Trump’s Proposed NASA Budget Could Torch the Agency’s Boldest Missions

The U.S. administration is proposing a $6 billion cut to NASA’s budget for next year, axing cornerstones of the agency’s Moon program and its ambitious plan to return rocky samples from Mars. President Donald Trump’s administration released a so-called skinny budget on Friday, outlining the proposed funding for NASA’s 2026 fiscal year. The proposed budget highlights the administration’s “objectives of returning to the Moon before China and putting a man on Mars.” It would thereby phase out NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule, replacing them with commercial substitutes, and terminate the agency’s Lunar Gateway—an in-the-works space station that would be the first to orbit the Moon. The budget would also axe NASA’s Mars Sample Return in an effort to “terminate unaffordable missions.” NASA has taken a lot of heat for its massive, fully expendable Moon rocket, pouring billions into SLS before admitting that it’s ultimately unaffordable. The 5.75-million-pound ro ... Read full article.