All articles tagged with #science missions
In 2025, NASA faced significant challenges including budget cuts, personnel layoffs, and potential loss of science missions, leading to concerns about its long-term stability and impact on space science and exploration, with bipartisan support emerging for increased funding in 2026.
NASA faces significant budget cuts under the Trump administration's 2026 proposal, which could cancel planned missions, reduce scientific research, and shift focus towards human spaceflight and commercial partnerships, potentially impacting the agency's scientific and exploratory capabilities.
The White House's FY 2026 budget proposal for NASA suggests the largest and most rapid cuts in the agency's history, including a 25% reduction in funding, workforce layoffs, and the cancellation of 19 active science missions, threatening the agency's ability to pursue its ambitious goals of returning humans to the Moon and sending humans to Mars.
NASA's proposed 2026 budget of $18.8 billion would significantly cut its funding, cancel over 40 science missions including Mars Sample Return and Venus missions, and lay off thousands of staff, while shifting focus towards exploration initiatives like lunar and Mars exploration programs. The budget faces opposition from industry groups and Congress.
NASA's science programs are facing significant budget cuts, with the fiscal year 2024 spending bill reducing funding by nearly half a billion dollars and the 2025 budget proposal projecting a decrease of about $1 billion for science. This has put flagship missions like Mars Sample Return (MSR) and the Earth System Observatory at risk of being delayed or canceled. Additionally, the proposed budget includes significant changes to Earth System Observatory missions and the cancellation of the Geospace Dynamics Constellation, while also proposing a 40% cut to the budget of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, sparking concerns about its future.
Bart Forman and a team of researchers from the Stevens Institute of Technology and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have developed an Observational System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) to help scientists design efficient science missions for monitoring terrestrial freshwater storage. The software integrates diverse spaceborne data sets and modeling tools to create customizable mission plans and assess financial risks. By incorporating dynamic, space-based observations into mission planning models, the team aims to inspire future researchers to further enhance the program for designing and utilizing sensors for gathering new data.
NASA is updating its rideshare policy for science missions to accommodate new launch opportunities and challenges faced in carrying secondary payloads. The updated policy, expected to be released in 2024, will include the Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract vehicle, rideshare launches on NASA Artemis missions, and launches from other government agencies. The current policy has enabled the launch of several science and technology demonstration missions, but the new policy aims to expand rideshare opportunities. NASA is also considering the use of orbital transfer vehicles in the future to increase rideshare options for small satellites.
Congress is preparing to allocate billions of dollars to fund NASA's plans to return to the moon by 2025. The proposed budget includes funding for the Artemis lunar exploration program, Mars Sample Return, Earth Science, and technology research and development. While the budget provides a $440 million increase compared to this year's funding, expected cuts may impact science missions. Scientists argue for a more balanced approach that allocates funding fairly between the Space Launch System and Orion missions and NASA's other science missions.
The failure of Japan's H3 rocket on its inaugural flight in March could delay several science missions, including two scheduled to launch on another rocket. The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), an X-ray astronomy spacecraft, and the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), a lunar lander, were scheduled to launch together as soon as May on an H-2A. Even if the H-2A is cleared to return to flight in the near future, it remains uncertain how long the H3 rocket will be grounded, which could affect a third mission, Martian Moons eXploration (MMX).