【Text by Observers Network, Liu Bai】 The impact of the Trump administration's drastic cuts to space program budgets is still ongoing. On July 8th, seven former officials who had served as directors of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA wrote a joint letter to the U.S. Congressional Appropriations Committee, strongly opposing the Trump administration's plan to cut scientific budgets.

The Washington Post reported on August 8th that significant cuts to NASA's science budget could have serious consequences, "possibly handing the solar system over to China." The Trump administration planned to reduce NASA's science budget from the current $7.33 billion to $3.9 billion, cutting or terminating many space projects including Mars rovers.

Several former NASA high-ranking officials, scientists, and employees publicly protested, arguing that this move would harm the United States' leadership in space science and give China an advantage in exploring the solar system.

"China is ambitious and well-funded..."

Since October 2001, NASA's "Odyssey" Mars orbiter has been orbiting Mars, having completed more than 100,000 orbits around the planet, making it the longest operating spacecraft in orbit around a distant planet.

Although "Odyssey" faces many problems, such as its maneuvering thruster fuel running out, it is still operational, continuously transmitting data and images of Mars back to Earth. In addition, it serves as a communication relay for NASA's Mars rovers.

However, it cannot influence the budget-making process in Washington. "Odyssey" is one of many NASA research missions targeted for termination or significant cuts under the Trump plan.

According to this budget proposal, NASA's current $7.33 billion science budget will be cut nearly in half. The Trump administration gave a simple reason: NASA's scientific missions are too numerous.

American "Odyssey" Mars probe, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

"Although NASA's scientific missions have greatly expanded human understanding of Earth, the solar system, and the universe, annual expenditures exceeding $7 billion across over 100 missions are unsustainable," the Trump budget application stated. The government hopes to cut the budget to $3.9 billion to support "a more streamlined and focused science program, reflecting the government's commitment to fiscal responsibility."

This move quickly drew opposition from American space scientists. On July 8th, seven former directors of NASA's Science Mission Directorate jointly wrote a letter to the Congressional Appropriations Committee, strongly opposing the Trump administration's plan to cut the scientific budget.

In their letter, they wrote: "If the government truly wants to counter China's growing capabilities in space, the United States must continue to invest in its own space science, rather than unilaterally giving up."

"Global space competition goes far beyond lunar and Martian exploration. China's space science program is proactive, ambitious, and well-funded."

"Trump is cutting NASA's science budget to the lowest level in 40 years"

One of the signatories of the letter, John Grunsfeld, who led NASA's science programs during the Obama administration, said that NASA's scientific achievements, such as the discoveries made by the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, are widely praised by the public. These two telescopes will continue to receive funding under Trump's budget plan, but with reductions. However, NASA's astrophysics division will be severely weakened, with a budget cut of two-thirds.

By 2025, the operating cost of the Hubble Space Telescope is approximately $93 million, while launching a new telescope costs several times that amount. The James Webb Telescope, launched in 2021, cost $10 billion, and originally received $187 million in 2025, but Trump's proposal reduced it to $140 million.

On the other hand, in Trump's budget request, as well as in the recent "Big and Beautiful" tax and spending bill passed last week, the Artemis crewed moon landing project initiated by Trump in his first term is a clear winner.

Although Americans initially hoped to send astronauts to the moon within two years, beating China, technical challenges make this official schedule extremely unlikely to be achieved.

Florida's Kennedy Space Center: Orion spacecraft preparing for the Artemis II mission, Visual China

The Washington Post described that NASA's future largely depends on the Congressional Appropriations Committee. The budget cuts for scientific missions will have particularly devastating effects on two NASA centers located in "Blue States" (states supporting the Democratic Party): the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

JPL is managed by the California Institute of Technology for NASA, and has received over $2.2 billion in NASA funding annually in recent years; according to Trump's budget plan, this amount will be reduced to $890 million. The Goddard center has 7,000 scientists and engineers, and may lose nearly half of its staff.

According to an analysis by the space science advocacy organization "The Planetary Society," the entire budget plan will bring NASA's science budget down to its lowest level since 1984.

"Odyssey" is not the only space project targeted by Trump. The "MAVEN" Mars orbiter launched in 2013 also faces termination, as does the "Juno" spacecraft orbiting Jupiter since 2016.

"MAVEN" Mars orbiter, NASA

"I'm very disappointed," Philip Christensen, a geophysicist at Arizona State University and a member of the "Odyssey" science team, said.

"I don't understand how this can keep the United States ahead"

NASA states that the total cost of building and launching "Odyssey" was $218 million. By 2025, its operating budget will be only $10 million, less than 1/22 of its launch cost.

Theoretically, by cutting funding for missions like "Hubble" and "Webb," and completely terminating older missions like "Odyssey" and "Juno," the saved funds can be used for new missions, which may employ more advanced technologies and provide opportunities for the next generation of scientists and engineers.

However, there are currently few new projects. Even before Trump's second term, NASA scientists have already faced a decline in the number of new scientific missions each year. Trump will also cancel many future project proposals and terminate a large number of existing missions.

Shannon Curry, the principal investigator of "MAVEN" and a planetary physicist at the University of Colorado, stated that cutting these missions makes no sense from both a scientific and budgetary perspective.

She pointed out that spacecraft like "MAVEN" provide extremely useful information for future manned missions to Mars, and their operating costs are much lower than the cost of re-launching a replacement spacecraft.

"I really don't understand how this approach can save money or help the United States maintain its leading position in space," she said, "it's actually the first step in destroying it."

American planetary physicist Shannon Curry

Richard Zurek, chief scientist of another Mars mission, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), recently retired from NASA's JPL. This mission was not included in the Trump budget cuts, only facing moderate reductions.

But Zurek, like other NASA personnel, is concerned that NASA's investment in scientific missions is dwindling, and robotic exploration is gradually being marginalized.

"We once had a golden age of space exploration," Zurek said. "I hope we won't lose this extremely precious endeavor in human history."

Among the long-serving detectors, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 stand out. They were launched in 1977 and have now entered interstellar space. Although their power is running out and their scientific instruments are decreasing, they are still sending back data. It is estimated that they will completely lose contact within ten years.

Some missions may also end due to accidents. For example, the Viking lander, which conducted a search for life on Mars in 1976, continued to transmit signals to Earth for many years despite its diminishing energy.

Zurek revealed that once, a new member of the Viking project accidentally modified a piece of code, which was precisely the key code for the lander to point toward Earth.

"That's how the mission ended. You cut the budget, and mistakes happen," he said.

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