--- --- Nov 10, 2022 # Window Into the Universe ## Video: Behind the Cover: Best Inventions 2022 [Watch (HLS stream): Behind the Cover: Best Inventions 2022](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1ttu12CI.m3u8) (3:23)  _Published 2022-11-10. Photographer Sergiy Barchuk discusses how he brought objects to life for TIME's Best Inventions of 2022 cover._ NASA James Webb Space Telescope by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/) ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large  NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI The greatest cosmic observatory ever invented—originally known as the Next Generation Space Telescope—was first proposed in 1995 and was supposed to launch in 2007 at a cost of $500 million. Things didn’t quite work out that way. It was not until Christmas Day 2021 that the re-christened [James Webb Space Telescope](https://time.com/6199745/james-webb-telescope-first-scientific-discovery/)—named after a former NASA administrator—was launched, at a cost of a cool $10 billion. But the time and money have been worth it—with designers delivering on a promise to build a telescope able to look farther into space than any ever built before. Webb’s [uniquely powerful](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-releases-first-near-infrared-camera-scientific-image-taken-by-james-webb-space-telescope-301584203.html) infrared camera can peer into the universe’s infancy and has already returned a dazzling array of images, including a planet orbiting another star. The telescope, President Joe Biden [said](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/11/remarks-by-president-biden-and-vice-president-harris-in-a-briefing-to-preview-the-first-images-from-the-james-webb-space-telescope/#:~:text=Put%20together%2C%20it's%20a%20new,I%20mean%2C%20it%20really%20is.) in July, after initial images were revealed, offers a “new window into the history of our universe.” NASA James Webb Space Telescope: The 200 Best Inventions of 2022 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2022/6229836/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2022/6229836/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope/"},"headline":"Window Into the Universe","datePublished":"2022-11-10T11:20:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:09:48.590Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2022/6229836/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope/","keywords":["list","franchise","ecommerce","best inventions","Best Inventions 2022"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f76a8f383f30543/698a3739011682cc04982721/best-inventions-2022-james-webb-space-telescope.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeffrey Kluger","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/"}],"creator":"Jeffrey Kluger","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f76a8f383f30543/698a3739011682cc04982721/best-inventions-2022-james-webb-space-telescope.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2022/6229836/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope/","name":"Window Into the Universe"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Behind the Cover: Best Inventions 2022","description":"Photographer Sergiy Barchuk discusses how he brought objects to life for TIME's Best Inventions of 2022 cover.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1ttu12CI/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-11-10T11:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1ttu12CI.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2022/6229836/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope/","duration":"PT3M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2022/6229836/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```