There's no dark side of the moon really

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/.