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NASA’s acting administrator Janet Petro said on Wednesday that a government efficiency panel led by Elon Musk will review the space agency’s spending, while confirming that hundreds of NASA employees have accepted a federal buyout plan.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a Trump administration initiative led by billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk, is set to scrutinize NASA’s financial outlays, Petro told reporters at a Washington space industry conference.
🚀 "They're going to look—similarly to what they've done in other agencies—at our payments and what money has gone out," Petro said.
NASA Under Budget Scrutiny
The review comes as Trump’s administration accelerates cost-cutting measures across federal agencies. NASA’s $24 billion annual budget includes a range of science and exploration missions, but some programs may be at risk.
📉 Hundreds of NASA employees have accepted the buyout program initiated by the administration, Petro confirmed, though she did not specify the exact number.
Musk’s SpaceX and Conflict of Interest Concerns
SpaceX currently holds $15 billion in NASA contracts, primarily for:
✔ Transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station
✔ Landing humans on the Moon with its Starship vehicle
Asked whether Musk’s leadership of DOGE posed conflict of interest concerns, Petro said NASA’s legal office would review any potential conflicts and enforce the agency’s strict policies.
Moon Missions at Risk?
The future of NASA’s Artemis program, designed to land humans on the Moon, is now uncertain as both Musk and Trump emphasize Mars exploration as a priority.
For the DOGE panel, NASA’s over-budget Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is a potential target for cost-cutting, though its strong political backing in Republican-majority states could complicate any cancellation efforts.
Trump’s Executive Orders Reshape NASA
The Trump administration has already sent executive orders to federal agencies, including NASA, instructing them to eliminate government diversity programs and implement cost reductions.
📢 "All the officials in charge are really trying to wrap our heads around all the executive orders as they're flying at us," Petro said.
With DOGE ramping up its reviews, NASA’s long-term mission priorities may face major shifts, as the Trump administration pushes for a leaner, Mars-focused space strategy.
Australian researchers have pioneered a low-cost and scalable plasma-based method to produce ammonia gas directly from air, offering a green alternative to the traditional fossil fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process.
A series of earthquakes have struck Guatemala on Tuesday afternoon, leading authorities to advise residents to evacuate from buildings as a precaution against possible aftershocks.
Archaeologists have uncovered a 3,500-year-old city in northern Peru that likely served as a key trade hub connecting ancient coastal, Andean, and Amazonian cultures.
A deadly mass shooting early on Monday (7 July) in Philadelphia's Grays Ferry neighbourhood left three men dead and nine others wounded, including teenagers, as more than 100 shots were fired.
On July 4, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Khankendi, reaffirming the deep-rooted alliance between the two nations.
France recorded over 100 drowning deaths in just one month — a 58% rise from last year — as unusually high temperatures drove more people to water, public health officials say.
Germany’s public debt is projected to climb from 62.5% to 74% of GDP by 2030, driven by record defence and infrastructure spending, according to a report by the European rating agency Scope.
Migration offset natural decline for the fourth consecutive year, pushing the European Union’s population to an historic high of 450.4 million in 2024, according to Eurostat figures released on Friday.
The global oil market may be tighter than headline supply-demand figures suggest, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday, citing rising refinery activity and seasonal summer demand as key drivers of short-term market pressure.
China’s exports are expected to have grown 5% in June as manufacturers hurried goods abroad ahead of a 12 August deadline that could see the U.S. restore punitive tariffs, a Reuters survey of economists indicates.
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