NASA whistleblowers claim that President Donald Trump’s drastic changes to the space agency are imperiling safety to such a degree that insiders have become “very concerned that we’re going to see an astronaut death within a few years.”
That’s according to a blockbuster report from the US Senate.
“I see safety issues around us all the time,” one whistleblower lamented in it.
The chilling warning comes as a new culture of fear and silence has descended on NASA after Trump officials instituted dramatic staff reductions, along with alleged unilateral budget cuts and the gagging of an important program that allows people to air safety and performance issues without fear of reprisals, according to the report released by Democrats on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
If they want to keep their jobs, NASA workers now know they have to “keep their heads down” if they have any concerns, according to the report.
Though NASA has a robust culture of safety, tragedy has occasionally struck. Three astronauts were killed during training for the Apollo 1 Moon mission in 1967, seven crew members perished in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, and seven more died when Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed in 2003.
Those deaths hang heavy over the agency, so seeing the shredding of NASA’s workplace safety is rattling.
The allegations also come at the same time as draconian funding cuts proposed by Trump that would see NASA’s 2026 budget go from $24.8 billion to just $18.8 billion, a decrease of 24 percent. Congress hasn’t approved these numbers yet, and members have already signaled they want to keep the same funding level for NASA’s 2026 budget.
But Trump officials have usurped Congress’ constitutional authority, according to the report, and have been pressuring NASA to enact the cuts without lawmakers’ approval.
“The Constitution is clear: The executive branch cannot unilaterally impose a president’s desired budget that has not been approved by Congress,” the report states.
These budget reductions — scattershot and with no sense of strategy, according to the report — is also poised to wear away NASA’s science and tech edge just as China is gearing up to overtake America in the realm of space exploration.
The report also found that leaders at NASA have been warned to get on board with the cuts or else; Trump officials are also accused of pushing the cuts and other directives under a cloak of secrecy and with very little communication, fostering fears among staff that any complaints on any issue will be met with silence or they will lose their jobs or position.
The whistleblowers are also concerned that the agency’s Ombuds Program, an independent body meant to resolve safety and other work issues, has been quieted, according to the report, adding to a growing sense of demoralization at the agency. The program, started in the wake of the Columbia tragedy, was meant to prevent further disasters.
Heaven forbid something like that ever happens again — but whistleblowers think it may only be a matter of time.
“No one is coming to save us,” one whistleblower is quoted saying in the report.
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