Nearly 300 scientists and current and former NASA employees have signed a declaration criticizing recent budget cuts and grant cancellations, raising concerns about potential safety risks at the agency.
The document, titled The Voyager Declaration, is addressed to Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. It warns against proposed changes to NASA’s technical authority—a system of checks and balances established after the 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster that killed seven astronauts.
The letter states that adjustments to the technical authority should “be made only in the interests of improving safety, not in anticipation of future budget cuts.”
The declaration comes as NASA faces the potential loss of thousands of employees due to financial constraints.
