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Here are 10 NASA missions that could be grounded under Trump's 2026 budget
Missions across the final frontier could die as a result of the proposed cuts to NASA's budget made by President Donald Trump, the Washington Post reported Sunday.
In his fiscal year 2026 budget request made on May 30, Trump proposed cutting NASA's science funding by 53%, the newspaper reported.
NASA receives over $7 billion a year, but Trump's budget request lowers that to $3.9 billion to '[support] a leaner, more focused science program that reflects the administration's commitment to fiscal responsibility,' according to the budget proposal.
Trump submitted the proposal to Congress, where it awaits approval.
The request, 'if approved by Congress, would kill many of NASA's plans for robotic exploration of the solar system,' the Post explained. 'Gone, too, would be multiple space-based missions to study Earth, the sun and the rest of the universe.'
The Planetary Society, an advocacy group supportive of science education and space exploration, founded by astronomer Carl Sagan and led by Bill Nye 'the Science Guy,' called the budget 'a retreat, a narrowing of ambition.'
'This request represents the smallest NASA budget since FY 1961 — a level enacted before the first American had launched into space,' according to the organization in a statement on May 30. 'Unlike that era of growth, high ambition and bold vision, this budget revels in the opposite: what the nation cannot do."
The cuts could impact 41 current and future missions, which make up one-third of NASA's space exploration portfolio, the Post reported.
Of these missions, here are 10 that could be affected by Trump's budget proposal:
Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography and Spectroscopy (VERITAS) probe
The VERITAS probe is anticipated to be launched no later than 2031 to explore the second planet in the solar system and Earth's 'twin,' Venus, according to NASA.
'Veritas will discover the secrets of a lost habitable world, gathering data to reveal how the paths of Venus and Earth diverged,' the space agency stated.
Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging (DAVINCI) spacecraft
Like VERITAS, the DAVINCI spacecraft is also set to study Venus following its tentative launch in 2030, NASA stated. It will explore the planet's poisonous clouds and conduct both a flyby observation of the planet and a probe that will land on its surface.
Voyager 1 and 2
Two twin spacecraft launched in 1977 to study the outer solar system are expected to see cuts that were already expected to happen, the Post reported. This was inevitable due to the probes' diminished power source: the radioactive decay of plutonium-238.
Sagan was also involved in the prep work on the Voyager spacecrafts. Along with a golden disc carrying recordings from Earth in case extraterrestrial life found the probes, Sagan requested that Voyager 1 photograph Earth once it reached the outer solar system. By 1990, the probe photographed Earth — represented by a small pinpoint of light — in the famed photo referred to as the 'Pale Blue Dot.'
Trump's proposed cuts would lower Voyager's funding from $7.8 million to $5 million in 2026, eventually until it reaches zero in 2029.
Chandra X-ray Observatory
Named after astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the Chandra X-ray Observatory's funding would go from $69 million to zero if Trump's cuts are approved.
The observatory itself is NASA's most powerful X-ray telescope and 'has eight times greater resolution and is able to detect sources more than 20 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope,' the agency stated.
Rosalind Franklin rover's Mars Organic Molecule Analyser (MOMA)
A rover that is expected to be launched to the Red Planet, Mars, in 2028. The rover is operated by the European Space Agency through its astrobiology program, but is partnered with NASA.
Aboard the rover is the MOMA, which will study organic compounds in the Martian soil, according to the ESA.
Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer (PoLSIR)
Rather than study deep space, this mission consists of two small satellites orbiting Earth to 'help humanity better understand Earth's dynamic atmosphere and its impact on climate by studying ice clouds that form at high altitudes throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions.'
Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Apophis Explorer (OSIRIS-APEX)
The OSIRIS-APEX space mission continues the work of past OSIRIS probes that study asteroids and their passages near Earth, according to NASA. This latest mission aims to study the asteroid Apophis when it passes close to Earth around June 2029 to see how the planet's gravity affects it.
'If funding is terminated, as Trump proposes, the spacecraft will circle the sun indefinitely without yielding any science,' the Post reported.
Mars Sample Return
Also overseen by NASA and ESA, this 'multi-mission campaign ... would bring carefully selected Martian samples to Earth for the first time,' NASA stated. These samples would 'revolutionize our understanding of Mars, our solar system and prepare for human explorers to the Red Planet,' the American space agency added.
The mission has been repeatedly delayed due to cost issues and technical issues, the Post reported. Trump's proposal would provide no funding for it
Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)
Another NASA and ESA partnership, this joint mission is intended to study gravitational waves and ripples in the fabric of space-time emitted by black holes when they collide, according to ESA. The mission is comprised of an observatory that would be launched into space in 2035 and then orbit around Earth.
Trump's answer to the mission through the budget request: NASA would no longer be involved in the mission.
Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter
Since it was launched in 2014, the MAVEN mission also studies Mars by taking a look at how much of the planet's atmosphere has been lost over time, NASA stated.
Trump's proposal would cut the mission's funding, leaving the probe to circle the Red Planet and not produce any science, the Post wrote. Eventually, it would crash down on Mars.
'The cancellation of ongoing Mars missions and Mars Sample Return eliminates major efforts to understand the environmental conditions that astronauts will face, to understand Mars as a planet and to prepare the science for human missions,' Bruce Jakosky, a senior scientist at the University of Colorado, told the Post.
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Read the original article on MassLive.
