NASA employees protest on Moon Day

(See "July 20 is Moon Day...", 10:21 a.m.) International Moon Day and the anniversary of the first moon landing will be celebrated in a little differently at NASA: some employees have announced a protest against the cuts proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 and the intended layoffs by the Trump Administration. This is the second protest organized by the group 'Nasa Needs Help', which set up a similar event last June 30th: the aim is to give voice to those employees of the American Space Agency who wish to speak as private citizens and raise awareness public on the already serious consequences of this policy. "The public has heard that NASA is under attack, that the President's budget request would cut drastically the aeronautics and space administration of the our country," Marshall Finch, a NASA employee who helped organize the protest: "What most people don't know is that it's happening now." The participants of the demonstration point the finger at particularly against the attitude of NASA's top management, which they seem ready to accept the White House's decision and to make cuts to scientific programs and layoffs necessary. "NASA is already being dismantled, processing the request of the President's budget as an order rather than as a bill," adds Finch. "Although Congress is signaling bipartisan support, when they have approved the budget for fiscal year 2026 the damages will already be irreparable".