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Under President Trump\u2019s proposed budget, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration would largely become the National Moon and Mars Administration, with an almost singular focus on getting astronauts to those two destinations.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration proposes a budget of $18.8 billion for NASA, down 24 percent from $24.8 billion in the current budget year. The plan would introduce $1 billion in new investments for Mars, which would aim to fulfill Mr. Trump\u2019s pledge during his address to Congress in March to \u201cplant a flag\u201d on Mars.<\/p>\n
That budgetary change also aligns with the priorities of Elon Musk, who founded his SpaceX rocket company two decades ago with dreams of one day sending colonists to Mars.<\/p>\n
The budget proposal does not offer any details of how the $1 billion would be spent, or a timeline for getting astronauts to Mars. Mr. Musk has said he will launch to Mars the new giant Starship vehicle that SpaceX is currently developing \u2014 without anyone aboard \u2014 in late 2026, and presumably would look to NASA\u2019s Mars money to help pay for that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThis proposal includes investments to simultaneously pursue exploration of the Moon and Mars while still prioritizing critical science and technology research,\u201d Janet Petro, the acting NASA administrator, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Deep cuts would slash spending elsewhere at NASA, especially the agency\u2019s robotic space science missions. Proposed cancellations include a mission to bring back rock samples from Mars, and climate monitoring satellites. The Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule that will take astronauts back to the moon would be canceled after Artemis III, the first crewed mission that would land near the moon\u2019s south pole. Gateway, a small space station in orbit around the moon, would also be canceled.<\/p>\n
If enacted, \u201cthis is the largest single-year cut to NASA in American history,\u201d said Casey Dreier, the chief of space policy at the Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization that advocates for space exploration. \u201cThis is a budget that says America is done leading the world in space, that we are a nation turning inward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The budget plan also calls for scaling back operations at the International Space Station, with fewer astronauts aboard and a slimmed-down research program. It also proposes the elimination of NASA\u2019s education efforts, portraying them as \u201cwoke.\u201d President Trump had tried to cancel NASA\u2019s education efforts during his first term \u2014 as had President Obama before him \u2014 but in both cases, Congress restored the money.<\/p>\n
For aviation, the budget would eliminate research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The budget also proposes a cut of more than $1 billion in \u201cmission support,\u201d saying there are savings to be made by reducing employee head counts, maintenance, construction and \u201cenvironmental compliance activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
A report by the National Academies last September, however, called for NASA to greatly boost its spending on upgrading its infrastructure, much of which dates to the 1960s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n