THE vision of the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble, could be dimmed to cut the scope’s $1 billion overspend.
The change, proposed by a panel of astronomers assessing the project, means the telescope would be able to see infrared wavelengths of about 1.7 micrometres. But to see into the visible range of the spectrum down to 0.6 micrometres it would have to spend 50 per cent longer on its observations.
The recommendation has raised hackles. Robert O’Dell of Rice University in Texas, who was a Hubble project scientist from 1972 to 1982, says: “The JWST had limited…
