When I was a kid my Dad would take me with him when he would "moonlight" and measure parts for people using Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs). I have one particular memory of him programming a CMM while I was looking at a book we got from the library of the drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci. I've always thought he has a wonderful way of describing complex phenomena and try to mimic his teaching techniques as best I can. I'm very proud of my Dad, and grateful to have been able to make this video with him. I'm also very impressed with the incredible work so many people did to make the James Webb Space Telescope happen. The amount of brute force brainpower that went into making it happen is INCREDIBLE. I dream of a day when we all work together as humans to dare mighty things and work on them together. Thanks for watching Smarter Every Day. It means a lot. Here's the link to the fun JWST shirt if you're interested. I wanted a shirt that had the maximum amount of JWST talking points. L2 Orbit path, sunshields, mirrors.... It's awesome. I commissioned an artist named Penny from the UK to design the graphic for the shirt and we're really happy with how it came out! Here's the link: www.smartereveryday.com/store . I'm not a merch guy, I just genuinely think it's cool and thought you might like to have one.

I absolutely LOVE that "the reason I took the job was because this device right here. I never used a 3D laser scanner before". Always keep learning and trying new things.

Dude, that last part when your father was looking at his work leave the planet and then saying "I want it to work" just had me in tears. So passionate. So powerful. Congratulations to everyone on the amazing work.

It's super impressive how you bring the human element into such a large project. This whole thing boils down to normal humans (super smart humans) all working together to accomplish something great. One person doesn't know everything, but everyone on the project is important. You do a good job of representing the 'human' aspect of the project. 10/10

I can't imagine what your dad felt when it launched, being a part of history, all those years of hard work leaving earth never to come back, changing our perception of the universe in ways we can't begin to comprehend. Your family must be so proud. Great video as always.

Your dad is always a welcome addition.

The silence your dad engaged in for a couple of seconds at 50:23, where you can see him forming thoughts after launch made me tear up to the brim. You really nailed to capture him so purely. Great work Destin. You and your dad are awesome people. Love you guys. Love your work.

I lost my dad last year to a 14yr battle with cancer. He was a literal genius when it came to mirrors and optics and even has a few component patents in his name. There is still so much I wanted to learn from him and watching you with your dad and still learning from him really touched my heart!!

Every single aspect of this video is absolutely mind-blowing. Everything from the little marks on the sun-shield to the way the lasers work to the physics aspect of the thermal radiation just makes me want to live 1.000 years to see how Science evolves and improves. Thank you Destin!

It's incredible to see you doing this with your dad 6 years ago. I wish I had videos of me with my dad. You're a blessed man Destin!

There are so many layers to this video... A son spending time with his Dad. A Dad watching years of his life leaving the gravity well we call earth. A friend living a dream he never imagined as a child. Outstanding video Destin!

Nearly made me cry seeing Destin’s dad watch the launch after all that hard work. Very cool Father / Son episode 👍👍

I just saw this today. As I was going through my email today, I saw a headline that said that the first image has finally come in from the James Webb space telescope. The scientists are ecstatic at the first image. Congratulations to your dad on being a big part of our exploration of the universe. Yon have every right to be proud of your dad. I am too!

I love how "dad" says "I'd check that before I said it out loud." Just the idea that he knows what he knows, and admits to not knowing what he probably does know but wants to make sure he's displaying accurate info... beautiful and humble. LOVE IT!!

It must have been hard holding on to the footage for all those years. Must feel so good to finally be able to post it... and to be able to point and say "my dad did that."

Man, I love seeing classically southern guys in academic roles. His dad sounds like every old guy in my home town. There is a verbal authority that only smart southerners have that I love to see.

I have spent years teaching 3D scanning measurement and the animation that you used to show the transformation of your scans to a common reference frame was fantastic. I can't tell you the number of times a simple color coded animation like that would have helped to describe why 3 common references are needed to transform 2 different measurements into the same coordinate system. You and your team do a amazing job of taking complex topics and making them easier to understand.

