Moon-ward ambitions clash with sweeping science cuts in NASA 2027 budget

NASA’s FY2027 budget request would cut overall funding from $24.4B to $18.8B (about 23%), slash the Science Mission Directorate by 46% to $3.89B, while AR TEMIS-focused exploration rises 9% to $8.51B. In a move described as “over 40 low-priority” missions terminated, 53 science missions across heliophysics, Earth science, astrophysics and planetary science are slated for cancellation, including operating assets like Juno, New Horizons, Chandra, Fermi, and SOHO, as well as the Venus portfolio (DAVINCI, VERITAS) and NASA’s EnVision contribution. Fourteen international partnerships could be broken (examples include Rosalind Franklin, LISA, Athena, XRISM, Euclid). Some projects remain funded or preserved (LRO, VIPER, NEO Surveyor, Dragonfly, Roman), and Perseverance’s operations are cut in half while other Mars assets stay. The plan has sparked bipartisan resistance on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers urging continued science funding; the Planetary Society notes the budget document’s line‑item ambiguity complicates comparisons and warns many terminations would be hard to restart if enacted.