More bark than bite? NASA insiders oddly relaxed about latest budget threats
- Reference: 1776167154
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/04/14/nasa_budget_insider_comment/
- Source link:
"They feel they have a stable future," a person familiar with the matter told The Register . "However, if you look beyond that – because this is the interesting thing – NASA is a bit worried. It doesn't quite know what's going on."
"The damn stupid thing is this is the way America behaves," our source said. "It does this sort of thing pretty much every year - obviously, more savagely than ever before."
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The mood in the corridors is more weary than panicked. "They are ridiculously relaxed, because they think: last time this happened, the Senate threw it out. They'll throw it out again. There's a lot of bipartisan support for space activities, which may be correct, but it's a dangerous way to live."
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It is, particularly when future generations of engineers and scientists might now reasonably wonder if a career with the space agency is worth the instability.
"People are going to look very carefully at their careers... People will say, 'Well, look, being in a NASA lab was once great, but how's the funding going to go in the future?'"
[4]Here's how to watch the Artemis II splashdown
[5]Artemis II snaps eclipse, Earthset shots on first crewed lunar flyby since Apollo
[6]White House seeks deep NASA cuts as Artemis II breaks spaceflight record
[7]Artemis II astronaut: 'I have two Microsoft Outlooks, and neither one of those are working'
One of our sources reckoned that NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is "as stable as you can be," with staff able to get on with their work for now - but the longer term picture is murkier. "What is the future? Where's the future going? How's it going to affect people?"
The Planetary Society's Science Editor, Asa Stahl, estimates there could be as many as [8]82 NASA missions at risk under the latest proposal , despite Congress firmly rejecting last year's attempt to cut the agency's science budget.
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Among those potentially on the chopping block is a reversal of NASA's commitment to the European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin ExoMars Rover, the termination of existing missions such as New Horizons - which famously [10]conducted a flyby of Pluto - and the cancellation of upcoming projects such as the [11]DAVINCI Venus probe .
As before, lawmakers retain the power to restore funding, and many engineers are banking on exactly that. But the cycle itself is the problem. NASA operates on timescales measured in decades (the Voyager spacecraft launched nearly half a century ago).
Yet given the timescales involved in NASA's missions, repeated short-term budget uncertainty, however it resolves, is a corrosive way to run a space programme. ®
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[4] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/10/watch_artemis_ii_splashdown/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/07/artemis_ii_astronauts_snap_pics_moon/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/07/nasa_budget/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/02/artemis_astronauts_microsoft_outlook_broken/
[8] https://www.planetary.org/articles/82-nasa-missions-at-risk-under-new-proposal
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[10] https://www.theregister.com/2015/07/14/pluto_new_horizons_science/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/03/nasa_doubles_down_on_venus/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
This has always been a problem for NASA - they have to grovel to Congress every year to try to get sufficient funding to for all of their projects for the next 12 months. The only time they have been relatively safe was during the 1960's, and that was only because no Congress-critter was going to dare go against Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
What is the problem, at least for a couple of years.....
Surely NASA can ride on the coat tails of success from the Artemis II mission for a few weeks.
By this time they can design a Golden Globe for the Best President Overseeing Space Exploration Ever Award.
Give it to Trump and they are guaranteed funding until the end his presidency ( I think it should be Presidency but he doesn't deserve the recognition of the capital P) at least.
JPL morale is in the toilet. Politicians are to blame.
> "One of our sources reckoned that NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is "as stable as you can be," with staff able to get on with their work for now - but the longer term picture is murkier. "What is the future? Where's the future going? How's it going to affect people?"
I have two very good friends who have worked at JPL for most of their careers.
Morale among employees is in the toilet. The threat of budget cuts is a constant overhang. Employees wonder if years of hard work will be scrapped and thrown away by politicians who don't value what they do. Sure, the pay is good for the public sector, but these employees also thrive on their love of science and feel pride in bringing things to completion. Futility is a powerful demotivator in organizations which need more than clock punchers.
They also feel devalued by leaders who don't celebrate science the same way America used to, certainly not like in the glory days of the space program. It's not just space, though. Things like climate denial and Covid conspiracies are also powerful signals of what Washington values and what it doesn't...and WHO it values and doesn't.
There's also the threat of career shifts. The "as stable as you can be" (per article) isn't held anymore. Many of these employees do highly specialized tasks and can't just transition easily, or that doing so would require a move. A LOT of JPL employees are worried about where else they would go and absolutely refuse to entertain the idea of having to live in Texas, even before getting into issues of who they might have to work for if they did move to Texas.
The pay isn't even the primary motivator for many. It's enough to have a nice life, which is the point. People who love science care about more than money. JPL is more than an employer. It is also a community where many feel a deep sense of belonging and shared purpose. Don't underestimate how impactful that is when a significant number are neurodivergent and have had lifelong issues finding a sense of belonging among those who don't share their hyperfocused interests.
JPL is an academic community, much like you see on campus at research universities. How many brilliant professors wouldn't consider not being part of a campus community? That's JPL. That multiplies the sense of grossness felt by fears that Congress will cut the budget and they'll have to find something else, find a new community, and one that doesn't include having to live in a place like Texas.
Re: JPL morale is in the toilet. Politicians are to blame.
Well said, have one on me
"'Well, look, being in a NASA lab was once great, but how's the funding going to go in the future?'"
China probably doesn't have this problem. Long term plan. Stick with it.