New Horizons is currently our only spacecraft in the Kuiper Belt, and if we lose it, it will take decades to develop any mission that can replace it, even disregarding the 20-year transit time. Shuting down this mission will set back planetary science by years. Being the farthest spacecraft from Earth with a multitude of working instruments (the Voyager probes are on their last legs), the data it provides is absolutely invaluable. It's one of NASA's greatest missions, and it's in critical danger.
If Congress approves the 2026 budget request, 41 NASA missions will be cancelled or shuttered, including New Horizons, Juno, OSIRIS-APEX, the Roman Space Telescope, and the Mars Sample Return mission. These budget cuts are the worst NASA has ever faced — far worse than the cuts after the Apollo program ended. Contact your representatives. Let them know that we will not stand idly by while our space program is eviscerated.
Sources:
https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/cost-of-new-horizons
https://www.planetary.org/articles/nasa-2026-budget-proposal-in-charts
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/how-much-will-the-dc-military-parade-cost-heres-a-tally/
The New Horizons mission costs roughly $14.7 million per year. The budget of Trump's $45 million military parade could fund the mission for another three years.Instead, its existence is being threatened by 2026 budget cuts.
byu/The-Curiosity-Rover inspace
20 Comments
These people don’t respond to reasonable arguments. They will bend truth until it aligns with whatever they want or lie outright.
mm. Fund-this-instead-of-that type arguments are generally unhelpful. People have been saying *don’t spend money on space, spend it on X* for decades. It is usually more helpful to argue the benefits of the spend.
this is not news, and it is no deeper than the headline even though it’s true
Got to put president Taco’s ego ahead of scientific missions
Just want to point out that New Horizons is the fastest object ever launched by humanity. It is over 60 AU from Earth and smack dab in the middle of the Kuiper Belt doing both planetary science and heliophysics. It is an incredibly well positioned scientific asset with enough power reserves to last through 2028, when it will show us what is past the Kuiper Belt of dwarf planets, and has enough power reserves to last until at least 2030. It would be a complete and utter fucking waste to end its mission now.
Cutting science and research funding for future generations after benefiting from a lifetime of public science and research funding is about the most Boomer thing I can think of.
Haven’t you heard yet that science is a total inconvenience to every “goal” they have?
It’s a parade for the 250th anniversary of the US army, calling it trumps parade is disingenous.
Curious why you picked the military parade, and even labeling it as Trump’s, when comparing it to the New Horizon budget. Why not:
* Moroccan Pottery Training: $13.5-million a year
* Pakistani Mango Farming Support: $30-million a year
* Las Vegas Pickleball Complex: $12-million a year until complete
* Expanding Ethiopian (and other countries) Social Media Access: $12-million a year
And dozens or hundreds of other examples; but your chose the military parade?
How does it actually cost NASA this much per year? Is this in wages alone? What other cost of operations is occurring other than paying scientists?
Did they ever decide on a target for another flyby?
That’s nothing.
To ‘upgrade’ the 747 he was recently gifted to make it ‘Air Force One’ capable (so internal renovations, improved secure electronics suite, retrofitted air defence systems, snakes on a plane suppression system, etc… et al….) is going to cost circa $1Bn and Trump gets to keep it afterwards as it’s being grifted to his presidential library (see what I did there…….).
We waste just as much on security for POTUS in golf trips in a month, it like Biff Tannon got elected.
Astronomer here! Worth noting this is also not just space missions at risk- I work primarily using the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, which is the best radio telescope on the planet, and right now they’re looking at “reduced operations” with a third of their budget cut. Another one on the chopping block is LIGO- the best gravitational wave detector on the planet by every metric, and won the Nobel Prize in 2017- is now also gonna be shut under the Trump proposal.
I am on the user committee for the Chandra space telescope (also on the chopping block), and we drafted a letter [here](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://cxc.harvard.edu/cdo/cuc/cuc_file25/may21/CUC_Statement_on_Proposed_Cuts_to_NASA_Astrophysics.pdf__;!!C5qS4YX3!Ej7pqkKQU5XI4uz6UNYGiuDk-plksn198Fnulg3jFlwWyY6oohs97PvT-lsW69mqAe7eZ_qfeVoPt120h_Ovxw$) with info on how people can constructively talk to their congressional reps about this if anyone finds it helpful! Congress has traditionally supported science, and on the ground it soudns like they say they support science, but are just too bullied by the White House to stand up to them. So **now is the time to exert pressure**, even more so if you’re in a Republican led district, and/or if anyone in your state is on the [Committee For Space Science and Technology.](https://science.house.gov/committee-members)
Yeah, but what does all that science stuff do for Trump? Nothing except calling him a liar. You clearly don’t understand the purpose of a national budget.
… I laugh to keep from crying.
It is the 250th anniversary of the US Army. Calling it Trumps military parade is inaccurate.
It’s the army’s 250th birthday anniversary parade.
Call your senators and representatives! Overwhelming support is about the only thing that can save NASA science now
You should see how much it’s cost the US to transport the national guard and marines to LA.
That’s tough. Next time maybe dont elect a petty dictator.