Cooperation

Alan Wagstaff

When I was eight, a reject paling stake 
was quarterstaff enough for me to pry
John Little from the Lees Brook Stepping Stones.

But size nine long bows took more work to make.
Roy Bishop strained three bamboo canes while I 
tied on frayed scraps of twine. We set Chris Jones 
to trim our arrow shafts. Soon Sherwood’s ‘Merry Men’
match ready, would take on the Sheriff’s goons.
It took the best part of two afternoons.

The James Webb faltered time and time again.
Twelve thousand scientists and engineers
strained with the space bound dart for thirty years.
They came from fourteen nations round the globe, 
to build, and loose, a pan-galactic probe
with scope enough to sift for spacetime’s birth.
They forged the grandest grail quest seen on Earth.

This mammoth opus for the heart and mind
was too immense for local tribes to own.
It took the mutual might of humankind
to place the red light hunter in the zone.

I hope the James Webb lures strange Others here,
and that they’re interstellar go-betweens:
those aliens, well past parochial fear,
who have cooperation in their genes.

The Science

Concept studies for The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) began in 1999 with a projected launch date of 2007 and a US$1 billion budget. The programme was almost swamped by massive cost overruns and delays. In 2005 a major redesign was required. The JWST was finally launched on Christmas Day 2021, 14 years beyond the date originally forecast. NASA has reported that the total cost was about US$10 billion. 

The four main goals of the project: to search for the first galaxies, to determine how galaxies have evolved, to observe the formation of stars, and to investigate the potential for life in distant planets, inspired the NASA partners to struggle through the difficulties. They also maintained their vision that the JWST should be a global research tool. Perhapsthis pure science ideal helped the project managers to overcome the odds.

The Poet

Alan Wagstaff is a career educator and school adviser. He enjoys using poetry and song to enhance science and maths teaching/learning. Alan has developed holistic school models that are used in several countries.

Next poem: Excavate by Jennifer Henry