Trump's proposed 2026 NASA budget cuts will cede our space 'position of leadership to other nations', top scientists say
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Call it an SOSS message – a Save Our Solar System planetary science community communiqué. It is unquestionably a "wait-a-minute" concern running through the space science research groups.
Given the considerable uncertainty about the future NASA Science budget given projected Trump Administration funding considerations, the chairs of analysis/assessment groups (AGs), linked to the space agency's Planetary Science Division, issued a statement on May 12 titled "To members of the planetary science community."
The letter explains that by abandoning our most ambitious efforts, such as Mars Sample Return, which already have substantial investment, "will cede this position of leadership to other nations, such as China." Lastly, the communiqué concludes that science at NASA deserves "full-throated support from our community and the public."
The statement has been stirred up by the President's top-level recommendations on discretionary funding levels for fiscal year (FY) 2026, or so-called "skinny budget." The term skinny budget means that the document contains brief descriptions of programs and recommended financial reductions or increases. Still to come is the "Full Monty" of budget specificity that's expected shortly.
That skinny budget was released on May 2 and noted major cuts to NASA's Science Mission Directorate budget, such as cancelling the top Decadal priority flagship mission, Mars Sample Return.
"The extent of the proposed cuts to, or cancellation of, missions and programs, including research and analysis, will not be known until the full budget is released," the AG chairs' statement observes. "That budget will make its way through Congress, where changes of unknown magnitude are likely to be made and we won't know the final FY26 budget for some time to come."
As reiterated in the statement, the positive impact of science at NASA and crucial role it plays in broad societal terms include:
Exploration and research in planetary science enables us to better understand the history of the solar system, as well as our planet and origins;
Deep space exploration is a tremendous source of innovation in science and technology having applications well beyond space science research, including in the commercial sector, where over 60 years of investment and development have placed the US at the forefront of research and technological advancements in general;
Planetary and space science research has served as an inspiration for generations of present and future scientists and engineers. NASA's science and exploration contribute to our national posture, where US leadership in planetary science is a source of geopolitical soft power;
NASA's spaceflight missions and associated scientific research are thoughtfully developed and carefully prioritized, being guided by reports from the independent National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine; these reports are written by top scientists and engineers and represent the consensus view of their respective communities as to the activities that will be of greatest value to science and the American taxpayer over decadal timespans;
Science at NASA engages some of the brightest minds of the nation to develop solutions to problems of human survival and growth based on fact-based inquiry and analysis – although life and civilization are robust, the geologic record shows the Earth's and the Solar System's history of catastrophe and global change, from extinction-level impacts to solar storms to ice ages and hot-houses and science enables us to understand these better; and
At the broadest level, science everywhere represents fundamental human curiosity, helping us to understand the world around us and develop innovative solutions to problems, enabling us to become more productive, and make informed decisions about societal concerns.
In closing, the statement signed by AG officials reminds the reader of an observation of noted space scientist, Carl Sagan:
"Cutting off fundamental, curiosity-driven science is like eating the seed corn," Sagan advised. "We may have a little more to eat next winter but what will we plant so we and our children will have enough to get through the winters to come?"
