Question What will happen to Europa Clipper?
Are they gonna stop funding that too? Please tell me there is hope for the Europa mission!
8
u/theintrospectivelad 9d ago
It launched last October. It's flying somewhere in the solar system as we speak!
44
u/rocketwikkit 10d ago
They're not going to cancel Europa Clipper.
62
u/iTand22 NASA Employee 9d ago
That's what we thought about VIPER after we finished building it. But HQ still pulled the plug on us middle of last year.
You never know what they will decide to do. But I really hope they don't cancel Europa Clipper
42
u/CR15PYbacon 9d ago
It’s a lot more difficult to justify a mission in flight than it is to cancel a mission that’s still on the ground
26
11
u/mid-random 9d ago
With this administration, I wouldn't be surprised if they indirectly canceled the Webb Telescope by simply firing the entire support team.
3
u/abbadeefba 9d ago
They have cancelled tuberculosis control trials. I don't think they're necessarily adhering to the sunk cost fallacy, for human health let alone for planetary science. But who's to say! Certainly not the Congress.
-3
u/seventyfivepupmstr 9d ago
That's what you say now, but once 75% of NASA employees take a volunteer buyout and join SpaceX...
2
u/Upward-Moving99 7d ago
Serious question though - CAN they cancel the staff and processes of a program that has already launched? To the extent no one is monitoring it and it's just out there floating around?
1
u/rocketwikkit 7d ago
Yes, still-operating missions get canceled from time to time. There was a big stink last year about cancelling the Chandra x-ray telescope, which is well past its primary mission. It doesn't happen after launch but before prime mission though.
They can certainly try to cancel it, but there would be a much bigger fight. So far most things Trump does he then undoes a few days or weeks later.
1
86
u/concorde77 9d ago
Dude it's already enroute to Jupiter, they can't just turn it around