Amazing turnout for our Day of Action to Save NASA Science! Truly inspired by the dedication of our members and advocates who are here with me in D.C.

The Space Advocate Newsletter, April 2026 Artemis II and the return of lunar spaceflight

My April edition of the Space Advocate newsletter grapples with the experience of witnessing the first crewed lunar spaceflight mission of my life against the release of new budget that would dismantle large portions of NASA.

www.planetary.org/space-advoca...

NASA selects Falcon Heavy to launch ESA Mars rover mission despite budget threat NASA has selected SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to launch a European Mars rover, support for which the agency is once again proposing to cancel.

What's getting weird is that NASA has, so far, been completely unresponsive regarding this seeming contradiction: spacenews.com/nasa-selects...

This is great news, but utterly inconsistent with the FY 2027 NASA budget request, which omits any funding for ROSA. Is NASA ignoring its own budget proposal? Or is ROSA funding hidden in some other program?

"If this is to be a true golden age of science and discovery, NASA can’t rely on serendipity; the agency must make active investments in dedicated science projects that address the highest priority questions facing humanity."

Put science back in the driver’s seat Put science back in the driver’s seat

Don't miss my new op-ed on how space science is getting demoted to hitchhiker status at NASA:

spacenews.com/put-science-...

NASA science faces 'very serious threat' from new White House budget, experts say "This is the least transparent NASA budget request I've ever seen — and I've literally looked through every single one since 1960."

NASA science faces 'very serious threat' from new White House budget, experts say www.space.com/astronomy/na...

The absence of NASA's Rosalind Franklin rover participation was even more egregious, given that NASA had sent a letter to ESA in November recommitting to the mission.

The FY 2027 NASA budget request hides its science cuts by omitting mission names instead of explicitly zeroing them out.

We did the work and found 54 missions cancelled in this proposal.

This is another extinction-level event for NASA science.

Full list: planetary.org/save-nasa-science

Join me and Jack Kiraly for our first detailed briefing and Q&A on NASA's FY 2027 budget request. This first one is exclusively for Planetary Society members in our online community: community.planetary.org/events/the-p...

We provide both rasterized and vector versions, source data, and mobile (narrow) and desktop (wide) versions of each chart.

These are licensed under CC BY 4.0: free to use however you want, just give attribution.

Initial set of charts tracking some of the massive cuts from NASA's FY 2027 budget proposal are now posted at www.planetary.org/charts?imgke...

But the OMB couldn't wait to propose, once again, to dismantle NASA through draconian cuts soundly rejected just 3 months ago. It sours what should be a singular moment in modern history and creates needless disruption and uncertainty within the agency that is tasked with their safe return. [2/2]

The FY 2027 budget request for NASA is an insult to the four astronauts currently risking their lives to explore the Moon. The world should be celebrating humanity's return to deep space, as well as the space agency and partners that put them there. [1/2]

The FY 2027 NASA Budget request isn't just bad, it's sloppy and riddled with errors. Just one example: JWST and HST both have funds requests for the wrong fiscal year (it should by FY 2027).

Save NASA Science Action Hub Updates and actions on the proposed cuts to NASA science in FY 2027.

The Planetary Society has re-launched our Save NASA Science action hub today given the draconian cuts proposed in the FY 2027 NASA budget — follow here for running updates, statements, charts, and advocacy actions you can take now:

planetary.org/save-nasa-sc...

FY 2027 NASA PBR: 23% cut to NASA, 47% cut to NASA science: www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

The OMB learned nothing; they are needlessly and wastefully attempting to gut NASA and NASA science despite overwhelming public and congressional opposition. They will fail.

President’s Budget Access the official and previous years’ budgets of the U.S. Government, including the President’s budget proposals and other related publications.

Initial details of the FY 2027 President's Budget Request are now posted at the OMB website (no highlights or details about NASA yet): www.whitehouse.gov/omb/informat...

More than 100 members of Congress call for renewed investment in NASA… Bipartisan House letter led by the Planetary Science Caucus reinforces the breadth of congressional support for NASA's Science Mission Directorate

A quarter of the entire House of Representatives just called for INCREASING NASA Science funding by nearly $2 billion: www.planetary.org/press-releas...

Going back to the moon | The TechTank Podcast | Brookings On this episode of TechTank, co-host Darrell West is joined by Casey Dreier to discuss the upcoming Artemis II mission and previous efforts to return to the moon.

I enjoyed speaking about Artemis on Brookings' TechTank podcast this week: www.brookings.edu/articles/goi...

Class 3 Companion Post: The Artemis Restructuring: What It Reveals, What It Solves, and What It Does Not Stress testing the Framework introduced in Class 3 in the Space Policy learning series

This is a really good analysis of the recent restructuing of the Artemis Program and how big of a change it was from the preexisting plan put in place by Congress 16 years ago bhavyalal.substack.com/p/class-3-co...

FY 2027 Appropriations Request Guide - The Planetary Society Find your representative and get step-by-step instructions for filling out congressional appropriations request forms supporting NASA Science in FY 2027.

Help NASA science! Submit your appropriations request forms today — many offices have deadlines by COB on Friday, March 6th.

Use our helpful guide to submit:

dashboards.planetary.org/appropriatio...

There are less than 48 hours for most U.S. residents to submit congressional spending requests to their House representative.

Support NASA Science and submit a request! Our handy online guide will walk you through the process: dashboards.planetary.org/appropriations-guide

How we used AI in the fight to Save NASA Science YouTube video by The Planetary Society

The @planetarysociety.bsky.social has shared their presentation from yesterday on how they leveraged AI to fight the draconian DOGE cuts to NASA Science. The presentation runs a little over an hour, but it is well worth your time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LvG...

The Planetary Society is hosting a free webinar on how we use AI in our policy and advocacy work — what works, what doesn't, and what we've learned. If you do policy, advocacy, or government relations... AI is more than just a chatbot. Used well, it can be a force multiplier that leads to dramatic gains in productivity and reductions in contractor and software costs. AI was a key tool in The Planetar...

Register for the webinar: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Join me today at 3pm ET to learn how we've been leveraging AI to increase our productivity for policy work. Registration req'd: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Apollo vs. Artemis Spending Line chart showing inflation adjusted annual spending on NASA's Apollo and Artemis projects in years since project start.

www.planetary.org/charts/apoll...

I'm excited to share the lessons we've learned over the last year for how to responsibly leverage AI to improve our advocacy and policy work. Register (free!) here:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Historical NASA Budget Dataset A comprehensive, open dataset of NASA budget requests, congressional appropriations, and workforce data from 1958 to the present.

My historical NASA budget dataset has a new home on The Planetary Society's website, and is now updated with all final FY 2026 details. New per-sheet CSV/XLSX download options as well! Check it out at: www.planetary.org/space-policy...

Space Policy Edition: What a NASA Authorization bill actually does Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier and Director of Government Relations Jack Kiraly break down what NASA authorization bills actually do and why these…

New Space Policy Edition episode on NASA authorization bills. Oft' overlooked, but potentially potent legislative vehicles that define the program of record for the U.S. space program:

www.planetary.org/planetary-ra...