NASA has ordered an immediate pause on the activities of key planetary and astrophysics science committees, citing a review of compliance with recent executive orders issued by President Donald Trump. The decision, conveyed in memos sent on January 31, 2025, has already led to the cancellation of major scientific meetings and disrupted ongoing research efforts.
Why Has NASA Paused These Science Groups?
The memos from NASA headquarters specifically instruct at least 10 planetary science analysis and assessment groups to suspend all meetings and activities while the agency conducts a review. These groups cover various areas of planetary and space science, including:
🔹 Lunar and planetary exploration
🔹 Research on “ocean worlds” like Europa and Enceladus
🔹 Studies of the solar system and exoplanets
Similar orders were also sent to astrophysics assessment groups, which play a crucial role in advising NASA on space research priorities.
According to SpaceNews, the pause is linked to six Trump executive orders, including:
1️⃣ Three orders aimed at ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in federal agencies.
2️⃣ Two orders targeting so-called “gender ideology extremism.”
3️⃣ One order rolling back Biden-era climate change policies under “Unleashing American Energy.”
Impact on the Planetary Science Community
One immediate consequence of NASA’s decision is the cancellation of the Mercury Exploration Assessment Group (MExAG) 2025 meeting, which was scheduled to be held Feb. 4-6.
“This turn of events is shocking and concerning, and is extra painful given the order comes four days before our first in-person meeting,” wrote MExAG Chair Carolyn Ernst from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in a memo obtained by Space.com.
Some scientists had already begun traveling for the meeting, making the last-minute cancellation even more disruptive. The meeting was expected to bring together up to 200 planetary scientists, including those working on the BepiColombo mission, a joint European-Japanese spacecraft currently en route to Mercury.
🔸 Vicky Hamilton, chair of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group, has also announced a halt to planning for her committee’s April 2025 meeting.
🔸 Other planetary research groups, including those overseen by the Lunar and Planetary Institute, are similarly affected.
NASA’s Shifting Policies Under Trump’s Executive Orders
NASA’s pause on planetary science committees is just one of several changes the agency has implemented following Trump’s executive orders:
🔹 Restricted funding for programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), including a student outreach program that connected underrepresented students to planetary science missions.
🔹 Removal of historical content – NASA reportedly deleted a 2023 article on the astronaut class of 1978, which highlighted the agency’s first Black, Asian-American, and female astronauts. The article had been available as late as January 25 but was removed from NASA’s website by January 29. It remains accessible on the Internet Archive.
What’s Next?
NASA officials have stated that the pause is temporary while they review whether these science committees comply with the new executive orders. However, no timeline has been given for resuming activities, leaving the planetary science community in uncertainty.
“We will let everyone know as soon as we are able to resume work,” Hamilton wrote in her memo to the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group.
While these assessment groups are not formal advisory committees under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, they provide critical scientific insights that shape NASA’s planetary and astrophysics research priorities.
Concerns Over Future Space Science Policy
The disruption of these research groups raises concerns about how political directives will impact space science moving forward. With NASA’s Artemis program and upcoming lunar and Mars exploration missions, the role of independent scientific input remains critical.
If these science committees remain paused or permanently restricted, the ability of the scientific community to guide NASA’s planetary exploration efforts could be significantly impacted.
For now, scientists and research institutions are waiting for clarity—and hoping that political shifts do not derail decades of progress in space exploration and discovery. 🚀🔭
