Junior space scientists
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jrspacescientists.bsky.social
Junior space scientists
@jrspacescientists.bsky.social
140 followers 400 following 30 posts
We are early career/junior space scientists advocating for space science in the US!

How you can help: https://linktr.ee/savespacescience

Views are our own & do not represent those of any government agency.
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jrspacescientists.bsky.social
Junior space scientists @jrspacescientists.bsky.social · Jun 26
NASA's science division is on life support. The President's budget request would cut science by 47%, basically ending American excellence in astro, #PlanetaryScience, Earth, and solar science. Funding would be at 1961 levels - BEFORE the Moon landings. 🔭🧪

TAKE ACTION HERE: linktr.ee/savespacesci...
Save Space Science | Instagram | Linktree
Views are our own & do not represent those of any government agency
linktr.ee
Reposted by Junior space scientists
niais.bsky.social
Are you someone who is interested in astronomy graduate school? This is a list of many/most departments and their expectations for admissions this year. Please feel free to spread it far and wide. If you are doing admissions and you'd like to update your entry, reach out as per the form!
US Astronomy Graduate Admissions, AY 2025-2026
docs.google.com
October 10, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
luckytran.com
NEW: Hundreds of NASA employees have filed a letter of formal dissent.

"We are compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum over human safety, scientific advancement, and efficient use of public resources. The consequences for the agency and the country alike are dire."
The Voyager Declaration Dear Interim Administrator Duffy, In light of your recent appointment as Interim NASA Administrator, we bring to your attention recent policies that have or threaten to waste public resources, compromise human safety, weaken national security, and undermine the core NASA mission. We, the signatories of this letter, dissent from these policies, and raise these concerns because we believe strongly in the importance of NASA's mission, which we are dedicated to uphold. Major programmatic shifts at NASA must be implemented strategically so that risks are managed carefully. Instead, the last six months have seen rapid and wasteful changes which have undermined our mission and caused catastrophic impacts on NASA's workforce. We are compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum over human safety, scientific advancement, and efficient use of public resources. These cuts are arbitrary and have been enacted in defiance of congressional appropriations law The consequences for the agency and the country alike are dire. Our Shared Commitment to Dissentin� Opinions We share a commitment to dissenting views in accordance with NASA Policy Directive 1000.0C, NASA supports full and open discussion of issues of any nature (e.g., programmatic, institutional), including alternative and divergent views. Diverse views are to be fostered and respected in an environment of integrity and trust with no suppression or retribution. (NPD 1000.0C, Section 3.5.5) Employees across the agency have raised concerns about recent actions to NASA leadership, yet we remain pressured to implement harmful measures. We choose to write to you directly because: (I) as Interim Administrator, you are the final step in the chain of Technical Authority, and (2) the issues we raise are agency-wide, rather than project-specific. As defined in NASA Procedural Requirement 7120 5F, Formal Dissent is "a substantive disagreement with a decision or action that an indiv… • We dissent to changes to NASA's Technical Authority capacities that are driven by anything other than safety and mission assurance. The culture of organizational silence promoted at NASA over the last six months already represents a dangerous tum away from the lessons learned following the Columbia disaster. Changes to the system of Technical Authority, as suggested would be made in the June 25th NASA Town Hall, should be made only in the interests of improving safety, not in anticipation of future budget cuts. • We dissent to the closing out of missions for which Congress has appropriated funding because it represents a permanent loss of capability to the United States both in space and on Eatlh. Once operational spacecraft are decommissioned, they cannot be turned back on. Additionally, cancelling missions in development threatens to end the next generation of crucial observations. • We dissent to implementing indiscriminate cuts to NASA science and aeronautics research because this will leave the American people without the unique public good that NASA provides. Basic research in space science, aeronautics, and the stewardship of the Earth are inherently governmental functions that cannot and will not be taken up by the private sector. Furthermore, NASA has a nearly threefold return on investment in economic activity, and supports national security by ensuring the United States maintains its lead in science and technology. • We dissent to NASA's non-strategic staffing reductions because they will jeopardize NASA's core mission. Thousands of NASA civil servant employees have already been terminated, resigned or retired early, taking with them highly specialized, irreplaceable knowledge crucial to carrying out NASA's mission. • We dissent to canceling NASA participation in international missions because in doing so, NASA is abandoning America's allies. To date, 55 nations have signed on to the Artemis Accords, and withdrawing support from missions with our long-s… We stand in solidarity with our colleagues at the NIH and EPA who have released similar statements concerning the administration's actions at their respective agencies. We dedicate this letter to Gus Grissom, Ed White, Roger Chaffee, Dick Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe, Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon. Their legacies underpin every conversation about our shared commitment to safety and dissenting opinions at NASA.
July 21, 2025 at 3:09 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
The Senate has voted to fully fund #NASA, but the budget passed by the House would still cut #ScienceFunding by 18%. While this is great progress, the fight is not over. Call your Representatives and advocate to #saveNASAscience! 🔭 #PlanetaryScience 🧪
A white image with black text. On the top it says 'This is what Mars would look like if a spacecraft only got 82% of the way there.' In the middle is a very small Mars, so small you can hardly tell it is a planet or has any color at all. The bottom of the image says 'Tell Congress to fund NASA science at 100%'.
July 17, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
spacewhalerider.com
Today is the ten-year anniversary of New Horizon's closest approach to Pluto, when it changed our understanding of the (former) planet forever. It also changed my life, so I've written a retrospective of the last ten years I've spent with Pluto: medium.com/@adeene.dent...
Before Sunset with New Horizons
The long-delayed sequel to my ‘Before Sunrise’-style love story with a planet that no longer exists
medium.com
July 14, 2025 at 1:27 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
The president’s budget request would destroy American leadership in #space and take away jobs from Americans just like you. But you can help stop it – call your representatives and tell them to fund #NASA in 2026! 🔭🧪
July 14, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
ravenscimaven.bsky.social
NASA is more than rockets and moonwalks. NASA is behind much of our everyday technology. From space discovery, to Air Jordans, to CAT scans, NASA has played a role. We get it all on less than a penny of every federal dollar. Now their science may be gutted by 50%.
#NASADidThat
July 10, 2025 at 10:39 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
The Senate may be taking steps to restore NASA’s funding, but the administration is still threatening to cut more than 2000 jobs at NASA. Call your congresspeople and tell them they can’t let this happen — #NASA should be funded in full to maintain American leadership in #space! 🔭 #savenasascience
July 10, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
luckytran.com
BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.
July 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
NOW is the time to call your senators! Markup of the 2026 budget request will happen THIS THURSDAY (July 10). Don’t let them waste your money by defunding NASA! 🔭 #PlanetaryScience

