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Massive cuts to NASA science proposed in early White House budget plan
The Washington Post ^ | April 11, 2025 | Joel Achenbach

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: nasa
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
WP's notion of what constitutes science is probably not the same as normal folks.
Minority outreach and how to fake climate data is not on my list.

21 posted on 04/11/2025 11:42:00 AM PDT by BitWielder1 (I'd rather have Unequal Wealth than Equal Poverty.)
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To: V_TWIN

“perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math and engineering.” Charles Bolden when asked what the most important mission of NASA is under the Obama regime.

How many billions were folded in to NASA’s baseline budget to “make muslims feel good about themselves?


22 posted on 04/11/2025 12:26:43 PM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Defund them.
Remember Obama’s project of “NASA builing ties to the Muslim world”? They drink camel piss for gosh sake!


23 posted on 04/11/2025 12:58:02 PM PDT by Doulos1 (Bitter Clinger Forever!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Washtington Post - the darkness where democracy goes to die.


24 posted on 04/11/2025 1:17:28 PM PDT by Pythion.net
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Everything NASA does can be done privately and at a greatly reduced cost.


25 posted on 04/11/2025 2:32:45 PM PDT by DownInFlames (P)
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To: Nifster

Yeah, tell that to the astronauts marooned on the ISS for 10 months.


26 posted on 04/11/2025 2:35:09 PM PDT by DownInFlames (P)
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To: Yossarian
The Space Shuttle was an astronaut killing machine: 14 good people gone. Loss of crew on 2 out of 135 missions.

Flawed design. Soyuz was safer even though it is much more simple.

27 posted on 04/11/2025 2:37:02 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I hate this.


28 posted on 04/11/2025 5:03:54 PM PDT by Polanski
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To: Texas Eagle

No bucks, no Buck Rogers.


29 posted on 04/11/2025 5:03:55 PM PDT by Polanski
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
"Massive cuts to NASA science proposed in early White House budget plan"


30 posted on 04/11/2025 11:14:08 PM PDT by clearcarbon (Fraudulent elections have consequences.)
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