For their part, the AG chairs are working diligently to represent the PSD community in this time of change, "but we encourage you to make your voice heard, and the more voices, the more powerful the impact will be."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Did you see a balloon in the Wisconsin sky this weekend? Here's what to know about it
Did you see something in the sky across southeastern Wisconsin on June 22? You're not alone. FOX6 Milwaukee Chief Meteorologist Tom Wachs said on X, formerly known as Twitter, the station "had a lot of calls" about a balloon floating in the sky. FOX6 reported that the National Weather Service was unfamiliar with the object, and confirmed the balloon belonged to aerospace and defense company Raven Aerostar. Aerostar Culture and Communications Director Anastasia Quanbeck confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a June 23 email that a "Thunderhead balloon" is in the area. "Thunderhead Balloon Systems serve various purposes including extending communications across wide distances, environmental monitoring, earth observation, and scientific research," Quanbeck said. Aside from research, Quanbeck added balloons also can "restore communications after national disasters" and "provide overhead support to firefighters during forest fires." The Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based company's website says it has completed missions for NASA, Google and the United States Air Force. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about the weird balloon seen over southeastern Wisconsin
Geek Wire
39 minutes ago
- Geek Wire
Rubin Observatory makes its debut and registers first discoveries
After more than 20 years of planning and construction, astronomers celebrated the release of the first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory today — and also registered hundreds of the first discoveries from the world's newest eye on the sky. University of Washington astronomer Mario Juric, a member of the Rubin team and director of UW's DiRAC Institute, said that discovery data for 2,104 previously undetected small bodies in the solar system were reported to the Minor Planet Center early today. Those small bodies include 2,015 main-belt asteroids, nine trans-Neptunian objects and seven near-Earth objects. (But don't worry: None of those NEOs has a chance of hitting Earth anytime soon.) 'The over 2,100 asteroids we discovered are impressive, but just a drop in the bucket relative to what's coming. We'll have moments where we find over 20,000 in a single night, more than the entire world presently finds in a year,' Juric told GeekWire in an email. 'By sometime next year Rubin will double the number of known asteroids, then continue to discover hundreds of new comets, the remaining few dwarf planets, and maybe even a new planet in our solar system,' he said. 'This will be the most comprehensive census of our planetary home in history.' During today's 'First Look' briefing in Washington, D.C., astronomers explained the science behind their scan for asteroids — and showed off eye-pleasing imagery that included a colorful wide-angle view of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas in the constellation Sagittarius, galactic closeups gleaned from the observatory's survey of the Virgo Cluster, and a zooming video scan of the same region of the sky. Check out these videos highlighting Rubin's high-resolution views: UW astronomer Željko Ivezić, the director of Rubin construction, said the observatory's Simonyi Survey Telescope and LSST Camera are designed to create high-resolution, color-coded maps of the night sky at a rate that's 10 to 100 times faster than previously possible. 'This is like comparing the speed of your car to the speed of an airplane,' he said. With major funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, the Rubin Telescope was built on a mountaintop in Chile — which is one of the world's prime spots for astronomical observations, thanks to its dry air and dark skies. The construction cost has been estimated at $800 million, which includes tens of millions of dollars that were covered by private contributions from the likes of Microsoft tech pioneers Bill Gates and Charles Simonyi. In recognition of Simonyi's $20 million donation, the observatory's 8.4-meter (28-foot) telescope has been named after his family. The observatory itself is named after the late astronomer Vera Rubin, who analyzed the rotation rate of galaxies to come up with evidence for the existence of dark matter — a mysterious, invisible kind of stuff that makes up more of the universe's content than the matter we can see. Fittingly, the Rubin Observatory is expected to shed new light on the nature of dark matter and an equally mysterious phenomenon called dark energy, which appears to be driving the accelerating expansion of the universe. Rubin will serve as an early warning system for transient cosmic events such as supernova explosions and gamma-ray bursts. And based on computer modeling, the observatory is expected to discover more than 5 million asteroids and other objects in our solar system over the course of its 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time, or LSST. Ivezić said Rubin stands a good chance of detecting a distant hypothetical world that's been dubbed Planet Nine, if it exists. 'We will see way beyond the orbits where Pluto and other Kuiper Belt objects are found,' he said. 'It depends on the object size, but we could see Pluto even if it were at a 10 times larger distance, roughly speaking.' The observatory could also spot interstellar objects such as 'Oumuamua and Borisov, the two only known such objects discovered to date. 'It is very hard to predict how many we would discover, because we don't understand the population,' Ivezić said. 'It's only two objects. But by simple scaling arguments, we do expect 10, maybe 20, somewhere in there. So we will be an extremely powerful solar system survey.' The speed and breadth of Rubin's observations will be the keys to its discoveries. The LSST Camera is regarded as the world's largest digital camera, capable of capturing 3,200-megapixel images at a rapid-fire pace. Each image spans an area equivalent to about 45 full moons. About 20 trillion bytes of astronomical data are expected to be produced on a nightly basis and analyzed with the aid of sophisticated computer tools — including tools developed by the DiRAC Institute. Over the course of the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time, Rubin's images will cover the full stretch of sky visible from the Southern Hemisphere every three or four nights, creating time-lapse movies of the changing cosmos. 