*Planning for a video 6 years in advance capturing the vital details and letting the viewers understand in simple way... You and your team have my utmost respect Destin, I have learnt so much from this channel while having fun at the same time, much respect for your dad to work on this prestigious project and explaining everything calmly, and Naveen proud of you - you made all Indians proud!* 🤘

I love how Destin talks about his Dad proudly like he's talking proudly about his child, both are proud of eachother and I love that, imagine your father working on the JWT and then your son meeting the president and much more

With how large and apparently fragile that shield is, I was surprised to see it under what appears to be a multi panel drop ceiling more suited to an office. Your videos are outstanding.

I'm a few months late to these comments, but that shot of you and your dad reflecting off the silicone side of the sun shield made me tear up. What a special memory for you and your dad. Congrats

"It took two and a half days, but we're good at it now." is so relatable. Great video and fantastic project

This was cool to see, Destin! I am a developer for the company that writes SpatialAnalyzer, the software your dad is using to run the instruments and do the 3D analysis! In fact, if this ManTech facility is in Huntsville, about 6 or 7 years ago I think I taught a training class there-your dad looks familiar…and so does this room!

I love how proud you are of your dad, and what he does for a living. I had a dad I could be proud of too, and am grateful for the life he gave our family. Thanks for sharing this interesting, and wonderful story.

Thank you for sharing your Dad with us. My Dad has been and inspiration my whole life. He'll be 89 in a couple weeks, still going strong and remains so to this day.

Destins Dad is a pretty great man, he's always complimenting others work and building them up, plus being humble.

The most insane thing is just understanding how big the JWST really is. Doesn't matter how many times you see the mirror array or hear "tennis court", just seeing the shield this close up breaks your head.

This is really special Destin, I could feel the love in the moment between father and son. I could see how proud you are of him and to have learned from such a great person through out your life. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Watching this series again after seeing the epic first color image! Thank you so much Destin for showcasing this for us. This is just TOO COOL!!!! You and your family are truly blessed; and an ABSOLUTE GIFT to the internet community with your wonderful contributions! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this with us!

50:27 my favorite part of this whole video. A wise man....sometimes silence speaks the loudest. It really seemed like he had something else to say but resorted to patting the back of the places and people around him that he loves. Thanks for sharing Destin!

This is so cool. I work with my dad at a local airport. He’s the jet pilot and I service the jet when on the ground. I fuel it, move it from hangar to the ramp and most other services. He always jokes about his life being in my hands, but it’s no joke to me. I take that very seriously. Love working with him.

And now his dad’s work is now in space helping humanity understand how their universe works and making new discoveries. That is simply incredible.

His emotion at the end, I could feel that. Like he was sending his baby out into the world.

Can we also take a moment to appreciate how 10.3M subs (as of writing this) and many years later, Destin still manages to outdo himself video after video, tirelessly raising the bar to incredible levels? Huge congratulations, you deserve all the good things that happen to you!

@14:05 - "Corner Reflector...you know about those..."....that moment when Dad's eyes light up in recognition of being in symbiosis with his son. 🙂

Oh, Destin, what a rare treat this was! Thank you so much for having the foresight and patience to record the various portions of this video over that stretch of years. I've learned some things about JWST that were new to me, but this has given me a much deeper sense of how much work went into the project over its lifetime.

The look on his face when the rocket took off carrying all his hard work seem like it was about to bring tears to his eyes. Great video thanks for the knowledge Justin.

50:40 "Extraordinary things are done by ordinary people." There is nothing ordinary about your dad, and you have taken after your father. And that launch scene with you two... Last thing that got me emotional like that was watching the 1st Falcon Heavy. Your content is going to inspire ordinary kids to do extraordinary things in the future.

I love how everyone in this video is working on such a HUGE project and yet they are so nonchalant about it. Not in a cocky way but in a quietly confident way, and that is something we need to see more of. Also, incredible work filming this years in advance and putting it together. It was incredible and hopefully inspires many others.

