Donald Trump appears to have no care for the welfare of our planet as he wants NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to focus on deep space explorations rather than on climate change.
The White House released this year's budget proposal last Thursday. In it, NASA may have to drop its trips to Europa, a nearby asteroid, and studies about the atmosphere above our own planet. Trump, on the contrary, seems to be focusing on Mars 2020 and Europa Clipper.
Trump budget & affected NASA programs
The Los Angeles Times reported that non-priority projects, like studies on climate change, may be halted due to a slight budget cut for NASA. Trump rather wants the agency to continue Mars 2020, a mission set to send a sample-collecting rover to the Red Planet. Also, the Europa Clipper might push through with its plan to fly a shuttle near Jupiter's icy moon.
The latter exploration aims to prove that liquid ocean exists in one of the satellites of the massive planet. Thus, NASA may verify that alien life is possible in it. Overall, the 2018 Trump budget blueprint cuts the funding from $19.3 billion to $19.1 billion. Reportedly, this is still quite better than the fate of other science-oriented organizations like the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency.
If NASA adopts the proposed budget from Trump, the Asteroid Redirect Mission may also be at risk. This controversial project plans to capture a large asteroid and bring it close to Earth. Nevertheless, all of the technologies already developed for the asteroid mission will be preserved for future use.
Trump hits on climate change research, cuts NASA budget
Per Gizmodo, Trump unveiled a total of $1.1 trillion funding draft for 2018. It slashed EPA funds by 31 percent and another 28 percent for State Department. It then zeroed out the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Endowment for the Arts. Meanwhile, he offered $54 billion in defense spending and cut the allocation for NASA.
While the NASA budget markdown is not that big, some major departments within the agency were still slashed. For example, the proposal from Trump will surely affect the Office of Education in a negative way. Unfortunately, it provides countless scholarships and internships to young scientists worldwide.
The Trump budget also targets environmental science and climate change research. NASA may need to eliminate OCO-3, an instrument used to monitor the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Other projects on the chopping board include the PACE (monitoring ocean health), CLARREO (projects future climate), and DSCOVR (a mission proposed by Al Gore).
