Trump's Proposed Budget Threatens NASA Space Research

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, May 6, 2025…

• Three people are dead, four have received medical attention and at least seven remain missing after a small boat believed to be carrying migrants capsized near San Diego on Monday morning.
• Last week, the Trump Administration announced its goal of cutting $6 billion from NASA spending or nearly a quarter of the space agency’s budget. 

Boat Capsized Near San Diego, Leaving 3 People Dead and at Least 7 Still Missing

Three people are dead, four have received medical attention, and at least seven remain missing after a small boat believed to be carrying migrants capsized near San Diego on Monday morning. Two of the fatalities were confirmed to be Mexican nationals by the Mexican Consulate in San Diego.

Dan Connor, who witnessed the boat capsizing around 6:30 a.m. Monday morning, spoke with KPBS. He took a video showing more than a dozen people falling into the ocean. “When I heard that there were at least three deceased, that really broke my heart because these are people,” Connor said.

The U.S. Coast Guard has currently suspended the search for the remaining missing people, according to a news release on Tuesday.

Space Exploration Projects Face Federal Budget Cuts

Last week, the Trump Administration unveiled its plan to slash $6 billion from NASA’s budget in 2026. Such cuts would especially threaten the space agency’s science programs, like robotic craft that explore the solar system and programs that study the Earth’s climate change from space. Some of those programs are operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Pasadena.

One space mission on the chopping block is Mars Sample Return, according to Casey Dreier, the chief of space policy at the Planetary Society. It’s a project that for the first time would bring rock and soil samples back from Mars to Earth for additional study by scientists. Those sample have been collected by NASA’s Perseverance Rover, which touched down on Mars in 2021.

“We, in a sense, will leave those samples to rot on the surface of Mars,” Dreier said. “And JPL, which is the big player in the Mars sample return, would face a serious, serious budget loss as a consequence of that.” Unlike their work in commercial space development, Dreier doesn’t believe private corporations, like SpaceX, are willing to underwrite space missions that are purely for science. 

As of now, the budget cuts are not yet in effect. In order for Trump’s proposal to be enacted, it will need to be approved by Congress.