NASA Proposal Would Shift Agency's Focus Away From Space Science

The Trump administration proposes a budget of $18.8 billion for NASA, down 24 per cent, that would introduce $1 billion in new investments for Mars, which would aim to fulfill Trump's pledge during his address to Congress in March to 'plant a flag' on Mars. However, deep cuts would slash spending elsewhere at NASA, especially the agency's robotic space science missions.

Under President Donald Trump's proposed budget, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration would largely become the National Moon and Mars Administration, with an almost singular focus on getting astronauts to those two destinations.

The Trump administration proposes a budget of $18.8 billion for NASA, down 24% from $24.8 billion in the current budget year. The plan would introduce $1 billion in new investments for Mars, which would aim to fulfill Trump's pledge during his address to Congress in March to "plant a flag" on Mars.

That budgetary change also aligns with the priorities of Elon Musk, who founded his SpaceX rocket company two decades ago with dreams of one day sending colonists to Mars.

The budget proposal does not offer any details of how the $1 billion would be spent, or a timeline for getting astronauts to Mars. Musk has said he will launch to Mars the new giant Starship vehicle that SpaceX is currently developing -- without anyone aboard -- in late 2026, and presumably would look to NASA's Mars money to help pay for that.

"This proposal includes investments to simultaneously pursue exploration of the moon and Mars while still prioritizing critical science and technology research," Janet Petro, the acting NASA administrator, said in a statement.

Deep cuts would slash spending elsewhere at NASA, especially the agency's robotic space science missions. Proposed cancellations include a mission to bring back rock samples from Mars, and climate monitoring satellites. The Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule that will take astronauts back to the moon would be canceled after Artemis III, the first crewed mission that would land near the moon's south pole. Gateway, a small space station in orbit around the moon, would also be canceled.

If enacted, "this is the largest single-year cut to NASA in American history," said Casey Dreier, the chief of space policy at the Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization that advocates for space exploration. "This is a budget that says America is done leading the world in space, that we are a nation turning inward."

The budget plan also calls for scaling back operations at the International Space Station, with fewer astronauts aboard and a slimmed-down research program. It also proposes the elimination of NASA's education efforts, portraying them as "woke." Trump had tried to cancel NASA's education efforts during his first term -- as had President Barack Obama before him -- but in both cases, Congress restored the money.

For aviation, the budget would eliminate research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes.

The budget also proposes a cut of more than $1 billion in "mission support," saying there are savings to be made by reducing employee head counts, maintenance, construction and "environmental compliance activities."

A report by the National Academies last September, however, called for NASA to greatly boost its spending on upgrading its infrastructure, much of which dates to the 1960s.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.