1.   BLINDED BY THE LIGHT Despite giant new observatories and fancy satellites, scientists find their view of the cosmos increasingly obscured by the by-products of a technological society.

2.   But mission dangers, she said, pale in comparison to the benefits of the new observatory, which NASA has envisioned for decades.

3.   Despite giant new observatories and fancy satellites, scientists find their view of the cosmos increasingly obscured by the by-products of a technological society.

4.   In theory, the new observatory could investigate this expansion by letting scientists look for local effects in the solar system.

5.   Powerful computers play pivotal roles in all the new observatories.

6.   By building the new observatories, physicists hope to learn the source of the extremely rare, high-energy cosmic rays.

7.   He said, however, that prospective funding was as important an issue as environmental impact in setting up the new observatory.