23.07.2025

At NASA, the past six months under President Donald Trump's administration "have seen rapid and wasteful changes which have undermined our mission and caused catastrophic impacts" on a diminishing workforce, said an open letter signed by more than 200 current and former NASA employees.

The letter, labeled the Voyager Declaration, was publicly released Monday, July 21, with 287 public and undisclosed signatories. NASA faces a proposed $6 billion agency-wide funding cut, including a 47% reduction of science missions and activities.

What's more, Politico reported earlier this month that 2,694 NASA civil staffers — primarily senior-level employees — have agreed to leave the agency via deferred resignation, early retirement and other offers. NASA employed nearly 18,000 people earlier this year.

"NASA is a tangible product of the greatest expression of the American Dream. All of humanity has mused about reaching into the stars and through decades of unified support by presidents, congress, and the American public, we did it," Colette Delawalla, founder and executive director of Stand Up for Science, said in a Tuesday press release. The Washington, D.C., nonprofit is hosting the Voyager Declaration.

"America put the first human on the moon, we showed the world Pluto, we brought photos of the farthest corners of the universe home. Dismantling this American institution is a travesty," Delawalla said.

"No one voted for this. No one voted to willfully give our global dominance in science to other nations in exchange for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy," she said.

In a statement, NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens said the agency will never compromise on safety, and "any reductions — including our current voluntary reduction — will be designed to protect safety-critical roles."

"Thanks to the innovators, risk-takers and researchers, NASA shocked the world in 1969 by ensuring Americans became the first to step on the moon. But, the United States hasn’t been back since 1972. That’s a shame and means we shouldn’t continue down the same path we’ve been on for decades. We must revisit what’s working and what’s not so that we can inspire the American people again and win the space race," Stevens said.

"Despite the claims posted on a website that advances radical, discriminatory DEI principles, the reality is that President Trump has proposed billions of dollars for NASA science, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to communicating our scientific achievements. To ensure NASA delivers for the American people, we are continually evaluating mission lifecycles, not on sustaining outdated or lower-priority missions," she said.

NASA continues to operate without a permanent leader since Bill Nelson, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, stepped down in January on the day of Trump's inauguration. Trump appointed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as NASA's interim administrator earlier this month. The Voyager Declaration was addressed to Duffy.

Meanwhile in Congress, U.S. Senate and House members approved appropriations bills would rebuff proposed cuts and maintain NASA's annual budget at $24.9 billion — significantly more than the White House's Office of Management and Budget proposal to slash that sum to $18.8 billion next year.

In a July 15 statement, The Planetary Society noted "the House and Senate have much still to debate on full-year appropriations." But the space-science nonprofit, which was co-founded by Carl Sagan in 1980, cheered Congress' opposition to "unprecedented, unstrategic, and wasteful cuts" at NASA.

"The Planetary Society calls on the OMB and the current NASA leadership to acknowledge clear congressional intent to support NASA science, and avoid the premature implementation of irreversible structural changes such as imposing research grant cancellations, indiscriminate reductions in force, and active mission terminations," the statement said.

Aside from to the Senate debate, Trump signed the Republicans' "big, beautiful bill" earlier this month that included $10 billion in NASA funding, much of which had been slated for deletion in the White House budget proposal. Among the highlights:

• $4.1 billion to fund two Space Launch System rockets for the Artemis IV and V missions, which the White House budget had proposed to eliminate.
• $2.6 billion to fully fund the Gateway lunar space station, which was also slated for elimination.
• $885 million for infrastructure improvements at regional centers, including $250 million at Kennedy Space Center.
• $325 million to fund a deorbit vehicle to safely bring down the International Space Station, which is nearing the end of its useful life.

The Voyager Declaration warned that "the culture of organizational silence promoted at NASA over the last six months already represents a dangerous turn away from the lessons learned following the Columbia disaster."

The letter also opposed changes to NASA's Technical Authority capacities not driven by safety and mission assurance; shuttering of missions that have funding appropriated by Congress; "indiscriminate cuts" to NASA science and aeronautics research; and termination of NASA contracts and grants for reasons unrelated to performance, among other topics.

Quelle: Florida Today