NASA’s already tiny budget was slashed to $18.8 billion, the lowest since 1961 [ before any manned missions ].
NASA Science took the brunt of the cuts with a 47% budget decrease. Most of what was saved from NASA’s overall budget when to the SLS and Orion, plus other parts went to the Space Force in a huge waste and duplication of missions and programs. Those parts were saved by Ted Cruz bnecuse they effected Texas. Had he not, NASA’s budget would have been even smaller.
SLS and Orion [ whenever it will fly ] will do one mission to orbit the Moon, and then that too is cancelled. There is no plan to actually land on the Moon, and there is no Lunar Lander design/build program.
How did this budget come to exist?
A) Poor leadership from both within and without NASA. Mostly a total lack of direction from past Presidents [ except GW Bush’s ‘Moon to Mars’ initiative which died in Congress ]. And the poor selection of Agency Directors - most of whom were political hacks.
B) The Director of the (OMB) is Russell Vought, who has long sought to eliminate NASA, recommended the budget cuts to Congress - there was no input from NASA or any other interested party. Congress accepted the cuts, and 47 sighed them into law.
Result of this mess [ which might have been cleaned up had 47 not thrown a fit about his Republican nominee, Jared Isaacman, donations to some Democrats ] is that the US space program is essential walking dead. Now there is some gal running the show - likely, very likely, no better than Nelson & maybe far worse as she is only a temp.
This mess gives China a free hand to take the Lunar South Pole and begin to militarily colonize the Moon.
other Angry links
Save NASA! Science budget cuts don’t help anyone!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L_g1NtaS5E
Could Trump put SpaceX out of business? Will ruining Elon Musk save us “big money?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L24Lj6buEGc
The GWB Constellation program got called back from the brink of burial, survived to do one launch, then died, thanks to Obama and his political hack appointee and his ability to play Congress like a bad violin.
NASA’s best work has always been done by its contractors, but so has its worst. As protoconservative noted, the best science has always been the result of crewless missions — although I’d add that the Apollo landings would actually lead the list.
The road not taken would have been to do science including a bunch of sample return missions using robots, but it probably wouldn’t have saved a dime, and wouldn’t have been able to garner the public support that King Kennedy (a former coworker’s term, he was in the Navy and offshore of Cuba during both the Bay of Pigs and the Missile Crisis) managed to by his “before this decade is out” move.
Speaking of throwing a hissy (and wearing a crown), Musk has resumed sounded like the social liberal he has always been, and his spinout was caused by the withdrawal of Isaacman from consideration. IOW, Trump called it right. Even if Isaacman’s app’t had gone through, it would have led to a constant drumbeat about how Musk had gotten a puppet in charge at NASA.
And Isaacman’s job would have been to recommend cuts. And he would have. And the big projects would have been on the block, but it wouldn’t look like it was because they needed to be.
Instead, NASA’s still around, Ted Cruz takes the rap for the budget shift, the GAO can kiss everyone’s ass, and Ron Desantis will be the next Republican POTUS, with a lot of help from Elon Musk (assuming he calms the **** down and gets back in his lane. His Starship project has been circling the maelstrom harder than that ship in the Edgar Allen Poe story, and it’s just about done).