Nearly 300 NASA Employees Protest Trump Budget Cuts, Warn Mission Risks

Nearly 300 current and former NASA employees, including astronauts, engineers, and scientists, have signed the Voyager Declaration, a formal letter protesting the Trump administration's proposed budget cuts and policy changes that threaten NASA's scientific integrity, mission safety, and national security. The letter, addressed to acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, criticizes steep reductions to the Science Mission Directorate budget, the cancellation of missions, staffing cuts, and organizational changes that undermine NASA's Technical Authority, a key safety oversight system established after the 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster. The signatories warn that these arbitrary cuts defy congressional appropriations, risk wasting public resources, and could jeopardize decades of progress in space exploration, aeronautics, and climate science. Additionally, the employees highlight a growing culture of organizational silence, where concerns are suppressed, further endangering astronaut safety and mission success. Protests coinciding with International Moon Day and National Space Exploration Day underscored calls to preserve science programs and staffing critical to NASA's mission. These concerns mirror those raised by employees at other federal agencies about the Trump administration's impact on scientific research and public safety.