(Image source: NASA)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

You're watching multisource science news analysis from Newsy

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope project is still holding on, but at what cost? The telescope has been dubbed Hubble’s successor, but its funding was threatened back in July by a House budget bill.

Now the Senate has thrown the project a bone. Space News reports.

“The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill Sept. 15 that would cut NASA’s budget by 2.5 percent while boosting spending on the massively overbudget James Webb Space Telescope...”

The project has had delays, setbacks, and budget problems, with the new bill putting the final cost at nearly $9 billion. That’s why the House moved to cut its funding entirely.

But after the July House bill, scientists, officials and space enthusiasts lobbied to finish the project, saying $3 billion has already been spent -- money that would be wasted if the telescope is never finished. (Image source: NASA)

Astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson went on Real Time with Bill Maher in August to defend the project. He tried to put the amount of money at stake into perspective, comparing it to the $850 billion TARP bank bailout.

“That sum of money is greater than the entire 50-year running budget of NASA. And so when someone says we don’t have enough money for this space probe, I’m asking -- no, it’s not that you don’t have enough money. It’s that the distribution of money that you’re spending is warped in some way that you are removing the only thing that gives people something to dream about tomorrow.”

The new Senate bill was approved the same week the project hit a major milestone.

The telescope’s mirrors were completed. Each one is nearly 5 feet in diameter, coated with a millionth of an inch thick coating of gold. If the telescope ever makes it into space, these gold mirrors will allow it to see the universe in more detail than ever before. (Video source: NASA / Space.com)

But astronomers are still cautious about celebrating. The Senate bill still has to pass a floor vote and be reconciled with the House bill. And even if the telescope is funded, the Senate bill cuts NASA’s overall budget.

A writer for Florida Today notes:

“As NASA siphons billions more to keep the Webb project alive, it takes money away from other important projects as well. What if, after gobbling up more funds, Webb still can't be completed and it's ultimately killed anyway?”

These are longstanding concerns. In 2010, Nature dubbed James Webb “The Telescope that Ate Astronomy.”

But if Webb ever gets off the ground, scientists say it will be able to see more than 13 billion years back in time, giving them an unprecedented understanding of our universe. A writer for Dvice says -- that’s the kind of insight only a project on this scale can provide.

“Despite its flaws, we love NASA, and while it may ultimately make more sense for private industry to take over when it comes to actually getting stuff into space, nobody besides NASA is going to invest so heavily and so directly in raw science.”

Transcript by Newsy