Why We Need the James Webb Space Telescope

Over the last 24 hours, the astronomy community has begun facing the possible cancellation of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee has recommended: "$4.5 billion for NASA Science programs, which is $431 million below last year’s level. The bill also terminates funding for the James Webb Space Telescope, which is billions of dollars over budget and plagued by poor management." This is not the end of the game for JWST, as many other branches of government have yet to weigh in, but it's not good news. Looking at it from the public's view, sure, cutting projects that are "billions of dollars over budget and plagued by poor management" sounds like a pretty reasonable action. But I'd like to try to take a few minutes to explain why it's not as simple as the committee would like you to believe. First and foremost, ...