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look at the light and the golden glow of the leaves, just magnificent

my photography, please don’t delete the caption or alter credits

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Footprints | ( by Tucker Troupe )

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It’s so infuriating that teen smoking rates were at an all time low in the US and we were on track to basically eradicate smoking and nicotine addiction in teens like it was flat out uncool to smoke and then They came out with nicotine injector flash drives that light up and taste like cotton candy. And have lead in them.

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Cosmic Dawn through Her Lens: Sophia Roberts

If you’ve seen video footage of the James Webb Space Telescope, there’s a good chance you’ve seen it through her lens.

Sophia Roberts is an astrophysics video producer at NASA Goddard in Maryland. She spent years chasing Webb around the country as one of its primary videographers, documenting its construction and crafting stories that explained why Webb was worth building.

“There were countless potential points of failure. It was up to the communications team to acknowledge those risks honestly and help the public understand why the mission still mattered,” she said.

Sophia’s incredible efforts included capturing hours-long timelapses of major operations, filming inside clean rooms (special facilities where space mission components are assembled and tested), and editing these moments together, bringing the public on Webb’s journey with her. Sophia also tracked down the origins of many of the elements used to create Webb. She was even able to visit and film a beryllium mine, home to the rare metal from which Webb’s mirrors originated.

“Seeing this raw, elemental starting point for something as refined as a space telescope was unforgettable,” Sophia said.

What kept her going was her own curiosity, wondering: Why are the mirrors exposed? Why are they gold? What makes beryllium special? Why is the radiator black?

When Webb was transported via boat from the Port of Los Angeles to French Guiana (the telescope was too heavy to travel by bridge and too large for a plane), Sophia was there too! She rented a chase boat to follow Webb and film its journey.

“Chasing Webb down the California coast at full speed felt like an action movie; and it was the last time we’d ever see it on U.S. soil,” she said.

Leading up to the telescope’s launch, the necessary work became more and more intense…and then launch! and it was done. It took a while to shake the “void” that the job had left behind.

Sophia and her team won several Webbys for their work, recognizing them for their social media campaigns, live broadcasts covering the launch, deployment, and first images, as well as a short film called 29 Days on the Edge, diving into the arduous process of unfolding Webb in space over a month after launch.

Sophia is one of the stars of our newest NASA+ documentary, Cosmic Dawn, which takes you behind the scenes of the world’s most powerful space telescope. See the story through her lens: https://www.nasa.gov/cosmicdawn/.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

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Melanie Hava

Reef Wonderland   91cm x 122cm Acrylic on Linen

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