The fate of the most powerful X-ray telescope is in doubt

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NASA officials are making tough decisions as they face budget cuts. And many astronomers are worried about the future of one unique science instrument - the most powerful X-ray telescope ever built. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports on what's at stake.

NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE, BYLINE: The Chandra X-ray Observatory has been in orbit for a quarter century. It was 25 years ago today that the bus-sized instrument went up in one of NASA's Space Shuttles. Since then, Chandra has orbited the Earth, peering out at X-rays generated by extreme cosmic phenomena - stuff like black holes and exploding stars. David Pooley is an astronomer at Trinity University.

DAVID POOLEY: Some of the most energetic events in the universe and the sources of most of the matter in the universe are only observable in X-rays - or are most readily observable in X-rays.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: He's used Chandra since 1999. He says it's basically working just fine, and it's got enough fuel to last another decade.

POOLEY: I think that's what's really amazing - is it is still delivering results that are groundbreaking.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: This space telescope maybe isn't as famous as Hubble or James Webb, but it works with them because they see different kinds of light. For example, Chandra teamed up with James Webb to spot the most distant black hole ever discovered.

POOLEY: And that was only possible with Chandra and James Webb acting together.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: This spring, though, NASA officials unveiled a plan to make steep cuts to Chandra's funding - so steep, astronomers said it was effectively a shutdown or closeout budget - one that would require laying off dozens of scientists who operate the telescope. Many in the space community pushed back, starting a Save Chandra campaign and contacting members of Congress. In April, NASA administrator Bill Nelson was asked about this telescope in a budget hearing. He said the agency had to make hard choices.

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BILL NELSON: Now, Chandra has been the mission that has given us so many gifts. But it's been there for 25 years, and it's time for new missions.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: New missions like the first telescope designed to search for signs of life on planets beyond our solar system. NASA wants to free up money to get started on that major project. It was the top recommendation from an expert panel that gets together every 10 years to set priorities for astronomy. That future telescope and Chandra were hot topics at a meeting held today.

A group of NASA advisers got briefed on a special review done in May. It looked at the possibility of operating Chandra in some less expensive, even bare-bones way to save money without completely killing off the telescope. That review also looked at the effect of possible budget cuts for Hubble because NASA wants to save money by cutting Hubble funding, too. Mark Clampin is head of astrophysics for NASA.

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MARK CLAMPIN: We're not talking about stopping using Hubble or Chandra. We're just talking about trying to find a cheaper way to operate them going forward.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: He says the agency is continuing to work on the budget and is planning to have a virtual town hall in about a month and a half to discuss their decisions. And he noted that these venerable space telescopes aren't the only part of NASA facing difficult cuts. Just last week, for example, the agency abruptly canceled a moon rover that had already been built, citing cost overruns and launch delays.

Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

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