Apollo also cost $280B inflation adjusted, so like 25x. And Apollo was a mad dash, with many risks taken. JWST is slow and steady. Like I'm a space buff and eve

Apollo also cost $280B inflation adjusted, so like 25x. And Apollo was a mad dash, with many risks taken. JWST is slow and steady. Like I'm a space buff and even I was pretty surprised when I learned how cowboy the moon decent in particular was. They had one shot, and had to fly the lander by hand, without any actual experience (they had to rely on a super cool craft which offset the weight to act like 1/6g). Like... Apollo was utterly bonkers, bordering on full-Kerbal, in so many ways. It cost lives (5 training flight accidents, 3 in Apollo 1 fire), almost lost another 3 in Apollo 13. JWST is proving out tons of new science and technology, but at a much more pedestrian peace.