https://www.stsci.edu/stsci/org/hst-and-beyond-report.pdf]]
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