Space telescope is worth the effort

摘要

Your sensationalist headline 'The telescope that ate astronomy' could more appropriately have highlighted the promise of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for astronomy's future (Nature 467, 1028-1030; 2010).rnNo facilities exist on or off this planet - or are called for in the recent US decadal survey of astronomy and astrophysics - for finding the first galaxies or for detecting liquid water on habitable planets around other stars. These capabilities havernbeen part of the JWST science plan since its inception.