NASA’s THEMIS Lunar Mission Receives Reprieve,But Science Funding Remains Uncertain
WASHINGTON – A planned cancellation of the THEMIS mission,a pair of spacecraft mapping the Moon‘s magnetic field,has been partially averted,though the future of other NASA science programs remains in question amid ongoing budget debates. Lead scientist Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California, Los Angeles, confirmed his team will receive “partial funding” for fiscal year 2026.
However,Angelopoulos cautioned that the reduced funding will still result in personnel cuts. “this is good, but simultaneously occurring, it means that science personnel is being defunded,” he told Ars. ”The effect is the US is not achieving the scientific return it can from its multi-billion dollar investments it has made in technology.”
The potential cancellation of missions already in space-including THEMIS-represents a cumulative investment of $12 billion in design and construction, according to the Planetary Society.An ars Technica assessment found that operating missions targeted for cuts currently cost taxpayers less than $300 million annually, representing 1-2% of NASA’s yearly budget.
Scientists and advocates recently met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to protest the proposed cuts, and Angelopoulos believes their efforts are having an impact. “I take the implementation of the House budget as indication that the constituents’ pressure is having an effect,” he said.”Unfortunately, damage is being done already. even if funding is reinstated, we have already lost peopel.”
Concerns remain that the Trump management may attempt to withhold allocated funds, even if Congress approves a budget. Bruce Jakosky, former principal investigator of the MAVEN Mars mission, emphasized this uncertainty. While he called NASA’s current planning under the House budget a “positive step,” Jakosky warned that a budget allocation isn’t final until the money is actually spent.
“Even if the budget that comes out of Congress gets signed into law, the president has shown no reluctance to not spend money that has been legally obligated,” Jakosky wrote in an email to Ars. “That means that the uncertainty lives with us throughout the entire fiscal year. That uncertainty is sure to drive morale problems.”
