NASA Is Ending Interstellar Exploration – Just As It Began
Keith’s note: Those of you in the space community know that NASA Science is facing an immense budget cut. Dozens of missions have been cancelled and many missions that are still returning valuable data are being shut off – in many cases to save a few million dollars – a tiny fraction of what it took to mount the missions in the first place. This data will be lost. In the case of New Horizons which is currently traversing the outer solar system, NASA is going to knowingly forfeit a third interstellar mission (after the twin Voyagers). This latest interstellar mission would be done with a healthy spacecraft outfitted with 21st century instrumentation. The Voyagers are minimally functional and will soon fade all together. We could continue to expand America’s pre-eminent exploration of interstellar space until the middle of this century. And that lead will last unchallenged for a generation or more to come. As I noted last month “This is not the way for America to lead the way out into the cosmos. Hopefully Congress will wake up and notice. Let’s ‘Keep America Great In Space’ — not abandon our lead.” More: Stellar Cartography: A Demonstration Of Interstellar Navigation Using New Horizons.
17 responses to “NASA Is Ending Interstellar Exploration – Just As It Began”
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I guess it’s time to hand over the cosmos to China/Russia, because they are certainly going to take advantage of this window of opportunity.
Pretty much just China. Russia hasn’t had a successful launch behind geostationary since the fall or the Soviet Union.
Maybe India might rise to challenge China.
Russia’s been launching to GEO since the ‘90s, like Express-AMU3 in May 2024 with Proton-M and Soyuz-2. The U.S. hitched rides on Russia’s Soyuz to the ISS from 2011-2020, proving Russia’s program was solid. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon runs the show now. China had 67 launches in 2023, but SpaceX smoked ‘em with 98, hauling 80% of global payload mass. India’s climbing with GEO shots like INSAT-3DS in 2024. SpaceX is running the table!
Anyone else notice that since the sitting n president took office ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING new and high tech and forward thinking is being reversed? Its like Conservatives are actively reversing 70 years of history and not allowing progress to happen
That’s almost the textbook definition of modern conservatism.
Many of them dont even believe space exists since its not in the buybull.
I sure have. We’re going backwards and not just in space exploration.
It’s clearly evident the current administration has no appetite for anything that won’t make an immediate profit.
Well if the science is doable it’ll get done even if us doesn’t do it , Trump ,vought are true Troyfim lysenko fans ! Drut both of em !!
Sad that enablers at NASA like Ballast Bill Nelson didn’t push back and get the useless SLS, Orion and Gateway canceled before they burned through $50B+, or it could have had far more actual science projects before our national debt reached unsupportable levels. But now that debt costs are larger than social security and the military, we are out of options.
We could just – hear me out – not cut taxes for billionaires. Was there a problem with the low tax rates of the Bush era that required dramatically further cuts?
Point well taken, but like a dropped overhead cone, do you get another or walk away?
Why are we berating SpaceX for doing what NASA never did after the shuttle closed? Because it is a private venture? What is Boeing? Thiocal? Gen Dynamics? Northrop? There is no place else to send missions other than SpaceX.
Killing anything is worse than a tax on a billionaire it is a sanction on the only domestic access to space the USA currently has. Is this the opportunity for other launch systems to catch up? Should the USA be heavy handed in forcing competition?
Meanwhile we need to take a couple of years to get our collective finances in order and decide both immediate and short-term priorities that need to be funded. Personally, I think that existing missions should be funded first to maintain the science that can be extracted from them and then future missions need to be perhaps weaned of their blank check mentalities. By that I’m referring obviously to Orion, SLS, etc.
New horizons should obviously be funded. Ultimately comes back to NASA and their respective project. Prospectuses and how effectively each program was relayed as a budgetary need rather than a budgetary want the squeaky wheels mentality works in NASA as well as everywhere else.
Because Elon is doing everything with NO. Sense of morality or decency and no respect for the planet that we actually have. Exactly how many of these things is he going to use toxify the atmosphere when they stupidly blow up? He isn’t doing a thing for humanity.
Science or advanced education has no place in America under the current administration and their attempt to make mindless followers has worked.
Just rename the mission “The Trump Interstellar Explorer”. Congressional Republicans will unanimously vote for it.
Under no circumstances are you allowed to complain if you are not part of the resistance standing up against these bullies who treasure human ignorance to continuously expand their own wealth. Humans are nothing to them but a workforce. Science means nothing unless they can profit off of it and that means exploitable wage slaves and weapons sales. Resist or Science perishes…
There is an easy solution to so if this asinine destruction of all that is good and worthwhile in America: End Trump’s presidency. NOW. Why are we letting a convicted felon, who should not even be allowed to run for president, much less occupy the office, destroy anything and everything that TRULY made this country great? It is not an exaggeration to say that
Trump and his MAGA hoards are trying to knock this country back into medieval times, when common since was superstition and reality was constructed by the church. Project 2025 is happening, and it is KILLING this country. There’s no mystery to it. If you want the attack on science and progress to end, GET HIM OUT!