linktr.ee/savespacesci... for email and phone scripts you can use. Which senators to contact? Glad you asked 🧵⬇️
Guy reaching for a yellow ball but getting grabbed from behind by a pink monster meme. The guy is NASA, the yellow ball is "$700m for a new mars telecom satellite" but the pink monster is "trashing a working $560m Mars telecom satellite." This is referring to the fact that the president's budget request/NASA budget plan includes allotting $700m for a new telecom relay at Mars despite the fact that the maven mission like, already does that, man, and is already in orbit
July 9, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
caseydreier.bsky.social
Today, *every* living prior leader of NASA's science directorate have released a joint letter condemning the proposed cuts to NASA science. These individuals every administration from Reagan to Biden, and all believe these cuts are insanely destructive: www.planetary.org/press-releas...
Every living NASA science chief unites in opposition to unprecedented…
The entire past leadership of NASA’s science activities have released a joint statement condemning the proposed 47% cuts proposed to the agency’s science…
www.planetary.org
July 7, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
emexastris.bsky.social
Are you from one of these states? Then we need your help to save American science!

The Senate Appropriations Committee will be marking up the President's Budget Request for science on Wednesday. People have been saying the proposed cuts "decimated" US science, but that's wrong: they are apocalyptic
A map of the US with the states the republican senators are from marked in red and states the democratic senators are from marked in blue: Senator Susan Collins (Republican - Maine) Senator Mitch McConnell(Republican - Kentucky) Senator Lisa Murkowski(Republican - Alaska) Senator Lindsey Graham(Republican - South Carolina) Senator Jerry Moran(Republican - Kansas) Senator John Hoeven(Republican - North Dakota) Senator John Boozman(Republican - Arkansas) Senator Shelley Moore Capito(Republican - West Virginia) Senator John Kennedy(Republican - Louisiana) Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith(Republican - Mississippi) Senator Bill Hagerty(Republican - Tennessee) Senator Katie Britt(Republican - Alabama) Senator Markwayne Mullin(Republican - Oklahoma) Senator Deb Fischer(Republican - Nebraska) Senator Mike Rounds(Republican - South Dakota) Patty Murray(Democrat - Washington) Richard Durbin(Democrat - Illinois) Jack Reed(Democrat - Rhode Island) Jeanne Shaheen(Democrat - New Hampshire) Jeff Merkley(Democrat - Oregon) Christopher Coons(Democrat - Delaware) Brian Schatz(Democrat - Hawaii) Tammy Baldwin(Democrat - Wisconsin) Chris Murphy(Democrat - Connecticut) Chris Van Hollen(Democrat - Maryland) Martin Heinrich(Democrat - New Mexico) Gary Peters(Democrat - Michigan) Kirsten Gillibrand(Democrat - New York) Jon Ossoff(Democrat - Georgia)
July 7, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
ohdearz.bsky.social
"NASA science endeavors are exercises in long-term national commitment that pays dividends
to the American people... This proposed budget ends nearly all future investments... dozens of... missions on a combined budget that is only 3% of NASA’s annual funding." 🔭 www.planetary.org/press-releas...
Every living NASA science chief unites in opposition to unprecedented…
The entire past leadership of NASA’s science activities have released a joint statement condemning the proposed 47% cuts proposed to the agency’s science…
www.planetary.org
July 7, 2025 at 8:11 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
Caption: Help #savenasascience! 40+ healthy spacecraft are in danger of having their funding cut to zero starting Oct 1. Check the links in our bio for how you can help. 🔭

