Due to President Obama’s proposed 2013 budget cuts, NASA is facing the possibility of its FY13 budget to be reduced to $1.2 billion from its original $1.5 billion. The cuts would primarily effect The Planetary Science Division, forcing NASA to cancel its most ambitious exploration missions. These include collaborations with the European Space Agency (ESA) on the 2016 Mars Trace Gas Orbiter and the 2018 ExoMars rover. NASA would also have to cut the Mars Exploration Program, cancel the Lunar Quest Program, delay the Discovery and New Frontiers competitive programs, and force cuts in mission operations and data analysis for several current missions. According to the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society the 20% slash would decrease the return on an investment already made by taxpayers.

Bill Nye has taken a stand to help NASA and is asking the public to do the same by writing a letter to President Obama. 

Watch the full video below: 

[Via Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society]

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Claudia McNeilly is an editorial intern at the Toronto Standard. You can follow her on twitter at @claudiamcneilly

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