Just how resilient does a space telescope have to be to survive both Earth’s environment and the frigid, airless environment of space? Paul Geithner, the deputy project manager – technical for James Webb Space Telescope at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, answered some questions about the design challenges of building the telescope and the gauntlet of tests it has endured in the years leading up to launch. James Webb Space Telescope, or Webb, is NASA’s upcoming infrared space observatory, which will launch in 2019.