4 weeks ago
7
The row between US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk over a major spending bill has exacerbated uncertainty over the future of Nasa’s budget, which was already facing deep cuts.
The White House had requested huge cuts to the space agency’s budget, which would see funding for science projects cut by nearly a half.
Now the president has threatened to withdraw federal contracts with Musk’s company, Space X, further jeopardising the US space programme.
Nasa relies on the firm’s Falcon 9 rocket fleet to resupply the International Space Station with crew and supplies.
The space agency also expects to use its Starship rocket to send astronauts to the Moon and eventually to Mars once it has been developed.
Dr Simeon Barber, a space scientist at the Open University, said that the uncertainty was having a chilling impact on the human space programme.
English (US) ·