spacetoday.net: NASA review examines options for Chandra and Hubble

Posted: Sat, Jul 27, 2024, 12:22 PM ET (1622 GMT)
A review chartered by NASA concluded that it is not possible to operate the Chandra X-Ray Observatory at the funding levels proposed by NASA. The Operations Paradigm Change Review, conducted by a team of scientists this spring and presented Tuesday, found that the proposed sharp cuts in NASA's fiscal year 2025 budget proposal ruled out any options for continued operations of Chandra. The committee did find approaches that would allow a cut of about a third in Chandra's budget, but with significant reductions in its scientific productivity. The same committee looked at several options to handle smaller proposed cuts in the Hubble Space Telescope budget that include reducing instrument modes and operations. NASA plans to announce its decision on how to reduce the budgets of the two space telescopes in mid-September.