re: NASA finds habitable planet – Kepler-186f – but don’t pack just yet

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Astronomers may never know for certain whether Kepler-186f can sustain life. The planet is too far away even for next-generation space telescopes like NASA’s overbudget James Webb, set for launch in 2018, to study in detail

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I don't know why the authors made this statement. Science writers are usually knowledgeable about the field(s) they write about.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be 6 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) that it's replacing. Light gathered by the HST is already being used to determine the components of some exoplanet atmospheres, though not very effectively due to the HST's size limitation.

The JWST will be able to gather much more light from Kepler-186f's star and planets. Since 186f is only 490 light years away, we should be able to see it much better with the JWST.