Posted on 04/11/2025 9:59:30 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
The preliminary version of President Donald Trump’s budget proposal to Congress, known as a “passback,” would cut the agency’s science budget funding nearly in half.
NASA’s science budget could be cut nearly in half under an early version of President Donald Trump’s budget proposal to Congress, a move that would terminate billions of dollars’ worth of ongoing and future missions, according to two individuals with direct knowledge of the administration’s plan.
The budget plan, sent to NASA by the Office of Management and Budget, would give NASA’s Science Mission Directorate $3.9 billion, down from its current budget of about $7.3 billion, according to the individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the details.
NASA’s astrophysics budget would take a huge hit, dropping from about $1.5 billion to $487 million. Planetary science would see a drop from $2.7 billion to $1.9 billion.
The Hubble and Webb space telescopes — which have been beaming views of deep space back to Earth — would remain supported under the proposal. However, no other telescope would be funded. That includes the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which has been designed to study distant galaxies and faraway planets from an orbital outpost about a million miles from Earth. The hardware of the Roman is in place and being integrated and tested at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Roman is scheduled to launch as early as September 2026.
The budget draft, known as a “passback,” is one step in the process by which the president sends Congress a 2026 fiscal year budget request. Congress has the “power of the purse” and can rescue programs targeted for termination by the White House.
NASA and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
That’s weird.....I don’t remember the liberal media bitching back when that weasel obama killed the space shuttle program.
Muh climate change wasn’t involved in that decision.
There’s killing “science” in the name of Glow-Bill Warming versus intergalactic telescopy.
I have little doubt legitimate work will continue.
DEI and Woke Initiatives hurt most!
“according to two individuals.” Who?
Oh well there goes the Muslim outreach initiative.
That's a rare case where I didn't complain either.
The Space Shuttle was an astronaut killing machine: 14 good people gone. Loss of crew on 2 out of 135 missions. The "horizontal stacking" configuration would assuredly cause more losses down the road. No emergency abort mode.
It was an expensive deadly mess - I'm glad to see it gone.
I’m a curious bloke, but I don’t believe in forcing other people to pay to satiate my curiosity about the further reaches of the universe. It’s a private agenda and should be pursued with private dollars. Insofar as that was the sort of science involved it absolutely should be cut from the federal budget under the 9th and 10th amendments.
NASA science??? What the hell is that? NASA couldn’t even get their own stranded astronauts back to earth
.
I just didn’t like the circumstances behind how it happened and who facilitated it.
Finally!! Sane and reasonable people are asking “can we afford to do all of this stuff” and the answer, in the face of a $37 TRILLION dollar debt and interest charges exceeding the defense budge, is clearly “NO NO NO!”
Those people are effectively asking “How can we save the Republic and avoid default on our debt payments?”
Probably cutting the budget for the Black Lesbians in Suborbital Space (BLISS) project.
Shutter NASA and lease the facilities to private launch companies like Space X
What? Fewer faked space victories?
My son was an engineer working for a private company at a NASA facility. His mission was a science mission that was still operational many years beyond the predicted lifespan of the satellites.
He just left to work on a Space Force mission not affiliated with NASA. Kid has great career timing.
I wonder if his mission will be affected.
Rule number one. Never trust the WP.
Dumb cut
NASA happens to be a good bang for the buck
Don’t count on it
way to earn the title of being against science.
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