#mars #nasa #space #spaceexploration #universe #sciencenotsilence #spaceforall #sciencefunding #nasabudget #PlanetaryScience
July 7, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
tessafisher.bsky.social
Reading this helped--it was a useful reminder that NASA/NSF/NIH may not be totally screwed *just yet*
July 3, 2025 at 8:33 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
The president's budget request would turn off MAVEN, USA’s #1 telecom asset @ #Mars, & fund a new mission that would cost taxpayers $700M… enough to fund MAVEN for >30 YEARS!

#nasa #space #planetaryscience #sciencenotsilence #spaceforall #sciencefunding #nasabudget #savenasascience #thatwasrude 🔭
July 3, 2025 at 8:49 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
"the proposed cuts would cancel 41 of these missions, and another 17 would see their funding zeroed out in the near future. Nearly half of NASA's science missions would therefore end, and dozens more would receive budget cuts of 20–40 percent."

🔭 #PlanetaryScience
July 1, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
Final vote. 50-50. VP breaks the tie.

One single GOP Senator could have stopped this abomination. Saved millions of parents from watching their child go hungry. Saved the lives destroyed when Medicaid disappears.

They will all live forever with the horror of this bill.
July 1, 2025 at 4:07 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
MAVEN is more than just a spacecraft: it’s a team. The wasteful, unstrategic budget proposed for FY26 would take away that community – and cancel 40 other missions too. Check our bio to see what you can do to help. 🔭 #PlanetaryScience

#mars #nasa #space #spaceexploration #universe
A mosaic image of the MAVEN orbiter above Mars, with the starry sky in the background. Overlaid on both Mars and MAVEN are a mosaic of headshots and some group photos of the team members.
June 30, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
vincentledvina.bsky.social
Hopefully folks have seen the NASA Mission map floating around indicating the missions that the President's FY26 Budget Request would cancel.

Here is a Heliophysics division-specific figure.
June 29, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
debyebyebyelength.bsky.social
This is MAVEN, and MAVEN needs us. MAVEN relays a HUGE amount of rover data from Mars to Earth, and is the *only* dedicated space weather monitor at Mars.

The team has been asked to kill it to save $20M, while NASA asks for A HUNDRED MILLION to build a satellite to do the exact same thing!
jrspacescientists.bsky.social Junior space scientists @jrspacescientists.bsky.social · Jun 27
The MAVEN mission to Mars studies why the Red Planet is so dry & dusty compared to our lush green Earth. Listen to the MAVEN PI, Prof. Shannon Curry, tell you all about it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any podcast platform.

🧪🔭 #PlanetaryScience
June 28, 2025 at 4:44 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
The MAVEN mission to Mars studies why the Red Planet is so dry & dusty compared to our lush green Earth. Listen to the MAVEN PI, Prof. Shannon Curry, tell you all about it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any podcast platform.

🧪🔭 #PlanetaryScience
June 27, 2025 at 8:48 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
NASA's science division is on life support. The President's budget request would cut science by 47%, basically ending American excellence in astro, #PlanetaryScience, Earth, and solar science. Funding would be at 1961 levels - BEFORE the Moon landings. 🔭🧪

TAKE ACTION HERE: linktr.ee/savespacesci...
Save Space Science | Instagram | Linktree
Views are our own & do not represent those of any government agency
linktr.ee
June 26, 2025 at 5:43 PM
jrspacescientists.bsky.social
The president’s budget request would destroy $20 billion worth of operational NASA missions, including MAVEN, America’s best telecommunications satellite at Mars. Check our bio to see what you can do to help.

#PlanetaryScience 🧪🪐🔭
June 23, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
tessafisher.bsky.social
The most infuriating thing about the proposed cuts to NASA and the NSF is that the administration hasn't even bothered to try justifying it (particularly in the case of NASA).

They want to shut down fully-functional on-going space missions to save trivial amounts of money, for no good reason
June 23, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Junior space scientists
kevinmgill.bsky.social
Bedrock near the Mars Perseverance Rover on Sol 1542.

flic.kr/p/2rcFUrZ
Rocks and sand. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill
June 23, 2025 at 11:39 PM