Well, thats it. The JWS telescope is slated to be cut in the U.S. House of Representatives. This would be a travesty to our country and the entire scientific world. True there have been cost overruns in this project, but its due to the technological difficulties involved with such an instrument, and with a shelved shuttle program, there will be no way to repair if they get it wrong. They must get it right the first time. You may not like science or government spending projects, thats OK I get it, but something like this also brings prestige,honor and respect to our country which at this time badly needs it. Please put aside you political and short term views and realize that this is something that can benefit our country and all of mankind for decades. First write your congress man: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml Than if this fails and goes to the senate , write your senator: http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?OrderBy=state&Sort=ASC
I registered on this forum just to ask, I'm not American, I'm Canadian, but I don't want this project scrapped. Is there any way I can help keep it going?
The better to see E.T. with... Four telescope link-up creates world's largest mirror 3 February 2012 : The combination of four units of the Very Large Telescopes creates a virtual 130m-mirror
which one would be more effective and between telescopes in space and one on the ground which kind can ultimately be pushed farther or can either kind match the other eventually?
stig wrote: which one would be more effective and between telescopes in space and one on the ground which kind can ultimately be pushed farther or can either kind match the other eventually? Space telescopes like the Hubble don't suffer from atmospheric conditions on the ground... ... Uncle Ferd says its kinda hard to look through a telescope when its rainin' outside.
Granny says, "Wonder if they'll have an online feed?... Australia unveils colossal radio telescope Sat, Oct 06, 2012 - Some of the antennae of the Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope stretches over the landscape yesterday at the remote Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the Western Australian desert.
I think we need reduced government spending much much more than prestige, honor and respect. There won't be much respect for a super power turned third world country. The problem is that the congress is fussing with small stuff. How about closing down, foreign aid, the department of education and the UN for starters.
Unfortunately this worthy project is a victim of a dysfunctional culture at NASA. Original cost estimates were wildly over optimistic and the costs have ballooned way over the original estimates. I still think the project should be continued, but members of Congress who are unhappy with this have a point. http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor...psychology-causing-nasa-program-cost-overruns
I think stopping this project would be a horrible mistake. We need to encourage space exploration rather than halt it. One day, we will inevitably have to ditch this planet and will we be able to make it when that time comes? At the rate we are going, never in a million years.
And why is that? Money still doesn't grow on trees and, if it did, the crop would be poor during an economic downturn.
Yep. Our ability or inability to colonise worlds beyond Earth may prove the ultimate test of our worthiness to survive. There is much that would need to be done, but we're not prioritising it now because there is no immediate threat to our pale blue dot looming.. Well, actually there are threats, such as Yellowstone. If that thing blows, we could be facing global extinction. That could happen most any time. But it's not immediate enough in people's minds to provide the needed impetus to get people working on a solution right now.
Exactly. People are selfish and do not care because nothing will happen in our lifetime. Nobody takes into consideration that by not taking action now, you are just screwing your grandchildren (or likely farther down the line) over.
That isn't even close to being true. While R&D do contribute to the economy, they pale in comparison to corporate profits, government spending, level balance of trade, high employment rate, education and a few thousand other things.
That isn't even close to being true. While R&D do contribute to the economy, they pale in comparison to corporate profits, government spending, level balance of trade, high employment rate, education and a few thousand other things.
R&D makes all of that possible. How are you going to make tv's and cell phones out of stones if there was no progress in R&D since humans evolved? Yeah, corporate profits will somehow magically create products.
Granny says dat's where dem space aliens drew dat giant spider inna desert... Chile Inaugurates World's Most Powerful Space Telescope March 14, 2013 - After two decades of construction, the world's largest and most powerful radio telescope has begun operating in the Chilean desert, giving astronomers a greater ability to peer even farther into the depths of the universe.
