John Mather, Project Scientist for JWST, faces the James Webb Space Telescope primary mirror, taking a selfie, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, May 4, 2016

John Mather, Project Scientist for JWST, faces the James Webb Space Telescope primary mirror, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, May 4, 2016

Nobel Laureate and James Webb Space Telescope project scientist Dr. John Mather takes a selfie with the telescope. May 4, 2016 was a rare day for JWST, as it briefly faced the cleanroom observation window. The telescope was eventually rotated face-down in prep for the installation of the flight instruments. Credit: Meredith Gibb

John Mather, Project Scientist for JWST, faces the James Webb Space Telescope primary mirror, taking a selfie, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, May 4, 2016

Dr. Nancy Grace Roman visits James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Project Team. Dr. John Mather.

NASA Astrophycist Dr. John Mather speaks, Tuesday, July 27, 2010, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Mather was speaking as part of a ceremony with STS-132 astronaut Piers Sellers who returned a replica of the Nobel Prize that is in the museum's collection and was flown aboard STS-132 Atlantis. The prize was won by Mather and University of California, Berkeley researcher George Smoot in 2006 for their work using the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite to understand the big-bang theory of the universe.Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

STS-132 astronaut Piers Sellers, left, and Dr. John Mather are seen with a replica of Mather's Nobel Prize, Tuesday, July 27, 2010, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Sellers returned the replica that is in the museum's collection and was flown aboard STS-132 Atlantis. The prize was won by Mather and University of California, Berkeley researcher George Smoot in 2006 for their work using the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite to understand the big-bang theory of the universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Dr. John Mather, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientist and Nobel Laureate, center, presents Gen. John R. “Jack” Dailey, director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, left, with a a replica of Mather’s Nobel Prize medal that flew in space aboard STS-132, as astronaut Piers Sellers looks on, during a ceremony at the museum, Tuesday, July 27, 2010, in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Town Hall - Panel question and answer - Bill Ochs; Dr. John Mather; Dr. Eric Smith; Thomas Zurbuchen; Center Director Chris Scolese; NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Town Hall - Panel question and answer - Bill Ochs; Dr. John Mather; Dr. Eric Smith; Thomas Zurbuchen; Center Director Chris Scolese; NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden.

NASA Astrophycist Dr. John Mather, at podium, speaks Tuesday, July 27, 2010, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington as museum director Gen. John R. "Jack" Dailey, U.S. Marine Corps ret. and STS-132 astronaut Piers Sellers look on. Sellers returned a replica of the Nobel Prize that is in the museum's collection and was flown aboard STS-132 Atlantis. The prize was won by Mather and University of California, Berkeley researcher George Smoot in 2006 for their work using the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite to understand the big-bang theory of the universe.Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

STS-132 astronaut Piers Sellers, at podium, acknowleges museum director Ret. Gen. John R. "Jack" Dailey, seated left, and NASA astrophycisist Dr. John Mather, center, during a presentation, Tuesday, July 27, 2010, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Sellers returned a replica of the Nobel Prize that is in the museum's collection and was flown aboard STS-132 Atlantis. The prize was won by Mather and University of California, Berkeley researcher George Smoot in 2006 for their work using the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite to understand the big-bang theory of the universe.Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Dr. Nancy Grace Roman visits James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Project Team. Dr. John Mather.

NASA James Webb Space Telescope Senior Project Scientist John Mather speaks with members of the media following the release of the first full-color images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, Tuesday, July 12, 2022, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The first full-color images and spectroscopic data from the James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), are a demonstration of the power of Webb as the telescope begins its science mission to unfold the infrared universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Taylor Mickal)

NASA James Webb Space Telescope Senior Project Scientist John Mather speaks with members of the media following the release of the first full-color images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, Tuesday, July 12, 2022, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The first full-color images and spectroscopic data from the James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), are a demonstration of the power of Webb as the telescope begins its science mission to unfold the infrared universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Taylor Mickal)

Panelists (from left) Ellen Stofan, NASA Chief Scientist, left; John Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator for NASA's Science Mission DIrectorate, second from left; John Mather, Nobel Laureate and Senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, third from left; Sara Seager, MacArthur Fellow and Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, third from right; Dave Gallagher, Director for Astronomy and Physics at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, second from right; and Matt Mountain, Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and Telescope Scientist for the JWST, right; are seen during a panel discussion on the search for life beyond Earth in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters on Monday, July 14, 2014 in Washington, DC. The panel discussed how NASA's space-based observatories are making new discoveries and how the agency's new telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, will continue this path of discovery after its schedule launch in 2018. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Lt. Governor Rutherford and staff visited Goddard on March 8, 2017. They toured James Webb Space Telescope with Bill Ochs and Robotic Operations Center with Ben Reed. They also met John Mather, Nobel Prize winner.

Lt. Governor Rutherford and staff visited Goddard on March 8, 2017. They toured James Webb Space Telescope with Bill Ochs and Robotics Operations Center with Ben Reed. They also met John Mather, Nobel Prize winner.

AIAA American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics science fair winners visited Goddard on July 17, 2017. Dr. John Mather, Nobel Prize winner, poses with group near JWST clean room.

Lt. Governor Rutherford and staff visited Goddard on March 8, 2017. They toured James Webb Space Telescope with Bill Ochs and Robotic Operations Center with Ben Reed. They also met John Mather, Nobel Prize winner.

John Mather, Nobel Laureate and Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, speaks during a panel discussion on the search for life beyond Earth in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters on Monday, July 14, 2014 in Washington, DC. The panel discussed how NASA's space-based observatories are making new discoveries and how the agency's new telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, will continue this path of discovery after its schedule launch in 2018. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

An animation of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is projected as John Mather, Nobel Laureate and Project Scientist for the JWST speaks during a panel discussion on the search for life beyond Earth in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters on Monday, July 14, 2014 in Washington, DC. The panel discussed how NASA's space-based observatories are making new discoveries and how the agency's new telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, will continue this path of discovery after its schedule launch in 2018. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

John Mather, Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, center, answers a question from the audience during a panel discussion on the search for life beyond Earth in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters on Monday, July 14, 2014 in Washington, DC. The panel discussed how NASA's space-based observatories are making new discoveries and how the agency's new telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, will continue this path of discovery after its schedule launch in 2018. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)