{"id":721,"date":"2025-07-29T11:01:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T11:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.canoeinstructor.com\/?p=721"},"modified":"2025-07-31T12:17:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T12:17:11","slug":"schwartz-a-25-cut-to-nasa-would-set-back-institutions-like-the-university-of-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.canoeinstructor.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/29\/schwartz-a-25-cut-to-nasa-would-set-back-institutions-like-the-university-of-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"Schwartz: A 25% cut to NASA would set back institutions like the University of Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will the next \u201cgiant leap for mankind\u201d be made by the United States — or by our rivals? The answer may come as Congress debates the federal budget.<\/p>\n

The White House has proposed a massive 25% cut to the NASA budget<\/a>, a move congressional appropriators have rejected in their recent funding proposals, but which still has the potential to dampen the U.S. economy and workforce, undermine national security, health and safety, and curtail American ambitions to shape the final frontier.<\/p>\n

In Colorado, America\u2019s second-largest aerospace economy<\/a>, we know that losing global leadership in space is a gamble the United States cannot afford to take. As federal budget negotiations continue, I\u2019m asking the public to contact their Congressional representatives and remind them of everything America stands to gain through robust investment in NASA.<\/p>\n

NASA remains popular among Americans of all stripes. It served as a source of unity and pride as we won the first Space Race, enabled a massive aerospace-based economy that employs 2.2 million people across the nation, and undergirds much of our national defense and everyday well-being.<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s proposal would cut NASA from about $24.9 billion to $18.8 billion — the agency\u2019s lowest funding level in 60 years, when adjusted for inflation, and the largest single-year cut in its history. Despite proposed increases for human spaceflight to the moon and Mars, the proposal includes a 47% cut to the Science Mission Directorate, which oversees the agency\u2019s scientific research. This research underpins the spectacular missions that inspire and delight us all.<\/p>\n

At the University of Colorado Boulder, Purdue, Georgia Tech and many other universities across the nation that lead in aerospace and related fields, NASA research grants provide a dual benefit; they advance America\u2019s space science and innovation, and they develop the skilled workforce ready to address the nation\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

At CU Boulder\u2019s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, the world\u2019s only academic research institute to send instruments to all eight planets and Pluto, NASA funding helps employ more than 250 undergraduate students and nearly 100 graduate students annually, integrating them into mission teams and training them to operate multimillion-dollar satellites. These students become the engineers and scientists who will drive continued American dominance in space for the next 40 years.<\/p>\n

NASA-supported, hands-on training ensures graduates are well-prepared for jobs at BAE, Lockheed Martin, Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada, the U.S. military, scientific labs, and the impactful startup companies of tomorrow. They are the backbone of American greatness.<\/p>\n

America will continue to have the world\u2019s greatest rockets and space stations only if we continue to have the human resources provided by an adequately funded NASA.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to be an aspiring astronaut or scientist to reap the benefits of publicly funded space research.
\nResearch and development on space domain awareness, hypersonic systems, radio frequency communications are critical to safeguarding the public from threats foreign and domestic, natural and man-made. Prior wars were won based on dominance on land and by air; future conflicts may be decided by the countries that control space.<\/p>\n

Researchers here have successfully used NASA funding to develop, build and operate weather satellites to improve forecasts. They are using it to observe space weather that can cripple our power grids, threaten GPS service, and ruin Midwest planting seasons. CU Boulder\u2019s BioServe Space Technologies conducts biological research in space that aids in development of anti-cancer drugs and osteoporosis treatments.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the proposed budget cut would force the termination of missions far along in development or already operating, throwing away billions in taxpayer investments on projects that are on-budget and producing results for the American public.<\/p>\n

Taxpayers have already invested $85 million toward the CLARREO Pathfinder, which will provide the world\u2019s best measurements of reflected sunlight, improving the accuracy of government and commercial satellite sensors. This instrument is sitting in a laboratory in Colorado, ready to launch to its permanent destination, the International Space Station. Why would we throw that away?<\/p>\n