What Will NASA Say About the James Webb Space Telescope Today at 11:30 am ET?

A new report by the GAO warns that additional delays in the James Webb Space Telescope are likely, which could increase its cost above a cap set by Congress several years ago.

Credit: NASA artist's concept

The teleconference will begin at 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT) and you can listen to it live on Space.com here, courtesy of NASA. You can also follow the briefing directly from NASA here. NASA will hold a teleconference today (March 27) to update the media and public on its next great space observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in June 2019.

NASA officials did not reveal the exact subject for today's teleconference, but an update on the Webb telescope's launch schedule and cost are expected due to a recent report from the Government Accounting Office warning of the potential for cost overruns and schedule delays.

In an announcement, NASA officials said only that the briefing will "provide an update on the agency's James Webb Space Telescope – what will be the world, premier infrared space observatory and the biggest astronomical science telescope ever built." [Building the James Webb Space Telescope: A Photo Tour]

A new report by the GAO warns that additional delays in the James Webb Space Telescope are likely, which could increase its cost above a cap set by Congress several years ago.
Credit: NASA artist's concept

Speaking during the briefing will be NASA's acting administrator Robert Lightfoot; Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science missions; and Dennis Andrucyk, deputy associate administrator for science missions.

NASA's $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch in June 2019 on an Ariane 5 rocket and use its infrared eye to peer deep into the history of the universe. The observatory is the successor to the iconic Hubble Space Telescope, which has observed the universe since 1990.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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