By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA canceled
an X-ray astronomy mission designed to shed light on black
holes, saying the project would have exceeded its budget by
about 25 percent, officials said on Thursday. The Gravity and
Extreme Magnetism Small explorer, or GEMS, telescope won a NASA
competition for a moderately priced space science mission in
2009 and had been scheduled for launch in 2014. An independent
review team estimated GEMS was going to exceed its $119 million
budget by 20 percent to 30 percent, Paul Hertz, NASA's
astrophysics division director, told reporters on a conference
call on Thursday. "It was clear that they would not be able to
complete it within their cost cap," Hertz said. The projected
cost overrun was due to technical issues in developing the
telescope's instruments, which delayed the project and increased
payroll costs. The agency already has spent about $37 million on
the project. It will cost about $13 million more to cancel
agreements with telescope builder O