Even NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Is Getting Its Budget Slashed

Less than four years after its showstopping launch, the James Webb Space Telescope is facing massive budget slashes that will, experts worry, harm scientific progress and stymie the beloved observatory's operations. As Space.com reports, the research center that oversees Webb's operations has been directed to steel the observatory for up to 20 percent in budget cuts. Officials with that center, the Maryland-based Space Telescope Science Institute (STSci) that also oversees the Hubble and Chandra space telescope missions, says the cuts will likely impact every aspect of Webb's operations. "NASA is having budget constraints across the entire board, so the institute is being asked to consider a significant — about 20 percent — cut to our operational budget for the mission starting later this year," Tom Brown, the head of the Webb mission at STSci, told his fellow scientists during a recent meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), per Space.com. "So the impacts of that, if it ... Read full article.