() President Donald Trump’s proposed budget makes big cuts to NASA’s funding, reducing major programs while boosting efforts to put a human on Mars.
Trump pledged to “put a flag on Mars” during an address to Congress, emphasizing a need to beat China in returning humans to the Moon and reaching the red planet with a crewed space flight.
Under Trump’s proposal, NASA’s budget would be cut by $6 billion in what the nonprofit Planetary Society says is the biggest single-year cut for the agency in history.
Under the budget, human space programs are boosted, with more than $7 billion allocated for lunar missions and $1 billion allocated for new investments in efforts to get people to Mars.
The two goals go hand-in-hand, with a lunar presence viewed as a critical jumping-off point for crewed exploration deeper in space.
To allow for the new expense, the agency would see big cuts to space science and Earth science programs. That includes eliminating an effort dedicated to getting samples from the Mars rover back to Earth in partnership with the European Space Agency and cutting plans for a lunar-orbiting space station.
Mission support would also get hit by cuts, including employee headcount reduction and money for maintenance, construction and environmental compliance.
That comes after a report from the National Academies called for a funding increase to update the agency’s infrastructure.
The Artemis program, which aims to put humans back on the moon, would cut the Space Launch System and Orion capsule after Artemis III lands astronauts on the moon. That would mean retiring those systems after just three flights.
Along with those cuts, the budget calls for increased commercial partnerships and offloading certain functions to the private sector. NASA’s commercial crew program has worked with companies including Boeing and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which take in significant revenue from government contracts.
The budget would also cut NASA’s sustainable aviation program, continue to eliminate DEI programs and get rid of funding for climate-monitoring satellites.
It would also reduce NASA investment in the International Space Station.
It also marks Trump’s second attempt to cut STEM education programs run by NASA, which the proposal deems “woke.” The programs are designed to help increase the pipeline for STEM workers and encourage interest in STEM fields.
Trump attempted to eliminate those funds in his first term, and President Barack Obama also tried to cut funds from the program. In both cases, Congress overruled the president and restored the funding.