Clicked on a link because I was curious about some holes, ended up feeling different about so many things. What a genuinely amazing video. Put the science to one side, the work ethic, the passion, and the sense of achievement you’ve captured here. It’s inspiring.

Hey Destin, as a new dad I can't tell you how much I appreciate your videos. My daughter's only 5 months old but I intend to have her consume and learn from you at every chance we can get. I can't afford to do much for her but education is my highest priority in these extremely early stages of her life. Thank you and your dad for the insane looks at the real world of "science".

Your dad, at the end: a man who's dedicated a passion towards another passion; and what is more, a *belief* in the future of mankind; just sitting back in his chair, getting teary eyed, seeing that same dedication and passion pay off; is inspiring. I want that. I want THAT kind of success. Tell him he is awesome for me, please.

Destin I'm so jealous that you got to do all of these amazing things! Thank you for taking us along for the ride! We're blessed to have you be our eyes into amazing projects like this! Been watching since the toilet splash episode, and I've always been amazed by your videos!

This was one of those transcendent videos you only come across once in a while that somehow spans all the connectivity that's out there. It links stories between mundane activities and lasting discoveries, individual family and global communities, complex mathematical theories and just getting "good enough" hard things done in the world. Thanks Destin!

I grew up without a dad, and I've never been so aware of what that relationship could have provided. Thank you so much for this wonderful video. Both you and your dad do incredible work, and it's so heart-warming to see your relationship.

So I never appreciated before that the sunshield is essentially a multi-wavelength 3d waveguide to direct IR away from the instruments and out to space. Thanks for the video and the explanation.

Hey Destin my Dad died on February 20 2022. We would watch all the launches we could together. He had ALS and life was hard. The JWST was the last launch we talked about before he died. I miss him and love him. Your video is helping me grieve. Thank you even though you probably never know.

Loved this video, it's amazing how the knowledge of each single individual can contribute to such a missive project in such a substantial way. Thanks for sharing this and kudos to your dad, I can imagine how proud you are of him. Cheers.

When Naveen talked about how the sun shields direct heat outward due to their precise shape, that blew my mind. I just finished a class in Heat Transfer for my ME undergrad last week. Even though it was a super challenging course for me, I feel like it was kindergarten level compared to what Naveen was doing with heat transfer. It’s crazy seeing incredibly high level engineering being used in the world today.

It's crazy how humble he is, when he was asked a question he doesn't know the answer to he just says, "I just measure the thing" 🙂

Destin, what an amazing video! I lost my dad when I was very young and was in awe of the respect and love that both you and your dad have for each other. What a truly amazing achievement for your dad in his career for being able to work on such a project that will benefit all of humanity for decades to come. And, thank you for EVERY video that you have done….as a marine engineer, I can truly say that a I have learned at least 5 things on just about every one of your videos.

Hands down my favorite episode of SeD. Just the amount of love,respect and admiration that shines through from you for your father is amazing

I love how your dad qualifies his claims by reminding you to ask one of the engineers that designed it, while also knowing darn well exactly what he is talking about.

So wholesome! I could literally hear the smile on Destin's face the entire time he was talking to his dad, very clear he admires and highly respects his father.

Wow, that graphic at 26:00 is the absolute best demonstration of a complicated topic I've ever seen. Not only was it really well done, but it took something abstract and made it intuitive.

Dustin, took me a bit to get through this. I had to watch it twice. It brought tears to me in the end. The relationship you have with your dad is priceless. I can't imagine your emotions when this was finished. It is a video I will cherish & watch many times. Thank you!

22:54 that animation is top notch! So great to see it explained like this. Amazing job!

This is awesome - I specifically asked a question on Reddit recently about the concern of venting air, and no one seemed to have a satisfactory answer. I asked if payloads need to be designed to let the ambient air out into space in a way that doesn't disrupt or damage the sensitive equipment. This video has the exact answer to that.

Destin, this is an incredible video. Your telling of this story shared the passion, hard work, and dedication your dad put into this project in a very powerful way. It felt like I was sitting next to you listening to the story like I have in some of our other conversations. It must have been incredibly difficult to sit on this footage for 6 years. Excellent work, my friend.

