By 
December 6th, 2017
The James Webb Space Telescope Mirror
Credit: NASA
A U.S. House of Representatives Space Subcommittee hearing, “NASA’s Next Four Large Telescopes, was held on Wednesday, December 6, 2017.
The purpose of the hearing was to examine the development of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) and the planning for a next generation space telescope.
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Credit: NASA
Witness testimony:
Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Cristina Chaplain, Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management, U.S. Government Accountability Office
A. Thomas Young, Former Director, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA; Former
President and Chief Operating Officer, Martin Marietta Corporation
“The current assessment of JWST’s status is
that integration and test will take significantly longer than planned. The result is a launch schedule delay and the consumption of most of the remaining funding reserves. In my opinion, the launch date and required funding cannot be determined until a new plan is thoughtfully developed and verified by independent review.” – Thomas Young
Credit: Inside Outer Space
Matt Mountain, President, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
Chris McKee, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, Physics, University of California, Berkeley, on behalf of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
Also, go to:
NASA: Preliminary Observations on the Management of Space Telescopes
GAO-18-277T, December 6:
Testimony: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-277T
Highlights: http://www.gao.gov/assets/690/688771.pdf
Posted in Space News
