NASA: Moon and Mars missions, priority

The White House is proposing the largest budget cut in the history of the American space agency. The budget proposal for NASA brings with it a reduction of approximately 24% compared to the previous year, informs AFP. This drastic cut, justified by the American administration as necessary to achieve strategic objectives, mainly targets the scientific research branches of the agency, including climate change monitoring programs and planetary exploration. One of the most controversial aspects of the new budget plan is the gradual elimination of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and the Orion capsule, essential components of the Artemis program. They will be used until the Artemis 3 mission - which should mark the return of American astronauts to the Moon, for the first time since 1972 - after which they will be replaced with technologies developed by private companies, in particular SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk.

• Gateway lunar station in danger

The new budget proposal threatens to abandon the Gateway lunar station, an international space cooperation project that was to orbit the Moon. At the same time, the plan includes freezing the project to return to Earth the samples collected by the Martian rovers, considered essential in the search for evidence of ancient life on Mars.

• Space race with China: a geopolitical stake for the White House

The American administration justifies these decisions by the need to accelerate human exploration of the Moon and Mars, in an unofficial space race with China, considered the main rival in the field, according to the American press. Thus, the NASA budget is redirected towards symbolic objectives, with geopolitical impact, to the detriment of long-term scientific research. The Planetary Society organization publicly denounced the plan as "the largest reduction in NASA history in a single year." In an official statement, its representatives warn that, far from making the agency more efficient, the measures will undermine American leadership in space exploration and generate internal instability.

• Controversial future for NASA

Concerns are intensifying with the return to power of Donald Trump, who is promoting an aggressive and private-sector-oriented vision regarding the space program. His close relationship with Elon Musk and the possible appointment of Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and Musk collaborator, to head NASA, raise questions about potential conflicts of interest, AFP also points out.

The new strategy of the US administration reflects a paradigm shift in space exploration: emphasis on manned missions, outsourcing to the private sector, and reducing support for fundamental research. It remains to be seen how Congress will react and whether these changes will be fully adopted. What is certain is that NASA is at a turning point, with an uncertain future.