… (T)hings only got worse on May 30, when the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget request for NASA came out. It proposes cutting the agency’s science funding by 47%, and the agency’s workforce by about one-third — from 17,391 to 11,853. … According to the Planetary Society’s analysis of the budget, that huge astrophysics reduction could mean eight spacecraft dedicated to studying extreme events in the universe (think, the Chandra X-ray Observatory) would be terminated. This analysis also suggests 10 missions constructed to study the region around Earth and the sun would be cancelled, as well as about a dozen Earth-specific missions that help scientists forecast natural disasters such as hurricanes and track global warming. … Per the budget proposal, the White House also wants NASA to eliminate its “green aviation” spending, dedicated to making airplanes better for the environment, and instead work on “protecting the development of technologies with air traffic control and defense applications.”

Other NASA news:

• The Washington Post: The NASA science missions that would be axed in Trump’s 2026 budget
• Los Angeles Times: Opinion: Trump’s NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future
• NASA: Blog: NASA’s Earth-observing satellites help scientists identify atmospheric rivers, which enables studies of climate change, water management, and weather
• NASA: Blog: Dusty skies in California farm country