Produced by: Tarun Mishra
NASA has postponed plans to reduce operations for the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope until Congress finalizes appropriations for fiscal year 2025, which began on October 1.
During an online town hall session on October 23, Mark Clampin, director of NASA’s astrophysics division, stated that no immediate changes to Chandra or Hubble operations would occur while awaiting budget clarity.
NASA's fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, released in March, suggested a 40% reduction in Chandra's operating budget to $41.1 million and a 10% cut to Hubble's budget, lowering it to $88.9 million. These cuts were deemed necessary to balance the agency's overall mission portfolio amid budget pressures.
A committee known as the Operations Paradigm Change Review (OPCR) assessed the proposed budget cuts and determined that Chandra could not function effectively at the suggested budget. This raised concerns about the observatory's operational viability.
Clampin had indicated in July that NASA would announce plans for spending cuts by mid-September, but the recent town hall revealed a shift in the timeline without a detailed explanation.
Previous discussions hinted at potential staff layoffs at institutions managing the telescopes, but in late August, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian announced it had secured funding to prevent layoffs through the fiscal year.
NASA is gearing up for its next senior review of astrophysics missions, which will include Chandra and Hubble, among other projects. This review is set to begin at the end of the calendar year and will assess all missions collectively for the first time.
During the town hall, NASA also announced the selection of two concepts for upcoming astrophysics probes: the Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) and the Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA). Each proposal will receive $5 million for concept studies as part of NASA’s commitment to advancing astrophysics missions in line with the Astro2020 decadal survey.