JWST is Saved!!

Science Warriors:

IT IS DONE! Congrats on a job well done! As you may have heard, the US House of Representatives have come to an agreement concerning the James Webb Space Telescope. And what did they agree on? A fully funded telescope! As it stands right now, JWST WILL FLY!! We did it!! (See this link & then this link here for details on how the vote went down and how much money JWST will be getting)

While it is true that next year or the year after, the JWST may yet again enter choppy waters, for now we celebrate a huge victory for science and space exploration. The past four months have been as exhilarating as they have been arduous. During that time, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Northrop Grumman, the AAS (American Astronomical Society), The Planetary Society, and many others have rallied behind the JWST. They deserve much of the credit for this victory.

Most important in this effort was you. Without your tweets, emails, phone calls, blog mentions, facebook & Google+ posts, reddit links, conversations with friends & family, and your enthusiasm to fight for this telescope, none of this would be possible. Thousands of people have signed petitions. Many engaged in conversations with their elected officials for the first time in their lives. Others still have created all kinds of media to help spread the word. ALL HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE. Now, the Hubble of the next generation will fly!

Special thanks go to the volunteers of saveJWST: Chris, Zack, Jon, Nick, Kyle, Blair, Victor, Nicki, Pietro, Christine, and our fearless organizer Raphael. Additional thanks go out to Kevin, to Alberto, to Laura, to David, the Spacetweep Society, Tashaverse, katrobinson, ageekmom and the army of NASATweetup folks over on Twitter, to Brad Goodspeed and Callum Sutherland, JPMajor, change.org, and to many, many more who can't be named here but have contributed heroically. You have done amazing work!

For now, all is good, but like Batman watching over Gotham, we will be keeping an eye on JWST in the future. Do check back with us periodically for updates.

Long live the James Webb. 

@neoteotihuacan