The new infrared telescope needs to be huge and cold in order to see the first galaxies after the Big Bang.<\/b>
\nAfter 25 years and nearly $10 billion, the James Webb Space Telescope has finally left planet Earth. Billed as a successor to the beloved Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb\u2019s mirror is six times larger and its instruments are tuned to observe longer wavelengths, in order to detect the stretched-out light from primitive galaxies 13.5 billion light years away. That primary mission \u2014 to see the first stars and galaxies that formed after the Big Bang \u2014 determined the unusual and challenging design of the telescope. Instead of a shiny tube, the Webb Telescope looks like a giant honeycomb riding on a silver surfboard. The short answer to why it looks like that is: It needs to be very big and very cold. In the video above, NASA astrophysicist Amber Straughn and I build a small model of the telescope to explore its extraordinary design. You can find this video and all of Vox\u2019s videos on YouTube. Further reading:<\/p>\n