Quanta Wins Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting

The staff of Quanta Magazine, notably senior editor Natalie Wolchover, have won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, "for coverage that revealed the complexities of building the James Webb Telescope designed to facilitate groundbreaking astronomical and cosmological research."

Wolchover's thorough, tireless reporting explains how the construction and launch of the space telescope became a tense, three-decade odyssey, one that touched on the biggest questions in astronomy and cosmology yet became profoundly personal for the scientists behind the project.

We are deeply grateful to the Pulitzer Prize Board for this honor, and for the light it shines on our colleague Natalie, who has been part of Quanta since the very beginning. Here is the feature story that the Pulitzer Prizes recognized, from December 3, 2021.

ASTROPHYSICS

The Webb Space Telescope Will Rewrite Cosmic History. If It Works.

By NATALIE WOLCHOVER

The James Webb Space Telescope has been designed to answer many of the core questions that have animated astronomers over the past half-century. With a $10 billion price tag, it is one of the most ambitious engineering initiatives ever attempted. But for it to achieve its potential — nothing less than to rewrite the history of the cosmos and reshape humanity's position within it — a lot of things have to work just right.

Read the article