White House · Artemis Program · Donald Trump · U.S. · Ars Technica
Why it matters that President Trump just dialed in to a NASA news conference
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With just one more major mission upcoming, NASA's science programs need a boost.
Key facts
- Scientists may scratch their heads as they watch Trump take credit for providing “all that money” for NASA when his first budget for the space agency sought to slash science funding by 50 percent
- The fiscal year 2026 budget proposal even sought to cancel the Roman Space Telescope
- On Friday he spent several hours at Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he awarded the crew of Artemis II the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and then announced plans for a United States Space
- As is standard procedure for major NASA missions, the US space agency held a post-launch news conference on Sunday morning at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to provide information
Summary
As is standard procedure for major NASA missions, the US space agency held a post-launch news conference on Sunday morning at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to provide information about how the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was faring during its initial maneuvers. What was not standard, however, is what happened in the middle of the news conference. A little less than half an hour in, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman looked down at his mobile phone, and then stood up and walked away from the dais where he had been seated behind a table along with other NASA officials. Isaacman returned about a minute later, phone in hand, apologizing for interrupting NASA’s chief of science, Nicky Fox, as she was speaking about the mission. In an unusual moment, Trump then spoke through Isaacman’s phone to the assembled reporters and NASA officials. Boy, it looked beautiful on television,” Trump said of the Roman space telescope launch.