Funding Shortfalls Impact Operations of James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes

The teams operating the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) — NASA’s two most in-demand observatories and among its most scientifically productive missions — are preparing to reduce operations due to funding shortfalls, officials said last week at the summer meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Anchorage, Alaska.

The comments came at a June 10 town hall held by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), which is responsible for the science operations of the Hubble and Webb telescopes.

Inflation and budget issues are threatening to hobble NASA’s most in-demand telescopes.