The people in your life who work in Space Science are not ok. Approach us with caution, bring snacks, and know we will ask you to call your congress people… because calling your congress people seems to be working.
I have a bit of good news: On Jul 9, the Senate Committee on Appropriations did a markup on the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations act. To quote from their meeting, “The bill provides $33.9 billion for science agencies NASA and the National Science Foundation. For NASA the bill reflects an ambitious approach to space exploration prioritizing the Artemis program and human space flight by rejecting premature terminations of systems like SLS and Orion before commercial replacements are ready. We make crucial investments to accelerate our plans for boots on the lunar surface but also in the technologies and capacity to land astronauts on Mars. I believe the bill represents a careful balance of limited resources and demonstrates we an fund critical programs while demonstrating fiscal responsibility.”
According to reporting by NASAWatch, when asked if the bill would restore science spending, Sen Jerry Moran of Kansas replied, “The answer is yes.”
This is still less than ideal, but it is $10 billion more than the president’s budget proposal put forward.
During the next month, the House and Senate will both be reviewing budget bills and determining just what research will be possible in this nation in FY26. Please keep calling your congress people, and if you haven’t picked up your phone yet, it’s time to call and say, “I want to see the US continue its economy-boosting excellence in science research, including space science research.”
While the one piece of news is amazing, we have a long way to go and there are a lot of road blogs before us. Literally 1000s of experienced researchers, engineers, managers, and other space professionals are leaving NASA with the most recent severance package offer. This is going to be a huge brain drain, and it is unclear what kinds of jobs these folks will now seek. The Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has asked to split his time between agencies and also serve as NASA’s interim administrator. By education, Duffy has an undergraduate degree in Marketing and a law degree. After being a reality star on MTV’s The Real World in his 20s and early 30s, Duffy went on to serve as a District attorney in Wisconsin for 8 years, and joined the House of Representatives, where he served on the House Committee on Financial Services. He left the house in 2019 to support a child with health issues, and worked as a commentator on CNN until he was appointed as Secretary of Transportation. He doesn’t have any experience I can find related to transportation, aerospace, or space sciences.
It is becoming more and more clear that for science to succeed in the US, scientists are going to need to redefine how we get our research done.