Space News: Members of Congress seek details on Chandra funding and operations

Several members of Congress are seeking more details about the operation of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, a space telescope whose budget has faced steep cuts.

In an Oct. 30 letter to Patrick Slane, director of the Chandra X-ray Center, six members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), asked for more details about the operation of the 25-year-old X-ray space telescope and the effects potential NASA budget cuts would have on it.

NASA had proposed a 40% cut in Chandra’s budget for fiscal year 2025 in the budget proposal the agency released in March. However, agency officials said at an Oct. 23 town hall meeting that it was delaying a decision on those cuts as well as smaller cuts to the Hubble Space Telescope until after Congress completes its fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills. The agency is also providing funding to Chandra to avoid layoffs at the center through the 2025 fiscal year.

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