The Webb Space Telescope Will Rewrite Cosmic History. If It Works

The engineering effort and scientific expertise this telescope requires is staggering. I really hope it goes well - not just for having a better look at our universe - but as a milestone, proving that humanity can still pull off the impossible.

While the material is I think easier to understand than some of the high flung math and physics the publication talks about in other articles, this is still an above average read.

Given that price tag, what would be the political backlash against NASA if the JWST fails? Would that be enough to cancel other projects for good?

I sure hope not.

The price tag, ~$6 billion over 15 years and and expected life of 10 years, it's really not that much money in the grand scheme of government expenses.

We dump $700 billion every year into tanks and planes the military doesn't even want. A one time investment in potentially getting a glimpse into the origins of the universe seems so minuscule in comparison.

Given the R+D investment, could they just build and launch another one?

I will be launched on Dec 22. Mark the day.

There is a nice countdown page for it : https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/countdown.html