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| Photo Credit: NASA Solar System Exploration |
We received the first photo from the James Webb Space Telescope yesterday. This incredible machine was built to conduct infrared astronomy, including view objects that can’t be easily seen by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Webb Telescope should “enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology, such as observation of the first stars and the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.” While the technology, and potential implications, are inspiring, this letter traditionally does not cover space exploration, astronomy, or telescopes.
So why am I writing about the Webb Telescope?
Production of the telescope was led by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. It started in 1996 and was initially planned to launch in 2007. That initial plan had a $500 million budget.
Due to numerous complexities, including production issues, the telescope was not finished until 2016 and the final price tag is estimated to be just under $10 billion.
Although the telescope was finished in 2016, it underwent extensive testing before launching in December of 2021.
That means that the project was 20x more expensive, and took 2.5x longer, than the original plan. But look at how amazing the very first photo is that has been released from the James Webb Space Telescope:
Photos that highlight stars from billions of years ago make us feel insignificant. All of our problems seem less important when you realize how small the human population is. We haven’t been around that long and we likely are only a footnote in the history of multiple galaxies. Wild stuff.
But my big takeaway from the Webb Telescope is that great pieces of technology take a long time to build. They require collaboration across organizations and individuals. There has to be a deep belief in the mission, along with a committed group that is willing to work on the problem for decades.
There is example after example in history of technologists staying the course and producing something that changes the world. It rarely takes 20+ years, but the very disruptive innovations certainly take longer.
As I read more about the process of creating the Webb Telescope, it made me think about bitcoin and the Lightning Network. The most decentralized, and strongest, computing network in history has been bootstrapped organically over the last 13 years. It has required individuals and organizations to collaborate, either directly or indirectly, to continue building out the global system.
There is no doubt that bitcoin miners and node operators are committed to the mission. They continue to plug their equipment in, secure the network, enforce the consensus rules, and process transactions. This occurs regardless of the economic, geopolitical, or social environment.
If we take this same framework and apply it to the Lightning Network, we can see that the decentralized layer two technology system has been growing like crazy over the last ~ 4 years. In fact, we just hit another all-time high in Lightning Network capacity yesterday.
Building a global, decentralized computing network is impressive. So is launching a telescope into space that can take pictures of stars from billions of years ago. Innovation is all around us. It can take decades to play out, which means it is easy to lose sight of how incredible these milestones are.
The future belongs to the builders. Everything around us has come to fruition because an individual or group decided to do the hard work to create something new. Watching the excitement around the Webb Space Telescope reminded me of how important the builders are. The bitcoin network is no different — the builders are essential to success.
Ask yourself this question, “what am I building?” The answer should tell you a lot about where you are in your journey at the moment.
