The Trump administration has released its proposed budget for next year, revealing massive budget cuts that could deal NASA's space exploration and science efforts a devastating blow.

The agency's budget would be slashed by 24 percent year over year, a difference of $6 billion, which is the biggest single-year cut in US history, according to the Planetary Society.

While space and Earth science funding would face massive lacerations, human space exploration could see its budget increase by roughly $1 billion in "new investments for Mars-focused programs," according to the proposal, highlighting Trump's desire to plant a flag on the Red Planet.

Notably, the Trump administration proposes canceling NASA's "grossly expensive and delayed" Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule after Artemis 3, the first attempt to return astronauts to the Moon's surface in over half a century, which is tentatively scheduled for 2027.

The proposal also suggests canceling NASA's Gateway, a planned space station in the Moon's orbit, as well as the agency's Mars Sample Return mission, and greatly reducing operations on board the International Space Station — all in an effort to purportedly "revitalize human space exploration," according to a NASA statement.

Beyond NASA's Artemis 3 mission, the budget "funds a program to replace SLS and Orion flights to the Moon with more cost-effective commercial systems that would support more ambitious subsequent lunar missions," according to the document.

It doesn't take much reading between the lines to suggest that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk could have a lot to gain from such a change. Musk has personally called on NASA to scrap its Artemis program, describing the Moon a "distraction" and arguing that "we're going straight to Mars."

His space firm's enormous Starship spacecraft is being designed to do just that, and has previously been tapped by NASA to deliver astronauts down to the lunar surface from the Moon's orbit.

Musk has already greatly benefited from being awarded massive government contracts, while far more pressing matters, like social security, education, and health, could see massive budget cuts under Trump's proposed budget.

But whether Trump will be successful in canceling NASA's SLS remains to be seen. The agency's Artemis program enjoys strong bipartisan support in Congress, with lawmakers arguing it would be disastrous to cancel those plans this late in the game, presaging a nasty fight from powerful lawmakers.

Incoming NASA administrator and billionaire fighter jet pilot-turned-SpaceX astronaut Jared Isaacman has also argued that the Artemis program could be carried out in "parallel" with plans to visit Mars, so his position on all this remains as hazy as ever.

In short, lawmakers will likely balk at Trump's suggestions to gut NASA's Moon program after just three flights — which could lead to some heated discussions, behind the scenes or otherwise.

More on Artemis: Incoming NASA Administrator Throws Elon Musk's Mars Plans Under the Bus


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