'The movie has started, the camera is running,' Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a video clip that was played during today's briefing. The University of Washington, which was one of the original partners in the project, is planning a presentation about the Rubin Observatory at 7 p.m. PT Thursday at Kane Hall on the Seattle campus. Check out UW's website for further information and to register. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the images below. This image shows a small section of the Rubin Observatory's view of the Virgo Cluster, including two spiral galaxies at lower right, three merging galaxies at upper right, several groups of distant galaxies and many stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. Click on the image for a larger version. (Credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory) This image shows a small section of the Rubin Observatory's total view of the Virgo Cluster. Bright stars in the Milky Way galaxy shine in the foreground, and many distant galaxies are in the background. Click on the image for a larger version. (Credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory) This is an updated version of a report first published on June 22.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The Kansas City Royals, Boulevard Brewing Co. Send ‘The Best Baseball and Beer on Earth' Into Space
Kansas City's No. 1 baseball team and craft brewery defy gravity for STEM initiatives The KC Royals and Space Camper IPA in Space The KC Royals and Space Camper IPA in Space Kansas City, Mo., June 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a historic first, The Kansas City Royals and Boulevard Brewing Co., the team's official craft beer, recently partnered on a stellar initiative: to send a Royals baseball and a can of Space Camper Cosmic IPA into space. View the full video of the launch here and photos and footage . In May, the Royals and Boulevard sent a Royals baseball and a can of Space Camper IPA to the edge of Earth's atmosphere via high-altitude weather balloon, which departed from the outfield of Kauffman Stadium. The package was safely recovered later that day in Carrollton, Mo. The stunt was achieved by the English agency Sent into Space, which aims to bring the wonder of space a little closer for everyone. The flight encountered temperatures as low as -158°F, air pressure close to zero and aggressive re-entry speeds into Earth's atmosphere approaching hundreds of miles per hour. 'We think two of the best things here on Earth are Boulevard beer and Kansas City Royals baseball,' said The Kansas City Royals' Christian Nemmers. 'We wanted to share that with the universe by sending them both up into space.' 'Space Camper IPA has experienced astronomical growth in the six years since its launch,' said Boulevard Brand Manager Adam Hall. 'It's an easy-drinking, refreshing beer with bright, tropical fruit flavors. What better beer is there to send to space than Space Camper IPA?' The launch marked the latest in the Royals' and Boulevard's ongoing support of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives. In conjunction with the launch, the two partners are donating to Girls Who Code and the Cosmosphere International SciEd Center & Space Museum in Hutchinson, Kan., through the Kansas City Royals Foundation. The Royals and Boulevard Pitch In For Sustainability and Science The Kansas City Royals and Boulevard have a long-standing partnership built on shared love of the Kansas City community, as well as other common values, including sustainability and science. These interests have come to life this year through Boulevard's popular Space Camper IPA. Space Camper's mission is to 'Save the Earth, the Only Planet with Beer' by supporting a number of sustainability initiatives. The two partners announced earlier this spring that for the 2025 baseball season, the Royals and Boulevard have committed to planting 425 trees through the Arbor Day Foundation each time a Royals player hits a 'moonshot,' a home run of more than 425 feet, this season. To date the initiative has committed to the planting of more than 2,000 trees. Boulevard's Space Station to Touch Down at the K Boulevard has transformed the View Level Bar located near section 420 into the 'Space Station,' an immersive branded bar that allows fans to step into the far reaches of outer space and the Space Camper universe while rooting on the boys in blue. All of these initiatives will be celebrated at Space Camper Day at the K on Friday, June 27. The first 10,000 fans 21 & older will receive a glow-in-the-dark Space Camper x Royals coozie. A grand opening ribbon cutting for the Space Station will take place at 5:00 p.m., and Boulevard will be offering complementary samples and swag giveaways in the Space Station and Craft & Draft for the night. Prizes will include a 3 ft Space Camper bobblehead for one lucky fan and trips for three students to Spacecamp for summer 2026 from the Cosmosphere. Visit and sign up for our newsletter for updates. About The Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are a professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team competes in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. The Royals have won two World Series championships, in 1985 and 2015. Learn more at About Boulevard Brewing Company Founded in 1989, Boulevard Brewing Company is the largest specialty brewer in the Midwest. Their beers are available in 47 states and 11 countries. Boulevard's mission is simple: to produce fresh, flavorful beers using the finest ingredients and the best of both old and new brewing techniques. Boulevard's Tours & Rec Center is open to the public seven days a week and features multiple bars, daily brewery tours, curated tastings, special events, a gift shop, bottle shop and more. Visit Boulevard at 2501 Southwest Boulevard, learn more at or find them on social at and Attachments The KC Royals and Space Camper IPA in Space The KC Royals and Space Camper IPA in Space CONTACT: Claire Martin Boulevard Brewing Co. 8168428111 cmartin@ in to access your portfolio
