Spacewatch: Nasa space telescope faces cuts to reduce costs

Rising costs of a flagship telescope designed to have 100 times the field of view of Hubble are forcing Nasa to cut back to ensure the mission goes ahead at all

Nasa plans to "downscope" one of its flagship missions to keep it within cost estimates. This almost certainly means reducing its scientific capabilities.

The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFirst) is designed to study essential astrophysical and cosmological questions. This ambitious mission began in 2016 when Nasa asked its scientists and engineers to come up with a mission that was as sensitive as the Hubble space telescope, but would have 100 times its field of view.