In general, I am not intending Everyman’s Universe to be about political current events. God knows we are all getting that news from a thousand directions. Nobody needs to care what I think about tariffs or tax policy (though I have opinions).

Everyman’s Universe is, however, very interested in the human future on decades/centuries/millennia timescales. And if we are interested in the long term, what happens to science now matters a lot. Science (and the technology it spawns) has been the most powerful force driving history across the last four centuries. That potency is not likely to diminish any time soon.

So, with that in mind, I wanted to post an article I wrote for The Atlantic last week about what’s happening to NASA. As the article describes, the new budget is an “extinction-level event” for the agency when it comes to the bold science we’ve come to expect from it. From active space probes being turned off to huge cuts in the workforce, we’re seeing the US take a giant step back from its leadership in exploring the Universe. 

In general, what’s happening with NASA is part of a broader retreat from the frontiers of science in the US. This, along with the rise of conspiracy-theory-mania, is something I will be writing about because it definitely affects the shape of our possible futures.

For now, I hope the article is useful to you.

Here is a link to the article. It’s behind a paywall but I believe new visitors get a free article or two.

— Adam Frank 🚀