Episode 8 --- How NASA’s $10 Billion Webb Telescope Will Help Us Figure Out Our Own Solar System

When first conceived, the 6.5 meter James Webb Space Telescope was all about galaxy surveys, the deep sky, and cosmology; it still is.  But it’s also about solar system science in surprising ways.  This infrared behemoth will virtually revolutionize the way we view asteroids, comets, and Kuiper Belt objects in the far reaches of our frozen outer solar system.  This episode’s guest --- Stefanie Milam ---  is the Webb telescope’s deputy project scientist for planetary science and gives us all the details on why the telescope is such a complicated piece of hardware and why it will also give us some of the best maps of Mars than anyone could hope.