To continue to fund a telescope that looks at worlds other than our own is an extreme waste of money. It's not going to help out current problems on this planet, only create new ones but using money that could be better spent elsewhere. There are other careers to train for outside of space science. It's not the end of the world w/out a telescope floating around in space.

Of all the spending cuts that need to be made, the James Webb space telescope should not be one of them. Imagine if 20 years ago the Hubble Space Telescope had been defunded. What would we have missed out on, in terms of knowledge, education, scientific discovery, and the inspiration this knowledge has given to untold millions? Are we really willing to steal that away from the next generation?

I would not be against revisiting the project and finding a way to complete it with less money. But we should not completely cancel the project.

The research and technology created by NASA have been extremely important in keeping the US on the forefront of science, both in space and in our living rooms. NASA developed technologies include cell phones, fiber optics, memory foam (also known as temper foam), freeze-dried food, firefighting equipment, medical equipment such as cochlear implants and prosthetics, and remote surgical technologies for military and civilian use. There are over 1650 other spin-offs in the fields of computer technology, environment and agriculture, health and medicine, public safety, transportation, recreation, and industrial productivity. Further cuts to NASA's research and development budgets are lobotomizing our our country and risking our future prosperity.

I would like to keep the telescope too, but I'm tired of lawmakers saying don't cut this spending in my district--if not here, then where? We can't keep on circling the wagons only to do nothing. All spending has a related job-growth so that's a poor defense. How about looking somewhere else at Goddard they could cut instead of this program?

Here is a simple answer for all of you wondering where to make these budget cuts. Here is some perspective.

We are worried about it being 1.5 billion over budget. Meanwhile, we spend about $2 billion per week in unnecessary conflicts around the world.

If Congress wants to make a big impact in the budget they need to start with the defense budget. That is common sense and you don't need this rocket scientist to tell you that.

Hey justlooking, where would that money be better spent? Should it go towards the $649 billion defense budget for 2012? Should it go to help pay for the $107 billion being spent on new military hardware? If we bought 2 less V-22 Ospreys (out of 35), 2 less F-35 Lightnings (out of 32), and took the $270 million earmarked by Republican congressmen for keeping a weapons factory in Ohio open (that is, the $270 million over what the Pentagon requested) that would just about cover the cost of finishing off a scientific instrument that will maintain the US leadership in science.

Here is a thought though, how are we going to get it up there and service it? I don't think you want to be shipping something so sensitive over to Russia. I am just asking from a size perspective, do we have the heavy lift capability?

I do agree though, in the end there are tons of benefits from the space program.

JWST has been designed to launch on a rocket (Ariane 5) provided to NASA by the European Space Agency (ESA) in exchange for their scientists getting to control where it points, what data to take, etc. for some fraction of the time. ESA is also providing 2 of the 4 science instruments (with NASA contributing parts of each). It will be launched to an orbit 1 million miles from Earth (HST is only 350 miles away) and cannot be serviced if anything goes wrong.