Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine

This was the first of the Unknown documentaries that I watched. I chose this one as first because the subject is what interested me the most. We all are curious about the origins, about how everything started. Most likely questions that will never been answered, maybe partially, and that will be because of the James Webb telescope, an unbelievable human achievement. The documentary is well made, consisting of interviews of several people that were involved in launching the telescope. I get it that people that worked on this project for decades are getting emotional. The huge amount of money, the time spent, everything that could go wrong, it's all very stressful for those people. I would have liked more of those stunning space images. The ones they showed I've already seen them before, like most people I guess, so it would have been nice to show us some more images that were never released before. But other than that the documentary is informative and that's what its all about. A good watch if you're interested in space.

So much potential here. They could have used this documentary as an opportunity to educate the public about the amazing science behind JWST, instead they focused most of the documentary on forced drama as if it were another brainless reality TV show. Topics they could have covered to better illustrate and educate the magic:

What is red shifting and tangible explanations on why the JWST is needed over the Hubble.

The groundbreaking use of beryllium for the mirrors and why the element was selected for its unusual properties at cryogenic temperatures.

The cryo coolers and how their novel design allows it to cool the instruments down to near absolute zero.

The damaged mirror and how the JWST is able to overcome it.

The unusual approach of physically deforming the mirror to focus the image.

Etc etc.... Could have been great but instead they took a story about one of the greatest scientific achievements in human history and chose to dumb it down to nearly worthless drivel.

What an inspiration to us all the accomplishment that can be made when everyone has one goal! The pictures are absolutely beautiful and the thought and visuals of what is really out there is amazing. Without us seeing behind the scenes and all the work that went into it we would just take it for granted. Thank goodness for this film for showing us all what we really don't know behind the scenes. We just get to see the pictures from online but this film was detailed in showing us the hardworking people and the nervousness that goes into everything before the rest of us gets to see it.

There was only one character/astrophysicist that was really. Too much gibberish for me I fast forward her parts. I want to know the educational and the story and people behind the scenes.

"Light in A Dark Time", a quote from a female astrophysicist on the show, is the best way to describe the James Webb telescope. The short documentary is definitely worth watching as it showcases the difficulty in designing, leading, getting funding, the disappointments and all hurdles that had to be overcome to be able to have the very risky and near impossible successful launch. Now that it is launched, humanity can see back in time 13 1/2 billion years ago, and the first image shared showed a massive amount of galaxies that old. I didn't give it a 10 star rating because quite honestly, if you are not an astrophysicist, and just a normal average citizen, it is extremely hard to wrap your mind around it (the shear time and distance of it) and hard to actually understand how truly awesome it is. Even by the awe on the astrophysicist's faces who do understand the meaning the Time Machine concept and distance, it is so amazing for them to comprehend it all as well at first look. Am sure it is just a first look at what is to come with more discoveries as scientists study the images.

Why do women always begin something by saying 'when I was a little girl.....'? Or something about "me"? The personal stories of people involved in James webb are irrelevant. Maybe a few seconds would be enough, and not tens of minutes. The James Webb project was the reason to watch the show. While the telescope did end up extremely exciting and it's changing our views about the age of the universe and possibly the Big Bang theory, the show is quite boring and slow. While the woman scientist (or engineer?) was focused on herself and her emotions and experiences on the projects, the guys talked mostly about the project.