We’re about to see things in the universe never before seen. The James Webb Space Telescope is huge and it’s going to give us a peek at things from a perspective we haven’t seen before.

The Webb as the call it will look at objects in the universe unfiltered by our atmosphere and by using infrared sensors. We’re going to be able to see through clouds of gas and dust and look at stars that have gone undiscovered.

The telescope is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. It’s being assembled now  with a launch scheduled in 2018.

Watching over that development effort is NASA’s John Mather. He joins us via skype from the Goddard Spaceflight Center in Maryland.