But among the reductions was one murderous stroke to NASA: the elimination its flagship mission of the coming decade, WFIRST. NASA Ames/JPL-CaltechThere are three major parts to NASA as an agency:Science , which encompasses the four major research area NASA is responsible for: astrophysics, planetary science, Earth science, and the study of the Sun. , which encompasses the four major research area NASA is responsible for: astrophysics, planetary science, Earth science, and the study of the Sun. Instead of being limited to a narrow slice of the Universe, WFIRST could image it just as deeply as Hubble, except 60 times as quickly. NASA / Goddard / WFIRSTIn 2010, the National Research Council's Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey made WFIRST the top priority recommendation in the large space mission category.

Source: Forbes February 20, 2018 15:00 UTC