Shockwave in research: Trump decides to erase the scientific future of NASA!

Taking advantage of the success of the Artemis II mission, which is returning to Earth tonight and the announcement of a permanent installation on the Moon, the Trump administration is moving forward with its budget proposal for NASA for the fiscal year 2027.

However, this proposal results in significant budget cuts: NASA will undergo a 23% reduction in its budget, at a time when the Artemis program is prioritized over all other scientific missions.

Did you know? The White House has submitted its budget for the year 2027 to Congress. It is now up to the Senate and the House to reach a consensus on a budget bill (in theory before September 30), which will then be submitted for final approval by the Executive.

Impact on scientific missions Specifically, the White House budget request for 2027 would consider eliminating nearly half of NASA’s scientific fleet, with a reduction of 3.4 billion dollars, or 46% of the budget of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD). This cut would affect 54 missions, some of which are of great importance.

From planetary science to Earth and heliophysics sciences to astrophysics, all scientific fields are affected! The SMD is responsible for the design, development, and operation of a fleet of about a hundred scientific missions ranging from Earth’s orbit to the outer reaches of our Solar System.

In contrast to these unexpected cuts, the Artemis program – which embodies American ambitions to bring humans back to the Moon – would receive an increase in funding of 731 million dollars, bringing its total budget to about 8.5 billion dollars. This investment is intended to accelerate the development of lunar landers, space suits, and essential infrastructure to initiate and ensure a sustainable presence on the Moon.

This underscores a growing gap between the priorities of human spaceflight and those of scientific research.

Lack of transparency in the budget Another concerning aspect of this budget request is the lack of transparency regarding the proposed missions for elimination. In fact, the request does not explicitly mention these missions, thereby neglecting a standard practice that would allow Congress, which still has a say, and the general public to clearly identify requests for mission eliminations and other budget cuts.

Instead, the budget for the fiscal year 2027 omits to provide a list of the missions to be eliminated. The only way to identify the projects involved is to directly compare this request with the budget from the previous year and note the absences.

Aware of the potential damage inflicted on the sciences, the Trump administration seems to want to make these cuts discreetly. This lack of transparency complicates the task of policymakers and the public to assess the real repercussions of these decisions on the future of scientific research.