James Webb Telescope gets funding to finish it

[astroron (Ron)]

Great News James Webb Telescope will be finished
http://www.universetoday.com/88928/s...ace-telescope/

See caveat at end of story,which still leaves just a little bit of doubt
Cheers

[renormalised (Carl)]

Phew!!!!!

[gary]

Originally Posted by astroron

Great News James Webb Telescope will be finished
http://www.universetoday.com/88928/s...ace-telescope/
Cheers

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the heads-up and good news indeed. JWST is certainly shaping up
to be the telescope everyone will be talking about in the years to come.

There is a rider at the bottom of the article that reads -

NOTE: While the JWST program has been specifically included in today’s markup, the bill itself still needs to be approved by the full appropriations committee and then go to the Senate floor for a vote. It then must be reconciled with the House version before receiving final appropriation. Still, this is definitely one step closer to getting the JWST off the ground!

With the current relative strength of the the Australian economy, I suspect it is hard
for many of us on this side of the pond to fully appreciate the dimensions of the
downturn in the US economy and the much higher rates of unemployment they
have been enduring. But in the face of that, finding the national will to take on a
project as big, complex, ambitious and expensive as this is the very sort of thing
that seems to be ingrained in American culture. There are people who Think Big
and then there is everyone else. And projects such as this show America still
has no shortage of people who aren't afraid to Think Big.

Astronomy enthusiasts will be excited to see this scope in operation and providing us with
that constant diet of amazing new stuff about the universe that we have all gotten
so use to from scopes such as the Hubble.

Thanks again for the link to this good news story.

[astroron (Ron)]

Thanks Gary,thats what I meant by adding this at the bottom of my post.
See caveat at end of story,which still leaves just a little bit of doubt
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/....estionicon.gif
I hope the going ahead in the funding could be the Catalyst to get some faith back in NASA"s fading image

[Jen]

woohoooo

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Excellent news!

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

A great thing to hear on waking

[dj gravelrash (Dino)]

Yeah, hope this goes ahead. The only drama is the IMF are warning Europe and the US to get there financial houses in order due to spiralling debt.

[CraigS]

Hmmm ..

I'm not sure about this .. found this (from the senate sub-committee press release):

The bill includes… $5.1 billion for National Aeronautics and Space Administration Science, which includes the full $530 million needed for the James Webb Space Telescope to achieve a 2018 launch.

.. does this mean that the $530mill has to come out of the $5.1 billion ?
If it does, it means some other project has to get the chop and all this is really about, is the sub-committe calling the shots on project priorities.

Elsewhere they say the total NASA budget is reduced:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is funded at $17.9 billion, a reduction of $509 million or 2.8 percent from the FY2011 enacted level.

I suppose overall, I'd prefer to see the JWST come first .. but the real question is: Do any other projects have to get the chop to fund the completion of the JWST ?

Cheers

[TrevorW]

NASA's annual budget $18billion projected for the next 4 years

Some interesting stats I really think the US needs to get it's priorities right

Sep 11 2011


For your quick reading, key statistics about the Iraq War and occupation, taken primarily from data analyzed by various think tanks, including The Brookings Institution's Iraq Index, and from mainstream media sources. Data is presented as of August 30, 2011, except as indicated. U.S. SPENDING IN IRAQ
Spent & Approved War-Spending - About $900 billion of US taxpayers' funds spent or approved for spending through November 2010.
Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq - $9 billion of US taxpayers' money and $549.7 milion in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors. Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.
Lost and Reported Stolen - $6.6 billion of U.S. taxpayers' money earmarked for Iraq reconstruction, reported on June 14, 2011 by Special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction Stuart Bowen who called it "the largest theft of funds in national history." (Source - CBS News) Last known holder of the $6.6 billion lost: the U.S. government.
Missing - $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)
Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq - $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings
Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported - $1.4 billion
Amount paid to KBR, a former Halliburton division, to supply U.S. military in Iraq with food, fuel, housing and other items - $20 billion
Portion of the $20 billion paid to KBR that Pentagon auditors deem "questionable or supportable" - $3.2 billion
U.S. Annual Air-Conditioning Cost in Iraq and Afghanistan - $20.2 billion (Source - NPR, June 25, 2011)
U.S. 2009 Monthly Spending in Iraq - $7.3 billion as of Oct 2009
U.S. 2008 Monthly Spending in Iraq - $12 billion
U.S. Spending per Second - $5,000 in 2008 (per Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on May 5, 2008)
Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq - $390,000