Bad news for NASA and the U.S. space program: “If we cut science budget in half, that’s pretty much ending it”

The Trump administration has proposed to slash NASA’s science budget nearly in half prompting alarms to be raised among advocates for the US space program. At the head of the charge is Bill Nye, the ‘Science Guy’, CEO of the Planetary Society.

He was joined on Capitol Hill on Monday by over 300 colleagues, advocates and legislators to pressure Congress to maintain NASA’s funding. The organization the popular science program presenter leads has called the drastic 47% reduction of the agency’s budget an “extinction-level event for space exploration.”

“You just can’t restart these things”

Speaking to Kaitlan Collins, host of CNN’s The Source, Nye explained that taking away the funding from NASA wouldn’t make economic sense. Not only does it represent such a small sliver, “it is barely noticeable,” but the money spent on science for the program and space exploration have reaped huge benefits.

Furthermore, “If we cut NASA budget in half, science budget in half, that’s pretty much ending it, it’s pretty much done,” Nye said. “All these technicians, scientists, engineers have to get other jobs… You just can’t restart these things,” he explained.

This would lead to the United States falling behind and losing competitiveness on the international stage. The consequences of which would be noticed by the US public fairly quickly as well.

Nye noted that the China National Space Administration is pushing forward on a number of projects including landing their own Taikonauts on the Moon, “probably in the year 2030, four and a half years,” he pointed out.

“For the older viewers it’s going to be another Sputnik moment. Where the United States’ eyebrows go up, ‘oh my goodness, the other side’s got some amazing space capability,” Nye warned.

The US Constitution obliges investment in progress of science

Nye also questioned the message the cuts to the NASA science budget is sending. “If we stop looking up and out, what does that say about us?” he asked rhetorically. “It’s not good… It’s certainly not consistent with how the United States has gotten this far.”

When asked what his argument to lawmakers and the White House would be to change their minds about the budget cuts for NASA, Nye responded, “My argument would be, the US Constitution, now available in paperback, Article I, Section 8, Clause 8. ‘Congress is to promote the progress of science and useful arts.’”

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