Moulton, Warren, Markey Urge NASA to Rescind Proposed Severe Budget Cuts to Chandra X-Ray Observatory in MA
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06), Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA), Senator Edward J. Markey (MA), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), and Representatives Jim McGovern (MA-02), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), and Suzan DelBene (WA-01) are urging NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to rescind the proposed severe funding reductions to the Massachusetts-based Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
Since its launch aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1999, the Chandra X-ray telescope — the most powerful ever built — has epitomized decades of U.S. leadership and dominance in high energy astrophysics. Chandra has enabled scientists to observe a black hole consuming a star; map one of the largest explosions in the universe; and enhance the James Webb Space Telescope’s capacity to identify the most distant supermassive black hole—a breakthrough that was named as one of 2023’s top scientific achievements.
The Administration’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2025 proposes severe reductions to Chandra’s funding well before the end of its operational lifespan.
The lawmakers write:
“Premature termination of the Chandra mission would jeopardize this critical workforce, potentially driving talent to other countries. Chandra should serve as a bridge to a promising future in high energy astrophysics at NASA, including the development of its eventual flagship-scale successor, as recommended by the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
"We strongly urge NASA to maintain full FY25 funding for the Chandra mission at the $68.7 million level, as outlined in NASA’s FY24 budget request, and to halt plans for significant reductions in FY25 until Congress determines Chandra’s appropriations. The proposed budget cuts would cause damage to U.S. leadership in high energy astrophysics and prematurely end the mission of a national treasure whose most significant discoveries may still be ahead.”
The Chandra Operations Control Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, which employs many U.S. military veterans, works alongside the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Harvard, MIT, and the Marshall Space Flight Center, and efforts to shutter it risk driving talent into the private sector or even to other countries’ space programs.
The full letter can be found here.