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USA Today
02-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Trump budget proposal: NASA's SLS rocket, Orion and science on chopping block
Trump budget proposal: NASA's SLS rocket, Orion and science on chopping block Show Caption Hide Caption Rutgers scientist discovers massive molecular cloud near Earth, Sun Eos, a massive gas cloud, is one of the largest structures in the sky. NatureLifePhoto/Flickr (New York City Skyline), Burkhart et al. 2025 + NASA The White House budget proposal aims to discontinue NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) after three missions due to cost overruns. NASA's overall budget, including science programs, faces cuts, with the Mars Sample Return mission slated for termination. The days of NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket and Orion space capsule may be limited, as a White House budget proposal for the space agency aims to phase out the overbudget SLS after just two more missions. And it's not just Artemis. NASA's budget as a whole would see agency-wide cuts that go beyond human exploration with the total budget dropping $6 billion from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion — or nearly 25 percent. NASA's science budget takes a particularly significant hit. "The White House has proposed the largest single-year cut to NASA in American history," The Planetary Society said in a statement, noting that the proposal comes as President Trump's proposed pick to lead NASA, businessman space traveler Jared Isaacman, still is not in the job. "It would recklessly slash NASA's science budget by 47%, forcing widespread terminations of functional missions worth billions of dollars." On Friday, May 2, the 46-page Discretionary Budget Request for fiscal year 2026 was made public. Among the proposed cuts drawing attention: NASA's SLS rocket and the Gateway space station — which was planned to orbit the moon starting during Artemis IV through an international partnership. "The Budget funds a program to replace SLS and Orion flights to the Moon with more cost effective commercial systems that would support more ambitious subsequent lunar missions," the document reads. SLS is stated to cost $4 billion per launch and run about 140% over budget. The giant rocket's cost overruns and delays have been the subject of continued concern, but it was seen as a centerpiece in the effort to return Americans to the moon ahead of the Chinese. The budget didn't outline what would replace SLS but many have pointed to SpaceX's Starship, although that vehicle still has not been able to successfully complete an orbital mission. The budget says the cuts come so effort can be refocused on beating China and "putting the first human on Mars." To do that, the budget allocates more than $7 billion for lunar exploration and another $1 billion for Mars-focused programs. The budget also includes an increase of $647 million for Human Space Exploration. By eventually eliminating the SLS rocket and Orion, officials suggest an annual savings of $879 million. To date, NASA's SLS has launched once on an uncrewed mission back in late 2022. During the flight, the Orion spacecraft was found to have heat shield issues upon reentry forcing some adjustments to its planned trajectory. The SLS rocket for the Artemis II mission, which is set to fly around the moon no earlier than spring 2026, is currently being stacked inside Kennedy Space Center's massive Vehicle Assembly Building. Artemis III is planned to launch four astronauts in the Orion spacecraft atop NASA's SLS no earlier than mid-2027. The crew will than meet with a SpaceX Starship in lunar orbit, and two astronauts will transfer over and land on the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years. Messages seeking comment with U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos' office were not immediately returned Friday. Haridopolos represents Florida's Space Coast. Mars becomes a new focus Landing Americans on Mars has been a large talking point of President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO turned Department of Government Efficiency leader, Elon Musk. In a press release, NASA officials said the proposed budget 'accelerates human space exploration of the Moon and Mars with a fiscally responsible portfolio of missions.' 'This proposal includes investments to simultaneously pursue exploration of the Moon and Mars while still prioritizing critical science and technology research,' Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro said in the release. Also in the proposal is a scale-back of International Space Station operations as the aging station is planned to cease operations by 2030, and NASA moves onto private space stations such as Axiom's planned space station. NASA science budget cuts proposed Proposed cuts go beyond human exploration. Space Science will see a cut of $2.2 billion while Earth Science is set to see a $1.1 billion cut. Areas mentioned in particular were things deemed climate-related. "To achieve these objectives, the Budget would streamline the NASA workforce, information technology services, NASA Center operations, facility maintenance, and construction and environmental compliance activities. The Budget also terminates multiple unaffordable missions and reduces lower priority research, resulting in a leaner Science program that reflects a commitment to fiscal responsibility," a statement on the NASA website reads. Space Science cuts would terminate: the delayed and over-budget Mars sample return project, the budget said. Instead, human missions to Mars could achieve that sample return by the previously estimated date in the 2030s, the budget projects. Opposition to the budget cuts On April 30, a coalition of 10 space advocacy groups ranging from the American Astronomical Society to The Mars Society sent a joint letter to Congress expressing 'profound alarm' at the potential of deep cuts in NASA science. 'The impact extends far beyond mission hardware. These cuts would eviscerate space science research and analysis programs, crippling university departments, research institutions, and NASA centers,' the letter said. 'It would decimate the nation's STEM talent pipeline, eliminating vital training opportunities for the next generation of scientists and engineers and likely lead to widespread layoffs within this highly skilled workforce, both in the government and industry. If enacted, this budget will have real downstream impacts on America's ability to field next generation technology, impacting U.S. national security and economic development,' the letter said. Among the areas they cited for concern: planetary defense, which is finding and tracking asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth, and heliophysics which helps protect satellites and communications from solar storms and other space weather. On May 2, The Planetary Society warned: Slashing NASA's budget by this much, this quickly, without the input of a confirmed NASA Administrator or in response to a considered policy goal, won't make the agency more efficient — it will cause chaos, waste the taxpayers' investment, and undermine American leadership in space." NASA has already seen some cuts. In early March, NASA announced it was closing its Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy; the Office of the Chief Scientist; and a DEI-themed branch, impacting 23 jobs. Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network. Contact her at bedwards@ or on X: @brookeofstars.
