The University of California, Berkeley, researcher is part of the team that is defining WFirst.

BBC: Dark discussion ahead for Europe and US

They certainly have the concept on the drawing board - it's called the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, or WFirst.

BBC: Dark discussion ahead for Europe and US

"The mission we are scoping out for WFirst is phenomenal, " he told me.

BBC: Dark discussion ahead for Europe and US

The Portsmouth University researcher is part of the Euclid team and one of the few Europeans involved in drawing up the WFirst concept.

BBC: Dark discussion ahead for Europe and US

What must be particularly tough on Perlmutter is that Euclid - unlike WFirst - will not use his supernova technique to investigate dark energy.

BBC: Dark discussion ahead for Europe and US

Certain members of the Senate are trying to do just this, urging Nasa to find a way to get going on WFirst as soon as 2013.

BBC: Dark discussion ahead for Europe and US

"I'm still optimistic on WFirst and I'm also very supportive of the Euclid mission and we're doing our best to make sure it happens as well, " he said.

BBC: Dark discussion ahead for Europe and US

What will be interesting to see now is whether Perlmutter's and colleagues' Nobel triumph provides the impetus to find the money to build WFirst sooner (one should state that Perlmutter's colleagues included many collaborators, including Europeans).

BBC: Dark discussion ahead for Europe and US