NASA BUDGET CRISIS THREATENS SPACE TELESCOPES

Astronomers are riding an emotional roller coaster. Last month they were
elated when NASA's new administrator, Michael D. Griffin, restarted work
on a possible shuttle mission to extend the life of the Hubble Space
Telescope. This month they're in despair over news that future
space-astronomy missions may be downsized, delayed, or cancelled because
of a financial crisis within the agency.

In a recent letter to Congress, Griffin noted that NASA's budget for the
current year falls about $2 billion short of what's needed to keep all
current programs on track....

By far the worst problem for astronomers concerns the James Webb Space
Telescope (JWST), a 6.5-meter (256-inch) infrared observatory sometimes
called Hubble's successor. Like Hubble, it's a joint project of NASA and
the European Space Agency. Various hurdles seem destined to delay its
launch by at least a year, to no earlier than 2012, and threaten to
increase the mission's cost by as much as $1 billion to a total of $3
billion or more. In response, NASA has asked the project to consider
whether a 4-meter telescope with fewer scientific instruments could be
flown instead....

http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1516_1.asp