
The president has just put forward a budget that is sure to spark big controversy, especially with how it treats the U.S. space agency.
Donald Trump has just unveiled his new budget proposal for fiscal 2018, and it has some gigantic changes for NASA. While NASA didn’t see much of a reduction in funding, dropping from $19.3 billion to $19.1 billion year over year, there will be a massive shift in priorities under Trump’s administration.
Under President Obama, the space agency had a major focus on environmental issues using NASA’s satellite assets. But Trump, who denies climate change, will shift those priorities to space exploration, and toward increasing cooperation with industry. Essentially, the agency will now turn its focus away from Earth and more toward our solar system and beyond.
“The budget increases cooperation with industry through the use of public-private partnerships, focuses on the nation’s efforts on deep space exploration rather than Earth-centric research, and develops technologies that would achieve U.S. space goals and benefit the economy,” the outline of the budget reads.
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