President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget request, if approved by Congress, would killmany of NASA’s plans for robotic exploration of the solar system. Gone, too, would be multiple space-based missions to study Earth, the sun and the rest of the universe.

Among the planets that would get less attention are Venus, Mars and Jupiter. But the planet facing the biggest drop in scrutiny from space is our own. The Trump budget proposal calls for reducing Earth science funding by 53 percent.

Also spiked: a mission that would take a close look at Apophis, a jumboasteroid that will pass just 20,000 miles from Earth - closer than geosynchronous satellites- on April 13, 2029.

The White House Office of Management and Budget said in its request that NASA’s current spending of more than $7 billion a

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