Senate Appropriators Spare James Webb Space Telescope From The Chopping Block, For Now

[RandySF]

The James Webb Space Telescope -NASA's overbudget, delayed successor to the Hubble Space Telescope- will see the light of day the stars after all in 2018, if all goes according to plan, thanks to a lifeline thrown out to it by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

A detailed report on the 2012 science budget resolution released by its Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Friday clarified that although NASA's overall budget is slated to be slashed by 2.8 percent in 2012 (from $18.5 billion to $17.9,) the agency will actually receive even more money that it asked for specifically to continue building the giant, infrared orbital telescope.

The report allocates $529.6 million for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) versus the $354.6 million for the year NASA had originally requested in its own 2012 budget proposal.

http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/senate-appropriators-spare-james-webb-space-telescope-from-the-chopping-block-for-now.php?ref=fpblg