How a team from Baltimore turned data from the James Webb Telescope into the images seen around the world

Before the first full-color images from the James Webb Space Telescope were released to the world Tuesday, and before President Biden proudly unveiled the Webb’s photo of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, Joseph DePasquale sat for hours in his office in Baltimore, working tirelessly to get them ready. DePasquale, senior science visuals developer in the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute, located on the Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus, was part of a team tasked with processing the Webb’s first photos — turning them from data sets to color images.