NASA

Officials at NASA were caught unaware by the announcement on Wednesday evening. They had been expecting the existing acting administrator, Janet Petro, to remain in place at least through the end of the year while a new nominee was put forth to lead NASA and confirmed by Congress.

Sources indicated that although Petro did not have a particularly high standing within the Trump administration, she did nothing to be removed from her position. Rather, it seems that Trump wanted someone he liked and trusted running NASA. This is probably a benefit for the agency, as it will give NASA a direct line to the president. For example, Duffy can text Trump if NASA needs something or is being treated unfairly during the budgeting process.

Petro did not have that kind of political sway, and this is a White House in which access to the president matters a great deal. The agency was in great peril, as there was no one in headquarters who could push back on harmful things being done to NASA or get things done. Duffy will have that kind of pull. But he will also be incredibly busy already with the Department of Transportation.

There are also some reasons to be concerned about NASA under Duffy. Because he does not come from a space background, but rather a political one, Duffy likely views his mission at NASA as carrying out the vision of the space agency established by the president's budget request, which slashes funding for science and makes significant changes to NASA's deep space exploration plans.

NASA finally has some clarity on who will lead the agency over the next several months, and it is a person trusted by the president. Duffy is also viewed as a capable leader and experienced politician who understands how Washington, DC, works. It's possible that Duffy will listen to the concerns of leaders at NASA in the coming weeks and seek to offset some of the more Draconian (and difficult to understand) cuts by Vought's office.

However, it is also possible that he takes his mandate to slash NASA's budget and workforce seriously, and in doing so would be vastly more effective than Petro.

Over at KSC NASA's SLS ML 2 tower is getting closer to completion at teams stacked the ninth module, with only one module remaining as they continue to prepare to support future Artemis flights with the currently planned SLS block 1B entry into service starting from Artemis V.

New details of the Trump administration's plans for NASA, released Friday, revealed the White House's desire to end the development of an experimental nuclear thermal rocket engine that could have shown a new way of exploring the Solar System.

Foremost among these cuts, the White House proposes to end NASA's participation in the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) project. NASA said this proposal "reflects the decision by our partner to cancel" the DRACO mission, which would have demonstrated a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space for the first time.

Less than two years ago, NASA and DARPA announced plans to move forward with the roughly $500 million DRACO project, targeting a launch into Earth orbit aboard a traditional chemical rocket in 2027. "With the help of this new technology, astronauts could journey to and from deep space faster than ever, a major capability to prepare for crewed missions to Mars," former NASA administrator Bill Nelson said at the time.

The DRACO mission would have consisted of several elements, including a nuclear reactor to rapidly heat up super-cold liquid hydrogen fuel stored in an insulated tank onboard the spacecraft. Temperatures inside the engine would reach nearly 5,000° Fahrenheit, boiling the hydrogen and driving the resulting gas through a nozzle, generating thrust. From the outside, the spacecraft's design looks a lot like the upper stage of a traditional rocket. However, theoretically, a nuclear thermal rocket engine like DRACO's would offer twice the efficiency of the highest-performing conventional rocket engines. That translates to significantly less fuel that a mission to Mars would have to carry across the Solar System.

…your guess is as good as mine this time folks. 😵‍💫

Dreier said that The Planetary Society has seen a strong response to the proposed cuts in the skinny budget and expects the detailed budget to amplify those concerns.

“There’s definitely a lot of significant concern about what this does to the workforce,” he said.

That budget will go to Congress, where even Republican members are expected to push back against the cuts. Dreier said he has heard from even Republican offices on Capitol Hill that the budget is “dead on arrival.”

“No one is eager to cut NASA science. No one is out there openly defending and saying that this is a great idea,” he said.