A group of U.S. senators from Massachusetts has sent an inquiry to the scientific agency that operates the Chandra space telescope regarding its funding and scientific productivity. Before this, NASA revised its plans to cut funding for this scientific instrument.
Senators and space telescope
A group of senators representing both the Republican and Democratic parties in the U.S. sent a formal letter to Patrick Slane, director of the Chandra X-ray Сenter, on October 30. They ask about the operation of the space telescope of the same name and the possible impact on funding cuts to it.
Chandra is an orbiting telescope operating in the X-ray range. It has been in operation for 25 years, and during this time, scientists have made many discoveries that would be impossible without this unique instrument.
This summer, NASA announced that it had to save money, and one of the projects that would be affected would be the old X-ray telescope. They were going to cut its funding. This immediately caused a real state of panic in the scientific community, because, according to many scientists, it will not be able to work this way at all, which means that many still promising projects will come to an end.
At first, NASA wasn’t interested in changing its mind about the fate of Chandra. However, a few days ago, its representatives abruptly announced that all plans to cut funding are on hold, and they will wait for a budget proposal.
What senators are asking about
Actually, the senators’ letter is a reaction to this NASA decision. It looks like they decided to figure it out for themselves. The letter they sent to the research center is quite large, but if the contents are summarized, it comes down to the same issues that scientists have been discussing with NASA for many months now.
How effective is the research on the old telescope? Is it worth cutting its funding? How efficiently will it be able to operate without a cooler? Previously, only the NASA leadership expressed an opinion on this issue at the highest governmental level.
Now the dialog will be between scientists and senators directly. There’s a reason the latter are all from Massachusetts. In this state, the town of Cambridge is home to a research institute run by Chandra.
Provided by spacenews.com
