About Reflections of JWST: Exploring the Cosmos by Maynard Hurley
Reflections of JWST, Exploring the Cosmos
As I like to say, “I’m not Carl Sagan or Stephen Hawking, but I made their telescopes!”
I have been a mirror maker most of my life. But, more pertinent to this book, I was the leader in the optical shop for the James Webb Space Telescope mirror polishing. We mirror makers consider the mirrors to be “the heart of the telescope.” And, when I say “Reflections of JWST,” yes, there is a tongue-in-cheek pun intended. But please don’t misunderstand.
This was supremely difficult and tedious work. We felt like we were always near the edge of failure – “walking the tightrope of mirror making.” I am reminded of the saying: “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.” Well, we were “lucky,” but we worked for it and, we made our own luck! We bootstrapped ourselves from meager beginnings to the greatest observatory mankind has ever created.
Now, with the launch at hand, we all have the luxury of contemplating the Cosmos! It is our “time machine,” and we will now be able to look back in time and not only see where we came from but also where we are going in the future.
This book is a collection of my “Reflections of JWST.”
Maynard
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Author Bio:
Ever since childhood, I was in preparation as a toolmaker to the Cosmos. I was a telescope mirror maker, to be specific. Dad had always made telescopes even before I arrived in 1957. He was the master optician at Kitt Peak, making the world’s biggest telescope mirrors that collected light for monstrous mountaintop observatories. I grew up with telescopes in my blood. We joined forces after college.
We worked together as father and son partners, making big mirrors in the desert. I learned from the master where he taught me the refined secrets as only he could. After a decade, we separated unwillingly with his early passing, and I was alone to carry on the family tradition. I took this expertise and added a graduate degree to augment myself before joining Kodak for even more, and this time “top secret,” telescope making. By now, I ascended to the next level in both technology and passion. In 2004, after a good seven-year run, opportunity raised its surprising head and enticed me away from the “dark side” with the promise of the James Webb Space Telescope. We called it Webb, the World’s most fantastic telescope project.
The Chief Engineer position at Thompson was the lure that caught this fish. Soon I was transported west to California for more telescope making fun. We were to polish Webb’s mirrors and eventually deliver them to the origami space telescope, which unfolds as it traverses to a solar orbit some million miles from its creators.
When the “Origami Telescope” unfolds in December 2021, taking on the dimensions of a tennis court, it will be 100 times more powerful than the legendary Hubble Space Telescope. Moreover, it’s a “time machine,” so sophisticated that we can look at the delicate signatures of the past, some 14 billion years ago! This fantastic tool is a product of the skillful hands and ingenious minds of over 2000 talented engineers, scientists, and technicians. Humankind will soon see the universe as never before.
As I age and reminisce, I feel obligated to share my story; our story, the Webb mirror makers, the “Webbsters.” I reflect and realize that I too am “out of warranty,” if you will. Here is my story and Welcome to my world.
Maynard