All Living Former NASA Science AAs Protest FY 2026 Budget Cuts

Keith’s note: the following letter was sent to congressional leaders and signed by every living former NASA Science Associate Administrator: “We are writing in opposition to the Administration’s FY 2026 NASA budget request, which proposes a 47% reduction to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. We request that the Congress preserve U.S. leadership in space science by maintaining funding for the NASA Science Mission Directorate at the FY 2025 enacted level.” More below.

As former Associate Administrators responsible for managing NASA’s science activities, we know first-hand the incredible talent and capability that our country has built and sustained in the space sciences and engineering over nearly seven decades, and the severe consequences such an indiscriminate cut would impose on the extraordinary U.S. accomplishments and future initiatives.

Congress, in a bi-partisan manner, has solidly supported NASA’s space sciences programs on behalf of the Nation. Continuing this support of space science is critical both in terms of leveraging existing activities while also planning and implementing future investments in the next generation of U.S. scientists and engineers who will lead the world in space science. To do otherwise would be to cede U.S. leadership in space and science to China and other nations, to severely damage a peerless and immensely capable engineering and scientific workforce, and to needlessly put to waste billions of dollars of taxpayer investments. The proposed cuts would force the U.S. to abandon its international partners who historically contribute significantly to U.S. space science missions.

The economics of these proposed cuts ignore a fundamental truth: investments in NASA science have been and are a powerful driver of the U.S. economy and technological leadership. In our former roles leading NASA’s space science enterprise, we consistently saw skilled teams innovate in the face of seemingly impossible goals, including landing a car-sized rover on Mars with pinpoint precision, build a massive telescope that can unfold in the vacuum of space to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos, design and operate a spacecraft hardy enough to survive temperatures of many thousands of degrees at the Sun, inspiring young and old alike worldwide by the stunning images from the Hubble Space Telescope, and pioneering the use of small satellites for science. These activities inevitably result in novel technologies, algorithms, and advanced materials, while advancing the experience and knowledge of NASA engineers. Collectively these have direct, positive, and measurable benefits to our economy and our national security. The proposed cuts to NASA space science will starve the nation of that unique engine of innovation.

NASA’s science programs enjoy broad public and bipartisan support for good reason: NASA science delivers for the American people, providing broad direct benefits in addition to giving citizens the awe and inspiration that only NASA can provide. The science that NASA produces results in a positive view of America at home and around the world. They are a visible example of what makes America great.

As former stewards of NASA’s science programs, we have also seen the power of these programs to inspire and motivate bright minds from all corners of the Nation and around the world. Nearly every science mission supports student participation, providing unique training and career opportunities in aerospace, software design, and other high-demand skills. Industries that have NASA science projects recruit the best and brightest engineers and scientists who also work on other projects helping drive our economy and national defense.

Turning off active missions, research programs, and ending so many future missions will result in thousands of lost opportunities to cultivate these skills in the nation. In addition, without NASA’s science program universities across the country will not be able to retain specialized scientists, faculty, and students. Key technical capabilities would atrophy within NASA field centers, aerospace contractors, and other strategic institutions across the U.S. We know from experience that losing key technical capabilities could take decades to restore and would diminish the U.S. as a world leader in space science.

Finally, if the Administration is committed to countering the growing Chinese capability in space, the U.S. needs to continue its investment in U.S. space science, not cede it unilaterally. Global space competition extends far past Moon and Mars exploration. The Chinese space science program is aggressive, ambitious, and well-funded. It is proposing missions to return samples from Mars, explore Neptune, monitor climate change for the benefit of the Chinese industry and population, and peer into the universe — all activities that the FY 2026 NASA budget proposal indicates the U.S. will abandon.

NASA science endeavors are exercises in long-term national commitment that pays dividends to the American people. Each one of us knows what it’s like to shepherd an ambitious project forward, knowing that its payoff will come years after we have left the agency. This proposed budget ends nearly all future investments for both new missions and advanced technology for science. It walks away from dozens of current, extraordinarily successful and productive science missions in extended operations on a combined budget that is only about three percent of NASA’s annual funding.

In closing, given the scale of the proposed cuts, their long-term consequences, and the potential loss of human knowledge and inspiration, we unanimously urge Congress to reject the proposed cuts to NASA’s budget. We therefore request that the Congress preserve U.S. leadership in space science by maintaining funding for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the FY 2025 enacted level. Respectfully,

John Grunsfeld PhD (served 2012 – 2016)
Alphonso Diaz (served 2004 – 2005)
Lennard Fisk PhD (served 1987 – 1993)
Wesley Huntress PhD (served 1993 – 1998)
S. Alan Stern PhD (served 2007 – 2008)
Edward Weiler PhD (served 1998 – 2004; 2008 – 2011)
Thomas H. Zurbuchen PhD (served 2016 – 2022)
(every living prior Associate Administrator of NASA Science)

Original letter