The US space agency yesterday called for a press conference to publicize the latest news James Webb Telescope, especially the findings of an independent review committee on the status of what will be the substitute Hubble in the space. The announcement made by NASA is again disappointing because it represents a further delay in the launch of James Webb, now set for the March 30, 2021.

This is not the first time that the North American agency postpones sending to the telescope space James Webb. Last March, researchers behind the observatory already admitted that the launch would not take place on the scheduled dates and that its construction could exceed $ 8,000 million, an additional cost that could force NASA to seek a new authorization from the US Congress. Among the findings of the report released today, independent reviewers note that the new delay is due to multiple factors, such as human errorslack of experience excess of optimism and the complexity of the project.

The delay in launching the James Webb telescope forces NASA scientists to ask new authorizations in the United States Congressbecause originally its delivery to space was planned for 2018. According to the agency explained in a statement, the new total life cycle cost of the telescope, which includes the new revised date , It stands at $ 9.66 billion, while the budget for development is $ 8,800 million – higher than the limit set in the original $ 8,000 million.

The news, as the researchers themselves admitted at the press conference, a pot of cold water among the scientific community. The delay in the launch of James Webb will result in the postponement of many investigations, a problem that NASA He expects it to be only temporary – because of the size and complexity of the mission. Scientists say these delays only represent "slips" in a very ambitious space exploration initiative, but they need to make sure that the telescope is fully ready before launch. "It will be worth the wait," said one of the spokespersons of the agency.

The James Webb will write a new chapter in the history of astrophysics and astronomy. His extraordinary power – a hundred times greater than Hubble's – could allow us to discover the light of first stars and galaxies of the universe or to detect the atmospheres of the exoplanets, the worlds outside the boundaries of the solar system. This observatory, which will take off on board an Ariane 5 rocket, is being built in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency (ESA) The bad news of NASA contrasts with the good news announced today by its counterpart in the old continent, which published this afternoon in Nature new results on the identity of Oumuamua, the first interstellar comet in history.