The White House seeks to cut NASA's science missions amid budgetary delays, potentially ending nearly half of them and impacting other significant space projects.

The space agency currently has 124 science missions in various stages of development, prime operations, or extended operations. However, proposed cuts would effectively cancel 41 of these missions, while another 17 may soon see their funding completely withdrawn. Consequently, nearly half of NASA's science projects could be terminated, with many others facing budget reductions of 20 to 40 percent.

This includes several significant projects, such as NASA's only mission to Jupiter, an initiative to explore an asteroid that will pass dangerously close to Earth in 2029, two promising missions to Venus, and a project intended to return samples from Mars.

"We would be turning off some fabulous missions that are doing extremely well," noted Jim Green, a physicist who oversaw NASA's Planetary Science Program for 12 years before his 2022 retirement.

Typically, after the White House proposes the upcoming fiscal year's budget, Congress appropriators consider it to determine funding levels and publish a budget. However, in recent years, Congress has struggled to reach a consensus and pass a budget before the new fiscal year begins. This often results in a "continuing resolution," which generally maintains NASA's funding at levels set during the prior fiscal year.

However, multiple sources have suggested that this year might differ, with new memos providing an important clue.

Impact of Mission Reductions

The memos were dispatched to the lead investigators of missions targeted for cancellation in the White House budget. While it is prudent to prepare action plans should these missions be canceled because of a new budget effective by October 1, it appears there may be more strategic motivations involved. The Office of Management and Budget, under the leadership of Russ Vought, has aimed to slash the US government's science portfolio broadly, anticipating that a continuing resolution will be adopted since Congress is unlikely to have a signed budget.