Those who deride NASA as a waste of taxpayer money should keep in mind that the agency does a good job making use of what it receives, even if that means cancelling programs:
NASA has canceled the next service mission for the Hubble Space Telescope, effectively ending Hubble's mission in space after two decades of providing scientists with invaluable photos and data about the universe.John Grunsfeld, chief scientist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said repeatedly Friday that the agency is not killing the Hubble but that it will no longer service the space telescope because of budget problems and safety concerns in the wake of the shuttle Columbia disaster.
Continued service for Hubble would have required expensive updates and testing to the shuttle fleet that are not required for the shuttle's only other job, working on the International Space Station. Those updates arose out of post-Columbia safety concerns: While a damaged shuttle can dock easily with the space station for repairs, there is no such fallback with the Hubble.
"It was a question of looking at the risk elements involved to support the mission," Grunsfeld said. [NASA Administrator] O'Keefe "made the tough decision, and I think it's the right decision."
Of all federal agencies, NASA faithfully operates on a shoestring. One more reason why NASA deserves a little slack - and, on the larger scale, why space exploration belongs in the private sector.