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NASA funding cuts are already affecting research and educational programs across the US<\/p>\n
DCStockPhotography\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
NASA has cancelled contracts and grants worth up to $420 million, following guidance from the Trump administration\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The cuts will impact research projects and educational programmes across the US, but NASA is being tight-lipped about confirming exactly which organisations are affected.<\/p>\n
After DOGE, an independent task force led in effect by tech billionaire Elon Musk, announced the cuts, NASA confirmed the amount but refused to specify which programmes were cancelled. Casey Dreier at The Planetary Society, a non-profit organisation based in California, compiled a list of programmes that recently lost funding using the agency\u2019s public grant database. NASA has since taken down the database and did not respond to questions about the list\u2019s accuracy.<\/p>\n
Many of the cuts on Dreier\u2019s list align with President Donald Trump\u2019s scepticism towards climate science and his administration\u2019s aggressive targeting of its interpretation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.<\/p>\n
Climate-related cancellations include a project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that uses satellite sensors to map the impacts of extreme heat, air pollution and flooding on prisons. Another target was University of Oklahoma research to develop digital twin simulations that predict the effects of floods on tribal lands.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n But it is unclear why NASA ended support for other research, such as using bioengineered cells to examine how spaceflight affects the human body or modelling how lunar dust could contaminate future moon missions.<\/p>\n NASA spokesperson Bethany Stephens told New Scientist <\/em>that the agency is \u201coptimising its workforce and resources in alignment with the Department of Government Efficiency\u2019s initiatives\u201d. DOGE has pushed agencies across the US government to slash funding or shut down altogether.<\/p>\n But cancellations of ongoing grants and contracts fly in the face of the \u201crigorous\u201d review process that selected them in the first place as the \u201cmost scientifically deserving proposals\u201d, says Michael Battalio at Yale University. \u201cPolitics cannot and should not define what is scientifically worth studying at the level of individual grants,\u201d says Battalio, who studies the atmospheres of Mars and Titan in preparation for future missions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe DEI-related cuts disturb me the most,\u201d says Bruce Jakosky at the University of Colorado Boulder, who was the lead scientist on NASA\u2019s MAVEN mission to Mars. \u201cThose grants are about reaching out to underrepresented groups and ensuring that people have access to training and education \u2013 none of them appear to be about promoting less qualified people over more qualified people.\u201d<\/p>\n For instance, NASA cut funding for a conference hosted by the National Society of Black Physicists, a long-standing non-profit organisation that promotes the professional well-being of African American physicists and physics students. \u201cWe were told that the reason for cancelling the contract was to comply with the executive order from the president concerning DEI,\u201d says Stephen Roberson, president of the National Society of Black Physicists. \u201cWe are looking to appeal this decision and receive further clarification on why our annual conference where people of all races and academic\u00a0levels present their scientific work is considered DEI.\u201d<\/p>\n New Scientist<\/em> reached out to researchers and organisations that appear to have been affected, but with the exception of the National Society of Black Physicists, most did not respond. The San Diego Air & Space Museum, which appeared on Dreier\u2019s list, said its NASA funding for educational events seems to still be intact despite NASA\u2019s database showing a change in the grant end date. NASA did not respond to a request to confirm the status of this funding.<\/p>\n Topics:<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n