Ug. The James Webb Space Telescope is delayed yet again. This marks the second (or is it the third time) in just the last year the launch date was pushed back. Originally scheduled to launch in 2007, the new proposed launch date (yeah, right) is now set for 2021. Sigh. This will be an amazing telescope when operational, but the ever increasing costs and continued delay are sucking NASA resources that could be used elsewhere on smaller astronomy related projects.
NASA’s next flagship space telescope is delayed again
Big projects, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, can vastly increase our knowledge of the cosmos, but so can many smaller projects. It's hard to say if the JWST was a mistake, but the longer it is delayed and the greater the costs, the more it will come across as a mistake. Then again, when Hubble was initially launched and had a focus problem, it was declared a massive failure. No sane person today would call Hubble a massive failure, so the JWST, when launched, and when data is received, could provide just as much knowledge, if not more, than Hubble. Until then, we must continue to wait. Hopefully my kids won't be in college when it finally launches and hopefully I won't be 50 when it launches, although that's not out of the realm of the possible right now!
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