In another sign that the Trump White House is aggressively moving to slash NASA’s science programs, dozens of mission leaders have been asked to prepare "closeout" plans by the end of next week.
The new directive came from NASA's senior leadership on Monday, which is acting on behalf of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Copies of these memos, which appear to vary a little by department, were reviewed by Ars. The detailed closeout plans called for must be prepared by as soon as July 9 for some missions, which has left principal investigators scrambling due to the tight deadline and the July 4 holiday weekend.
Projects should prepare their plans assuming closeout direction is given on October 1, 2025, one of the NASA memos states. Missions in operations—that is to say, spacecraft whizzing around the Solar System conducting science right now—should "assume closeout is complete within 3 months."