Trump proposes $500 million cut to NASA as agency aims for the moon

A rendering provided by NASA of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, or Wfirst, telescope. It could be a casualty of the budget cuts proposed for NASA. A rendering provided by NASA of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, or Wfirst, telescope. It could be a casualty of the budget cuts proposed for NASA. Photo: HARRIS CORPORATION/TJT PHOTOGRAPHY, NYT Photo: HARRIS CORPORATION/TJT PHOTOGRAPHY, NYT Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close Trump proposes $500 million cut to NASA as agency aims for the moon 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

NASA would face a $500 million cut in the coming budget year under a spending plan released Monday by President Donald Trump's administration, but space agency officials say the budget remains focused on human exploration, specifically to the moon.

"This is a really good budget for NASA," Mark Geyer, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said Monday. "We're blessed with this budget."

Just last month, Trump signed the budget for the current year, allocating $21.5 billion to the history-making space agency. The proposal released Monday for fiscal year 2020, which starts Oct. 1, would only provide $21 billion. The cut comes as Trump has touted the ambitious goal of returning humans to the moon for the first time since 1972

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Budget cuts would come to projects such as the Space Launch System rocket, which will carry the Orion spacecraft to the moon, the education office and a new telescope, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).

But during a livestreamed speech from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Administrator Jim Bridenstine avoided discussing the programs that would be cut. Instead, he talked about returning sustainably to the moon, as a stepping stone for a mission to Mars.

The Lunar Orbital-Platform Gateway, a mini-space station orbiting the moon that NASA wants to build, is a huge part of this plan. The budget fully funds it.

"Gateway is about sustainability ... it's going to enable a sustainable, human presence on the moon," Bridenstine said. "We won't be flying there and back, but we'll be exploring and learning about the moon."

Congress still must approve the budget proposal, which some Democratic lawmakers have called dead on arrival.

Half-a-billion-dollar cut

Just a few weeks ago, federal budget officials announced that non-defense, discretionary spending would face a 5 percent cut in the 2020 budget year. That, of course, would include NASA. The cut ultimately recommended is less deep.

"Recognizing the importance of controlling excessive spending, President Trump directed federal agencies to identify how they can cut a nickel out of every dollar they spend," Russ Vought, acting head of the Office of Management and Budget. wrote in an op-ed last month. "Hard-working American families make these sorts of tough decisions every day. The president believes Washington should be no different."

The cuts came down Monday. And for the space agency, the most notable came to the SLS rocket, which will carry Orion -- the spacecraft being built to carry humans back to the moon.

Trump's budget request postpones funding for upgrades to the rocket that would increase its performance, instead focusing on completing the initial version.

SLS has faced major cost and scheduling setbacks and NASA now plans on launching it with Exploration Mission-1, the uncrewed flight of Orion, by 2020. The crewed Orion flight, Exploration Mission-2, is set to fly in 2022.

Bridenstine on Monday addressed the criticism of SLS, saying that it is vital to the country's plans to return to the moon.

"On this point I want to be crystal clear: SLS is not reusable but it is a critical piece of the architecture that enables us to deliver re-usability to the moon," Bridenstine said.

The proposal also removes a payload from SLS's planned manifest. A mission that will study Jupiter's moon, Europa -- called the Europa Clipper mission -- would be removed from SLS, and instead launched in 2023 on the back of a commercial launch vehicle.

Budget documents state that this will save NASA $700 million.

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The James Webb Space Telescope -- the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that has orbited the Earth for 28 years -- would be fully funded with $352.6 million under the proposal. Initially expected to launch in 2007, Webb has since been delayed until March 2021 after it breached the $8 billion spending cap set by Congress in 2011. Scientists say they now need $9 billion to finish the telescope.

Bridenstine, however, defended the mission.

"This administration is committed to the James Webb telescope and our number one agenda is mission success," Bridenstine said. "This mission is so important to the United States of America and here's why: it will establish us as the leader in physics for the next 30 years."

While Trump's budget calls for fully funding the Webb telescope, it's successor, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), wouldn't receive any money. The budget propsoal also eliminates funding for the Office of Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics Engagement -- previously known as the Office of Education -- and two Earth science missions.

The Trump administration tried to cut the Office of Education in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, but Congress nixed that idea.

Returning to the moon

Despite these proposed cuts, many NASA personnel said the budget supported the agency's goals.

"Everybody loves to have a destination and the gateway provides that," Flight Director Jeff Radigan said Monday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston after Bridenstine's speech.

The budget proposal fully funds the gateway, for example, and provides $363 million to support commercial development of a moon lander that will take cargo -- and later humans -- to the surface.

Additionally, it funds a human return to the moon in 2028.

"For the first time in over 10 years, we have money in this budget for a return to the moon with humans," Bridenstine said. "Human-rated landers, compatible with the gateway, can go back and forth to the moon. And we're funding them to go to the moon."

The proposal also includes $1.5 billion for the International Space Station, while also funding new commercial capabilities to facilitate a transition to commercial activities in low Earth orbit, where the space station flies.

Last year, Trump proposed ending federal funding for the space station at the end of 2024, allowing commercial companies to take over operations in 2025.

This proposal was met with resistance from Congress, with many questioning whether commercial companies could step up to fill the government's funding role. In fiscal year 2017, NASA spent $1.45 billion on the space station, and that doesn't count costs to transport astronauts and supplies there.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, last week filed a measure to extend U.S. operations of the space station until 2030. A similar measure was filed last year by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, another Texas Republicanbut it failed to make it to the president's desk.

Even Bridenstine has said that kind of timeline likely isn't feasible.

The budget documents released Monday, however, appear to make no reference to ending federal funding for ISS.

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"By 2025, the Budget envisions commercial capabilities on the International Space Station as well as new commercial facilities and platforms to continue the American presence in Earth orbit," budget documents state.

Alex Stuckey writes about NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuceky@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.