"So far, we have treated the various assaults of President
Trump and the acolytes in his administration as a series of different attacks.
In one lane they are going after law firms. In another they savaged U.S.A.I.D.
In another they’re attacking our universities. On yet another front they’re
undermining NATO and on another they’re upending global trade.
But that’s the wrong way to think about it. These are not
separate battles. This is a single effort to undo the parts of the
civilizational order that might restrain Trump’s acquisition of power. And it
will take a concerted response to beat it back."- David Brooks, NY Times, What’s Happening
Is Not Normal
Two months ago, the critical role of the Solar Dynamics Observatory was featured at the 'Gathering of the Helio Hive' we attended in Boulder, e.g.
At the time, at our first small group breakfast at the Boulderado Hotel - where the workshop was held - organizer Dean Presnell warned that Musk's DOGE fanatics could devastate NOAA. He predicted that up to ten percent of those giving presentations could "find themselves on breadlines". In the wake of that warning we worried about just how much astronomy, astrophysics and planetary science could be savaged if the DOGE monster struck federal grants from NASA as well as other agencies.
The answer was not long in arriving, in an email 3 days ago from Gordon Emslie: Chair of the Solar Physics Division Public Policy Committee. He wrote:
You may have seen this recent article outlining
President Trump’s proposed FY26 budget proposal that would decimate NASA
Science.
Under this proposal, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate would receive almost a 50% reduction in its Budget. Within the individual SMD Divisions,
* The Planetary Science budget would decrease from its current level of $2,717
Million to $1,929 Million;
* The Earth Science budget would decrease from its current level of $2,195 Million to $1,033 Million;
* The Astrophysics budget would decrease from its current level of $1,530
Million to $487 Million;
and
* The Heliophysics budget would decrease from its current level of $805 M to
$455 M.
The AAS has issued a Press Release expressing
“grave concern” over these proposed budget levels which, if enacted, would have
an absolutely devastating impact on our community and on our nation’s
leadership in science. However, Congress has the final word on federal
funding.
The last bullet on Heliophysics cuts was especially devastating to learn for those of us in the solar physics community (of which I am an Emeritus member, Solar Physics Division). This means the Solar Dynamics Observatory itself could soon have funding pullled, truncating its continued access. This is especially tragic given that "hundreds more predictive parameters" had been made available in the last 20 years. This according to the guest lecturer at the first plenary session of the Hive workshop.
If this observatory is scuttled then, with all those predictive parameters no longer accessible, how will we be able to predict the most violent space weather events including potentially Earth-exterminating superflares, e.g.
Brane Space: Solar Superflare Potential Now Accepted As More Common Than Once Believed
Not to mention fewer insights into the dynamics of the solar corona, e.g.
Solar Rollercoaster: looping-the-loop in the solar corona
Emslie in his email communication then advised we contact representatives to "Help ensure these proposed cuts do not come to fruition by urging your Representatives to sign onto the House Letter to Appropriators that requests $9 Billion for NASA SMD in FY 2026."
But of course the House is currently under the control of Trump bootlickers, apparatchiks and sycophants, so how far will any such appeal get in Mike Johnson's House? Well, not very far at all - at least not until the Reepos find their spines.
Obviously, it'd be a veritable godsend if this could work. As Emslie notes:
"The level of funding requested in the bipartisan letter will ensure that all NASA Science Areas can thrive – from robust flagship missions and a steady cadence of new Explorers, to low-cost access to space opportunities, technology development, and supporting research. Overall, it would enable a strong workforce to deliver the groundbreaking science that advances the next generation of science and exploration as outlined in the community decadal survey reports."
But until and unless the Trump cult Reeps are ejected from the House (Next year's midterms) that aspiration will remain a pipedream - not only for space science but for all science.
See Also:
by Thom Hartmann | April 17, 2025 - 5:12am | permalink
America is under siege, but not by foreign armies or rogue terrorists. Instead, the threat is coming from inside the house: unelected billionaires who are quietly hijacking our democratic institutions from within.
Although it’s entirely possible that they are collaborating with foreign autocrats, including Vladimir Putin, who are also billionaires and thus share their unique authoritarian worldview.
And thanks to the bravery of a whistleblower named Daniel Berulis, we now have a window into what may well be one of the most brazen and dangerous power grabs in American history.
This isn’t cheap or even ordinary corruption: this is the sort of thing that happens in Third World countries, like when Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines used cronies and spies to infiltrate government agencies and neutralize political opponents, or when Vladimir Putin installed former KGB allies into key Russian institutions to crush whistleblowers and rig judicial outcomes, or when Guatemala’s President Jimmy Morales dismantled anti-corruption agencies and handed sensitive state information to business elites.
And:
- The Ars Technica article on the proposed NASA FY 2026 Budget: https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/trump-white-house-budget-proposal-eviscerates-science-funding-at-nasa/
- The AAS Press Release expressing concerns about the proposed budget: https://aas.org/press/aas-statement-nasa-cuts
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