The media reported on the risk of disruption of NASA missions to the Moon and Mars due to mass layoffs

The mass departure of NASA employees could seriously affect the implementation of key US space programs, including missions to the Moon and Mars. This was reported by the Politico newspaper on Wednesday, July 9.

"More than 2,000 senior employees intend to leave NASA under pressure. These losses could jeopardize the administration's plans to land astronauts on the Moon and Mars," the article said.

One of the agency's employees, who wished to remain anonymous, warned that a significant outflow of specialists would lead to the loss of unique experience and skills, stressing that many employees decided to leave amid the threat of budget cuts and the absence of an approved NASA administrator.

According to the newspaper, 2,694 government employees have already left NASA, which is only half of the cuts planned by the White House. If voluntary resignations are not enough before July 25, compulsory measures are possible.

At the same time, the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees NASA, expressed support for maintaining the agency's staff. However, even if Congress rejects the cuts, it will not be easy to bring back specialists: in-demand engineers and scientists may transfer to private space companies or high-tech industries.

Space maps: seven missions to the Moon and one to Venus will be included in the national project

Which studies and projects are included in the list of programs that will receive funding this year?

Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center, said on June 27 that the first person to explore the Moon would be the one who would install a nuclear power plant (NPP) on it, which is the only real source of energy that is designed for long—term operation. He also recalled that Russia should prepare the first nuclear power plant to be installed on the Moon by 2030.