Nearly 300 current and former NASA employees, including at least four astronauts, have signed an open letter warning that the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the agency could literally cost lives.
Dubbed the Voyager Declaration, the letter calls out six months of “rapid and wasteful changes” that have supposedly gut-punched the agency’s mission and morale. And it draws a direct line between these recent political maneuvers and NASA’s darkest days, like the 2003 Columbia disaster and the 1986 Challenger explosion.
The authors argue that the current climate at NASA echoes the kind of “culture of organizational silence” that led to past catastrophes. Their message is clear: ignore the warnings now, and it might end with another space crew perishing at the ends of a spiteful penny-pinching government.
NASA’s Own Employees Sign Open Letter Warning of Disaster If Budget Cuts Are Enacted
The Trump administration’s plans involve slashing nearly half of NASA’s $7.3 billion science budget, cutting almost a quarter from its overall $18.8 billion budget, and pink-slipping 2,700 staffers. That’s 15 percent of NASA’s workforce. That’s on top of the already-cut $118 million in grants and contracts. According to the letter, all of this is happening without proper legal authority, as Congress has not yet approved the cuts.
NASA leadership is reportedly operating as if the budget has already been slashed, essentially putting the agency into full austerity mode. The letter urges interim administrator Sean Duffy to slow down.
Legally, he doesn’t have to implement any of the proposed cuts until Congress gives the go-ahead. And the signatories, many of whom remained anonymous, likely out of fear of political retribution from a petty and spiteful administration, are hoping Duffy listens before history tragically repeats itself.
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