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A shiny new telescope is crowding out NASA s other science missions 一个引人瞩目的望远镜把其他科研项目挤出NASA的预算 THE Hubble space telescope, an orbiting observatory launched in 1990 by NASA, America sspace agency, has been one of that agency s most successful missions since the Apollo moonshots in the 1960s and 1970s. It has produced a string of scientific achievements: confirmingthat most galaxies have a black hole in the middle; providing a front-row seat for thecollision, in 1994, of a comet with the planet Jupiter; and helping to uncover the strangefact that the expansion of the universe seems to be accelerating. But beyond the science,it has also been a public-relations hit. Its beautiful images have introduced a generation tothe wonders of astronomy. 哈勃望远镜是于1990年由美国航空航天局发射的一个轨道运行天文台。它已成为美国航空局自20世纪6、70年代阿波罗号发射后最重大的成就之一。它也产生了一系列科学成果：证实了大多数星系中间都有一个黑洞;为1994年彗星和木星碰撞的观测提供最清晰的视角;有助于发现宇宙趋于加速膨胀的奇特现象。在科学领域之外，它也同样是一个公众讨论的热点。哈勃望远镜所提供的美妙图片已经将一代又一代人引入天文学奇观中去。 So in 2002, when the agency considered plans for a successor that would study the universein infra-red, rather than visible light, would be ready to fly in 2010 and would cost just $2.5billion, saying yes was easy. Nine years later, NASA is regretting that decision. The JamesWebb space telescope , as the new machine is called, is still in the workshop, and itslaunch date has been set back repeatedly . Its cost hasgone up to $8.8 billion, a figure that, if history is any guide, could rise still further. Whichwould be embarrassing at the best of times, but with public-spending cuts looming andNASA s budget flat for the foreseeable future, it is causing real strains. | 
