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A shiny new telescope is crowding out NASA's other science missions
一個引人矚目的望遠鏡把其他科研項目擠出NASA的預算
THE Hubble space telescope, an orbiting observatory launched in 1990 by NASA, America's space agency,
哈勃望遠鏡是于1990年由美國航空航天局發(fā)射的一個軌道運行天文臺。
has been one of that agency's most successful missions since the Apollo moon shots in the 1960s and 1970s.
它已成為美國航空局自20世紀6、70年代阿波羅號發(fā)射后最重大的成就之一。
It has produced a string of scientific achievements:
它也產(chǎn)生了一系列科學成果：
confirming that most galaxies have a black hole in the middle;
證實了大多數(shù)星系中間都有一個黑洞；
providing a front-row seat for the collision, in 1994, of a comet with the planet Jupiter;
為1994年彗星和木星碰撞的觀測提供最清晰的視角；
and helping to uncover the strange fact that the expansion of the universe seems to be accelerating.
有助于發(fā)現(xiàn)宇宙趨于加速膨脹的奇特現(xiàn)象。
But beyond the science, it has also been a public-relations hit.
在科學領域之外，它也同樣是一個公眾討論的熱點。
Its beautiful images have introduced a generation to the wonders of astronomy. rather than visible light,
哈勃望遠鏡所提供的美妙圖片已經(jīng)將一代又一代人引入天文學奇觀中去。
So in 2002, when the agency considered plans for a successor that would study the universe in infra-red,
所以在2002年，代理機構考慮一個將用紅外線代替可見光研究宇宙的繼任者的計劃。
would be ready to fly in 2010 and would cost just 2.5 billion, saying yes was easy.
這個繼任者計劃在2010年起飛，而且只花25億美元，因此當時很容易就通過了。
Nine years later, NASA is regretting that decision.
但是9年以后，NASA真的很后悔當初的決定。
The James Webb space telescope, as the new machine is called,
這臺名為JWST的新機器仍然還在工作間，
is still in the workshop, and its launch date has been set back repeatedly.
并且它的發(fā)射日期一再被推演，
Its cost has gone up to 8.8 billion, a figure that, if history is any guide, could rise still further.
按照以往的經(jīng)驗推測，這筆預算還會繼續(xù)增加。
Which would be embarrassing at the best of times, but with public-spending cuts looming and NASA's budget flat for the foreseeable future, it is causing real strains.
在這最佳時期將會是尷尬的。但是隨著公共花費削減正隱隱約約呈現(xiàn)并且對NASA未來的預期并不景氣，它正造成真的擔憂。
In July, irritated by the JWST's rising costs, the House of Representatives tried to cut 1.9 billion from NASA's budget for next year, in an attempt to have the project cancelled.
7月，受到JWST不斷上升的花費的影響，美國眾議院試圖從NASA下半年的預算中減少19億美元，讓這個項目取消。
On November 1st, after lobbying from the telescope's defenders, the Senate passed a bill that restored the telescope's funding.
在9月1日，在望遠鏡保護人的游說下，眾議院通過了恢復望遠鏡基金的議案。
But it is not just politicians that are restive.
但是焦躁不安的不僅僅是政治家，
Astronomers have long worried that the ballooning costs of the telescope would affect NASA's other science projects.
天文學家也一直擔心不斷增加德望遠鏡開支會影響美國航空航天局其他科研項目。
Officially, the space agency will say only that other missions will be delayed,
盡管航天局發(fā)布消息說其他項目將僅僅被推遲，
but there are fears that some could be cut completely.
但是仍然存在一些項目被完全終止的可怕結果。
One potential sacrifice is WFIRST, an infra-red space telescope intended for launch in 2020.
其中最有可能被犧牲的項目是計劃在2020年推出的紅外線太紅望遠鏡。
This is designed to probe the nature of dark energy,
該望遠鏡為了探究宇宙暗能量的本質(zhì)而設計，
which is thought to be responsible for the quickening expansion of the universe that Hubble helped bring to the world's attention.
而暗能量被認為是加快宇宙膨脹的主要原因。
A string of other, smaller projects could suffer as well.
哈勃望遠鏡在探究暗能量中的作用引起了世界的關注。接下來一系列的其他小項目也將遇到相同的困境。
The telescope's advocates say junking it now would be a false economy.
望遠鏡的擁護者認為現(xiàn)在放棄它也是假省錢。
Most of the hardware has already been built, so canceling it, they argue, would mean throwing all that away.
大多數(shù)的硬件已經(jīng)開發(fā)完成，因此，他們認為取消他它將意味著前功盡棄。
And they play on fears that America is in danger of losing its pre-eminence in high-budget big science,
隨著今年早些時候，世界上第二給力的粒子加速器，伊利諾斯州的一萬億電子伏加速器的關閉，
following the closure earlier this year of the Illinois-based Tevatron, the second-most-powerful particle accelerator in the world.
他們擔憂美國正面臨著失去它在以高預算為支撐的尖端科技領域領先地位的威脅。
The JWST, if it does eventually fly, would surely do some spectacular science.
如果JWST最后可以升空的話，將要成為科學界的壯舉。
The size of its mirror—25 square metres, as against Hubble's 4.5，
它的反射鏡有25平米—遠遠超過了哈勃4.5平米的面積，
and the location of its orbit far from the reflected light of Earth will allow it to study some of the earliest events in the universe,
而且它的運行軌道離地球的反射光更遠，可以讓人們看清早期宇宙發(fā)生的事情，
including the formation of the first galaxies.
包括第一個星系的形成。
It will also help with the search for extrasolar planets.
它也能對尋找太陽系外的行星提供幫助。
Hubble, of course, was also late—and around 2 billion over budget.
當然，哈勃望遠鏡也是出現(xiàn)較晚的，并且超出預算達20億美元。
It was lampooned after its launch when a wonky mirror meant that its images were blurred almost to the point of uselessness, and a mission by the Space Shuttle to fix the problem cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
在它發(fā)射之后因為一個鏡片晃動造成像模糊而被諷刺是毫無用處的，并且一個用航天飛機來完成這樣一個修理任務要花費上億美元，
Given its subsequent record, few now begrudge the cost.
但是據(jù)它隨后傳回的數(shù)據(jù)來看，很少有人會吝嗇這筆錢。
With all that in mind, NASA will press on with the JWST, at least for now.
鑒于這一切，就目前而言，美國航空航天局會對JWST的研發(fā)施壓。
All that remains for America's astronomers to do is pray that their favourite mission is not one of those delayed,
對于美國航天員來說，他們所能做的就是祈禱他們熱衷的任務沒有被拖延，
or even cancelled, to keep the new telescope on track.
