Massive Cost Overrun to Webb Threatens Other NASA Missions.

JAMES Webb Space Telescope (Spacecraft); UNITED States. National Aeronautics & Space Administration; EXPENSE forecasting; ASTRONOMY; ASTRONOMICAL observations; MIKULSKI, Barbara, 1936-; SPACE telescopes; FINANCE; EQUIPMENT & supplies; TELESCOPE design & construction

The article reports that a project intended to provide insight into the universe’s astronomical processes may negatively impact other projects organized by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The expense for the administration’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is estimated to reach $1.7 billion, an overrun that equals $700 million more than the budget NASA allots annually to all astronomy projects. U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski discovered the overrun when she requested an independent review of the JWST, which is intended to be a successor to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.