Newsweek
28-04-2025
- Science
- Newsweek
Astrophysicists Discover Vast Hidden Star-Forming Cloud Near Solar System
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A vast star-forming cloud of molecular hydrogen that is one of the largest single structures in the sky has been discovered hidden near the solar system. The crescent-shaped cloud—which its discoverers named "Eos," after the ancient Greek goddess of the dawn—has long been invisible to us, despite being just 300 light-years away. However, a new approach using ultraviolet emissions has made the cloud visible to us. "This opens up new possibilities for studying the molecular universe," said study lead and astrophysicist professor Blakesley Burkhart of Rutgers University–New Brunswick in a statement. Eos' proximity to the solar system poses no danger—but, the researchers explain, it does provide a unique opportunity to study the evolution of structures in the interstellar medium. "When we look through our telescopes, we catch whole solar systems in the act of forming, but we don't know in detail how that happens," Burkhart explained. "Our discovery of Eos is exciting because we can now directly measure how molecular clouds are forming and dissociating—and how a galaxy begins to transform interstellar gas and dust into stars and planets." An artist's impression shows what Eos would look like in the night sky if the vast molecular cloud was visible to the naked eye. An artist's impression shows what Eos would look like in the night sky if the vast molecular cloud was visible to the naked eye. NatureLifePhoto/Flickr New York City Skyline, Burkhart et al. 2025 Eos is located just on the edge of the so-called Local Bubble—a large, low-density void in the interstellar medium that encompasses the solar system and is thought to have been formed as a result of past supernovae explosions. The molecular cloud has an estimated mass equal to that of 3,400 suns and, if it could be seen with the naked eye, would appear some 40 times wider than the moon in the sky. Spotting the cloud in reality, however, was a more challenging proposition. Despite typically being dominated by hydrogen, molecular clouds are typically detected by looking for the chemical signature for another common component, carbon monoxide. Eos, however, contained very little carbon monoxide, explaining how it was able to stay invisible to use for so long. The cloud was instead revealed by looking for hydrogen, in a novel approach, based on data collected by the far-ultraviolet instrument on STSAT-1, a South Korean satellite. "This is the first-ever molecular cloud discovered by looking for far ultraviolet emission of molecular hydrogen directly," said Burkhart. "The data showed glowing hydrogen molecules detected via fluorescence in the far ultraviolet. This cloud is literally glowing in the dark." The discovery, the researchers noted, came as something of a surprise. "When I was in graduate school, we were told that you can't easily directly observe molecular hydrogen," explained paper co-author and New York University (NYU) astrophysicist Thavisha Dharmawardena in a statement. "It's kind of wild that we can see this cloud in data that we didn't think we would see." The researcher's modeling suggests that Eos will evaporate in around 6 million years' time. The full findings of the study are published in the journal Nature Astronomy. With this investigation complete, the team is resuming their search for other molecular hydrogen clouds—both those near and very far away. "The use of the far ultraviolet fluorescence emission technique could rewrite our understanding of the interstellar medium, uncovering hidden clouds across the galaxy and even out to the furthest detectable limits of cosmic dawn," said Dharmawardena. In fact, the team believe they may have also detected the most distant molecular cloud found to date, in data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The findings of this study, which have not yet been peer reviewed, can be read on the arXiv preprint server. "Using JWST, we may have found the very furthest hydrogen molecules from the sun," said Burkart. She added: "So, we may have found both some of the closest and furthest using far-ultraviolet emission." Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about outer space? Let us know via science@ References Burkhart, B., et al. (2025). A nearby dark molecular cloud in the Local Bubble revealed via H2 fluorescence. Nature Astronomy. Johnson, M., Burkhart, B., D'Eugenio, F., Bourlot, J. L., Bialy, S., Tacchella, S., Maiolino, R., Roueff, E., Petit, F. L., Bron, E., Abgrall, H., Nelson, E., Menon, S., & Orr, M. E. (2025). A Tentative Detection of Molecular Hydrogen (H$_2$) Emission Lines at Cosmic Dawn. arXiv.
