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NASA’s ambitious plans for robotic exploration and Earth observation may face severe setbacks under President Donald Trump's proposed fiscal 2026 budget. The proposal aims to reduce NASA's funding for Earth science by 53%, impacting missions to Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and even Earth itself. The reduced funding threatens to cancel approximately a third of NASA’s current and planned missions, with significant repercussions for scientific progress and the agency’s workforce.

Among the missions at risk is NASA's plan to study Venus in detail. Scheduled for a 2031 launch, the Veritas mission aimed to produce detailed radar maps of Venus’s surface, shedding light on the planet’s volcanic activity and geological history. Another crucial mission, the DAVINCI+ probe, set for 2029, would have analyzed the dense atmosphere of Venus, yielding groundbreaking data about the planet's atmospheric composition and surface conditions.

Mars exploration initiatives are notably endangered. NASA’s involvement in the European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover project, intended to search for signs of past life on Mars, faces uncertain funding. Additionally, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter, which has been studying Mars’ upper atmosphere since 2014, could be left orbiting aimlessly without funding for data collection and analysis.

The proposed budget would eliminate funding for the OSIRIS-APEX mission, which aims to study the asteroid Apophis during its close approach in 2029. The loss of funding would squander the unique opportunity to observe the gravitational effects on this near-Earth object and gather valuable scientific data.

The Trump administration's budget proposes to defund the Chandra X-ray Observatory and slash astrophysics funding by two-thirds. This decision would impact projects like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the ambitious Habitable Worlds Observatory. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), a collaborative project with the European Space Agency to study gravitational waves, would also see its U.S. contributions cut off, halting advancements in our understanding of cosmic phenomena.

Furthermore, the Voyager spacecraft, humanity’s farthest and long-operating missions, are set to lose their funding by 2029. These spacecraft, which have been journeying through interstellar space for over four decades, provide invaluable data about particles and radiation beyond the solar system.

Congress holds the power to alter the proposed budget and save these missions. The Senate Commerce, Space, and Transportation Committee, led by Sen. Ted Cruz, is advocating for the preservation of NASA’s funding, particularly for the Artemis moon program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface by 2027.

In summary, President Trump’s budget request poses significant threats to NASA’s extensive science portfolio, risking the termination of multiple key missions that contribute to our understanding of the solar system and beyond. Lawmakers now face the critical task of deciding the future of these scientific endeavors as they deliberate on the proposed budget.