I miss my father and it was so nice to see the special relationship you have with your father. Love your videos and hope you have many more years to spend with your amazing dad.

My favorite part of Destin’s videos are his “A-ha moments”. Those moments where things click, and he understands how something works, or he puts the pieces together. That feeling is what scientists and engineers are always after, and watching someone achieve that is just as gratifying.

There's incredibly over-engineered, then there's the James Webb Telescope. The more I learn, the more I realise the crazy levels of engineering that went into this thing.

This was a special treat. Seeing you with your dad at his ‘office’ brought back many fond memories of my childhood when my own dad would sometimes take me to his workplace. In those days, he sold advertising space in the Chicago Tribune newspaper. Not a very glamorous or cool job, but I couldn’t have cared less. I was just happy to learn a little bit about how the paper got published. I also enjoyed meeting his buddies from work just as you did with your dad. Thanks very much for this. I’m 67 years old now and watching you with your dad really tugged at my heartstrings. I know I don’t have to remind you to treasure these times. Your demeanor and enthusiasm have amply demonstrated your capacity to appreciate these all too rare moments in our lives.

This was amazing to listen to and watch, the accuracy and attention to detail on these projects is staggering. I can't believe you got to see the shield and learn all this, but I'm super happy to have had the opportunity to be here and learn with you! Thank you for all the amazing work you do, and having spent six years on making this video is beyond words. Mad respect!

Two most important things I took away from the first ten minutes of this video: 1. "I don't know, you'll have to ask ____" 2. "That's my understanding." This aligns with everything I've taken away from growing up with this channel. It's always a pleasure to learn from people that truly care about understanding the world around them, and treat the passing on of information with great care.

That was, hands down, the best episode of SED yet. Never thought one of your videos would actually get me teary eyed, but the emotion you captured on your Dad's face as the JWST lifted off just brought it. Bravo Destin.

OK... have to say, this is my MOST favorite video of all you have done. It is WITH YOUR DAD...!!! Made me flash back to the interactions I had with my dad and not only the practical things I learned, but the things that run much deeper. I am sure your dad is as much or more proud of you.

I don't get emotional often but to watch your dads face as all his hard work was coming to fruition was very emotional. What a fantastic man on such an historical project. Congratulations it worked!

Your dad inspires us! 💚

I loved the interaction you two had when you asked him "Hey, I know we're older now, but lets talk and go through this like you taught me as a child" and he smiled and continued like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Kinda warms my heart knowing this is in space now and that your Dad worked on it is soooo cool!

This video was amazing and emotional knowing what your dad went through and both of you watching the successful launch together, it must have been a great bonding experience and a very proud moment for you to see the hard work your dad put into this groundbreaking telescope. I love your videos and I love you and your family for being the coolest and most sincere people on UKposts today! Thank you for this awesome footage and PLEASE keep it up!!!

there was a beautiful moment there, when your dad was overcome with emotion and at a loss for words. Watching the thing he helped build leave this earth forever. Hit me right in the feels.

That final clip with your dad on Christmas day brought a tear to my eye. I can't imagine the knot he must have been feeling in his stomach as you watched the launch together, and the relief and joy was obvious in the footage. Give him a "thank you, and good job" from here in Denmark - the entire team deserves a medal. Thanks so much for this entire video. 👍

Destin, I love you. You make my brain fizz, my eyes sweat, and make me wish I'd done more with my life.....and every bit of what you've done is just plain fun. Thank you so darn much!!

I cried when I rewatched the launch in this video for your dad. Thats true content. Big respect for you, your dad, and Navine.

This video was almost an hour and I didn't even realize it because of how interesting and amazing this project is! Thank you for showcasing these beautiful moments for us all.

In these sometimes dark days, seeing this skill and goodwill in collaboration for science is strangely moving... Great video as always.

This should have been released in June for fathers day. This video was clearly a love letter to your dad. Destin, your pride and admiration of your father is amazing to watch and infectious!

