On October 6, American TV personality Bill Nye joined hundreds of protesters in a demonstration against the Trump administration's proposed budget cuts to NASA. In an interview, Nye stated that slashing funding to NASA would mean losing the pole position in space exploration to other countries, such as China.
"The United States would cede leadership to other countries, especially [the] China National Space Administration," said Nye.
The proposed White House budget would cut NASA’s funding by approximately 25% for the year 2026, reducing it from $US24 billion to $18.8 billion.
Indeed, more federal jobs are on the line as threats to cancel or phase out NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) loom. NASA's expensive, multi-billion dollar moon project, a key strategy of NASA's moon exploration program, is likely to be axed after President Donald Trump was lobbied by six space industry executives, including billionaire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
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