NASA whistleblowers claim that President Donald Trump’s drastic changes to the space agency are imperiling safety to such a degree that insiders have become “very concerned that we’re going to see an astronaut death within a few years.”
That’s according to a blockbuster report from the US Senate.
“I see safety issues around us all the time,” one whistleblower lamented in it.
The chilling warning comes as a new culture of fear and silence has descended on NASA after Trump officials instituted dramatic staff reductions, along with alleged unilateral budget cuts and the gagging of an important program that allows people to air safety and performance issues without fear of reprisals, according to the report released by Democrats on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
If they want to keep their jobs, NASA workers now know they have to “keep their heads down” if they have any concerns, according to the report.
Though NASA has a robust culture of safety, tragedy has occasionally struck. Three astronauts were killed during training for the Apollo 1 Moon mission in 1967, seven crew members perished in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, and seven more died when Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed in 2003.
Those deaths hang heavy over the agency, so seeing the shredding of NASA’s workplace safety is rattling.
The allegations also come at the same time as draconian funding cuts proposed by Trump that would see NASA’s 2026 budget go from $24.8 billion to just $18.8 billion, a decrease of 24 percent. Congress hasn’t approved these numbers yet, and members have already signaled they want to keep the same funding level for NASA’s 2026 budget.
But Trump officials have usurped Congress’ constitutional authority, according to the report, and have been pressuring NASA to enact the cuts without lawmakers’ approval.
“The Constitution is clear: The executive branch cannot unilaterally impose a president’s desired budget that has not been approved by Congress,” the report states.
... continue reading