Thanks for this one Dustin. I feel like I grew up in the space program as my Dad was an engineer and almost straight out of college, he worked for Grumman on the LEM for the Apollo program. I taught myself Fortran from his reams of printouts from programs he wrote for designing stuff, including the materials for the black boxes for the F14 Tomcat. He built me a ram expansion for my Sinclair ZX81 that was the first computer I built from a kit. It used triple radiation hardened ram chips he had leftover from samples from the Apollo program. He did so much cool stuff over the years. Passed away a few years ago, I miss him, but one of those people you can always be proud of.

I loved how 6 years later the whole design of the shield and why all the measuring was done actually clicked in Destin's head

Great video Destin. Thanks for putting in all the effort over the years to make it happen. Definitely showed in the finished product.

The raw Emotion in this video touches me to the very core... to have such a family legacy, Not only to have your father work on this Feat of historical proportions, but the Fact you got to document this With him... Is something so far beyond words I can even imagine. Thank you for sharing this with us.

I don't know why this just showed up from 3 months ago, but glad it did. Destin, you and your dad are one's of a kind. Thank you for allowing us in to see this. Happy Father's Day both.

43:06 Imagine how few humans have stood in this position, now this incredible feat of engineering is flying through space. Amazing.

Thank you for sharing the human element of a project like this. You could really see the emotion of your dad's face when that rocket went up. Genuinely touching.

From a carburetor to a sun-shield, your family amazes me every time.

probably one of the most significant UKposts videos ever made. it's great to see the humans and their relationships behind one of the most important things humans have made. hope your dad is proud!

I have been following the progress of James Webb for years. This video made me cry. Thank you Destin!

People that correlate "southern accent" with "lesser intelligence" are having a GD paradigm shift right about now. This video is awesome on so many levels. As someone that lost his Dad a few years ago, this video is so damned heartwarming. Thanks for sharing this, and in this way, Destin. 🙏🙏

This is my favorite video of yours! Turns out the same guy who taught me about how carburetors work showed me why measuring that sun shield on Earth under 1 G very precisely helps our current models of how things work in microgravity. Thanks for sharing this and him! I can't imagine the rules and things they were worried about letting someone into that room. Besides the obvious, what sort of rules did they give you or concerns that they had that surprised you before you were allowed in?

Best part of the video is when your dad said: "I want it to work". After years of effort working on his piece of the big puzzle, the launch of the telescope must have been a big emotion for him. All the rest is almost secondary.

Absolutely well done! Thanks again Destin for helping me get smarter everyday. I also want to thank your dad for his many hours of work on THE JWST! Your videos are always very interesting to me

Oh Dustin didn't expect to cry watching this video but man I did, mad respect for you and your dad. My favorite video on the channel so far💕 Thanks alot for making this video and lots of thanks to your dad for being so cool🫡

One of the most interesting videos I've seen in a very long time. To think that your Dad's work contribution is now hundreds of thousands of miles out in space, successfully deployed, must make him (and you) very proud. Hopefully it will be there for many, many years to come. A true testament to the skill and dedication of all the engineers and scientists who worked on the JWT.

I try to become "smarter everyday" but I will always be in awe of how intelligent the team of people who made JWST become reality are.

Awesome! I always love it when Destin includes his dad, a whole video collaboration about his dad's work that just so happens to be JWST? Boss! As a bonus the sound equalization on Smarter Every Day is amazing. 11/10

Destin. This was so super fun to watch in fascinating. I think it’s incredible that you got to interview your dad in a passion that both of you love.

I worked 6 years with metrology, including in automotive sector. After that, over 10 years with finite element method. This video make me so happy to see these two competences in a field that I love so much, astronomy. Specially in James Webb Telescope. Thanks

Wow, what an amazing piece of engineering! I'm a 62 yr old man and at the end I had tears in my eye's seeing you and your dad on Christmas day watching the rocket lift off, seeing the bond you have for each other but also for the accomplishment that your dad and people from 14 different countries where able to do. Thank you for putting this video together.