Update (11 August, 2024)

Some additional funding has been secured, enough to keep the observatory operational at a reduced level with a reduced staff.

We just published an article describing the 25th anniversary celebration of NASA’s Chandra Orbiting X-Ray Observatory, the Supernova remnant SN1987a and a study using current Chandra data.

But, guess what?

Chandra Is on the Chopping Block!

Cynically, as NASA claims to celebrate Chandra’s 25th Anniversary, the Biden Administration cut | NASA’s FY25 budget request of $25.4 B by ~4% or about $1B. In response, the agency cut Chandra’s operating budget by ~40% with an eye towards decommissioning the platform within 2 or 3 years, when many claim the telescope can potentially provide another decade of service. By comparison and without getting into the political weeds, this president’s predecessor, Barack Obama, extended the mission life of the Cassini orbiter an additional 7 years from 2010 to 2017.

Save Chandra!

If you would like to petition congress in support of Chandra or to just make your voice heard, you can do so here: SAVE CHANDRA! If you’re considering contacting congress, you would want to first contact your Congressional Representative in the US House of Representatives (https://www.house.gov/). Constitutionally, the House of Representatives controls the government’s purse. Thus, any appropriations or final budget passage would have to be first approved by the House before it could be passed along to the Senate for a vote and then on to the President’s desk. It is important to make your voice heard to your Congressional Representative.

The following sample text could be copied and pasted as an email message to your representative:

I’m writing today to ask that any budget requests involving NASA include restoration of full funding for NASA’s Chandra Orbiting X-Ray observatory. I’m a ______your title or interest____ and, along with Hubble and the new JWST, consider Chandra a vital asset in humanity’s quest to more fully understand our universe.

Chandra was one of 4 high-value orbital assets NASA included in its Great Observatories Program, and to cut any funding now, when we’re just starting to make great strides would be a tragedy. It would be a blow to new young minds eager to learn, to university students, ongoing research and observing programs and to the worldwide astronomical and scientific community.

The President’s FY25 budget cuts 4% from NASA’s proposed budget. The agency responded with partial cuts to Chandra’s operating budget for FY25 with the cuts increasing through FY26 and onwards.

Please ask _____your representative_________ to advocate for Chandra and insist that any appropriations involving NASA restore full funding for Chandra.

Thank you,