One NASA science mission saved from Trump’s cuts, but others still in limbo: “Damage is being done already. Even if funding is reinstated, we have already lost people”

The US Government is having severe funding problems, they’re shut down as a whole right now but also many many initiatives and programs are having their budgets cut back. There are multiple NASA missions under threat of being cancelled. Mars Sample Return, Osiris Apex, New Horizons project extension, Mars probes, Venus probes, Jupiter moon probes. There’s discussion about scaling back SLS Block 2 or cancelling Lunar Gateway Station, cancelling Orion, cancelling Artemis 4+ after the crewed lunar landing. Right now those lunar cancellations have been deferred/postponed by the Big Beautiful Bill but I don’t think they’re safe forever, the overall trends seem to be towards reducing NASA funding and some of these very expensive projects might be cut later.

But then we still get press releases about plans for a Lunar Nuclear Reactor to power a permanently crewed moon-base, lunar mining facilities, lunar construction facilities, lunar rocket construction/launch facilities to use the moon-city as a starting point for exploring deep space. Is that realistic? Given the budget cuts and so many key Artemis components dancing on the edge of being cancelled, is speculation on future permanently occupied moon bases realistic?

When discussing the possibility of China landing on the moon before Artemis, there’s always someone who says “It doesn’t matter if China gets the publicity photos of planting a flag on the moon, because Artemis is going to be so much more than flags-and-footprints. Artemis is going to build a moon-city with nuclear reactors.” But is that actually likely to happen in the next decade?

Serious question, what’s to stop other countries that value space exploration from picking up these projects? Couldn’t we transfer control to them and keep these things going?