Ars Technica 报道称，两项 NASA 金星探测任务逃过了特朗普白宫预算的“斧头”。这一进展代表了政府对与“阿尔忒弥斯”重返月球计划无直接关联的科学任务态度的一个微妙且令人欢迎的变化。
Ars Technica has reported that two NASA Venus probes have escaped the Trump White House budget axe. The development represents a subtle and welcome development concerning the administration’s attitude toward science missions that are not directly related to the Artemis return to the moon program.
“金星深层大气贵气体、化学成分与成像探测”任务（DAVINCI）将比原计划提前一年，于 2030 年 12 月发射。它将发射“一枚借助降落伞下降的探测器穿越金星大气层，传回自 1982 年以来的首批金星表面直接影像。”
The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging, or DAVINCI, mission will take off a year earlier than previously scheduled in December 2030. It will launch “a parachute-assisted descent probe through Venus’ atmosphere, returning the first direct images of the planet’s surface since 1982.”
“金星辐射率、无线电科学、干涉合成孔径雷达、地形学与光谱学”任务（VERITAS）“将随后于 2032 年 11 月发射，利用雷达从轨道上绘制金星表面图谱。” 两项金星任务获批实属罕见。就在 4 月，特朗普政府还提议将包括金星探测器在内的 NASA 科学预算削减约一半。除“阿尔忒弥斯”计划外的所有项目都面临被砍的风险，以帮助应对美国政府面临的巨额预算赤字。
The Venus Emissivity, Radio science, InSAR, Topography, And Spectroscopy, or VERITAS, mission “will follow with a launch in November 2032 to map the Venusian surface by radar from orbit.”The greenlighting of two Venus missions is remarkable. As recently as April, the Trump administration proposed cutting NASA science, which includes the Venus probes, by roughly half. Everything outside Artemis was in jeopardy of the chopping block to help address the massive budget deficits the United States government is facing, Part of the reason that DAVINCI and VERITAS are going forward is that Congress, just as in 2025, is balking at the proposed cuts to NASA science missions.
DAVINCI 和 VERITAS 能够推进的部分原因在于，国会正如 2025 年那样，对 NASA 科学任务的拟议削减表示抵触。另一部分原因是，通过取消因成本超支和进度延误而陷入困境的“火星样本返回”任务，找到了部分削减额度。
Another part is that some of the cuts were found by cancelling the Mars Sample Return mission, which was suffering from cost overruns and schedule delays.
NASA 所处的境况并非新鲜事。历史记录表明，在阿波罗登月竞赛的早期，肯尼迪总统对太空探索本身完全不感兴趣。他将阿波罗计划视为冷战的工具，一种展示美国优于苏联的方式。
The situation NASA finds itself in is nothing new. The historical record suggests that during the early days of the Apollo race to the moon, President John F. Kennedy was entirely uninterested in space exploration in and of itself. He saw the Apollo program as an instrument of the Cold War, a way to demonstrate the superiority of the United States over the Soviet Union.
肯尼迪的态度让他的NASA局长詹姆斯·韦伯感到无尽的挫败，后者希望为阿波罗计划以外的任务提供资金，例如“水手号”探测器对金星和火星的探测。
Kennedy’s attitude was a source of endless frustration to his NASA administrator, James Webb, who wanted to fund missions outside of Apollo, such as the Mariner probes to Venus and Mars.
然而，有迹象表明，特朗普总统开始欣赏不属于“阿耳忒弥斯”计划的NASA科学任务。8月，当NASA从肯尼迪发射中心利用SpaceX“猎鹰重型”火箭发射“南希·格雷斯·罗曼”空间望远镜时，特朗普总统在Truth Social上发帖赞扬了该任务。
However, some evidence exists that President Trump is beginning to appreciate NASA science missions that are not part of Artemis. In August, when NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from the Kennedy Launch Center on top of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, President Trump praised the mission with a post on Truth Social.
“祝贺NASA局长贾里德·艾萨克曼，以及NASA的伟大爱国者们，发射成功。这是美国的‘黄金时代’！”特朗普还致电发射后的新闻发布会，对NASA发射成功给予了更充分的赞扬。
“Congratulations to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, and the Great Patriots at NASA, on a successful launch. This is THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA!”Trump also called into the post-launch press conference to offer more fulsome praise for NASA on the successful launch.
具有讽刺意味的是，“南希·格雷斯·罗曼”空间望远镜曾因白宫提议的预算削减而面临被取消的危险。那么，为何会突然改变主意？
Ironically, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope had been in danger of cancellation because of the proposed White House budget cuts. So, why the sudden change of heart?
“南希·格雷斯·罗曼”空间望远镜是一项令人印象深刻的工程，正如詹姆斯·韦伯空间望远镜和哈勃空间望远镜一样。它将搜寻系外行星，探究暗能量之谜，并开展大量其他红外天文学研究。特朗普总统为其发射庆祝是完全正确的，因为它将拓展我们对宇宙认知的疆域。他看到酷炫事物时便能识别出来。
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is an impressive undertaking, like the James Webb and the Hubble space telescopes. It will hunt for exoplanets, delve into the mysteries of dark energy and perform a great deal of other infrared astronomy. President Trump is quite right to celebrate its launch, as it will expand the frontiers of our knowledge of the universe. He recognizes a cool thing when he sees it.
另一方面，特朗普是一位务实的政治家，懂得如何从政策逆转中获取最大利益。总统察觉到政治时代精神所在，已成为空间科学以及“阿耳忒弥斯”计划的捍卫者。
On the other hand, Trump is a practical politician who knows how to make the best out of a policy reverse. The president, seeing what the political zeitgeist is, has become a champion of space science as well as the Artemis program.
即便如此，每年2万亿美元的预算赤字和超过40万亿美元的国家债务依然摆在那里，亟待解决。但看起来，联邦政府将不得不在NASA之外寻找节省开支的途径。
Even so, the $2 trillion a year budget deficit and the over $40 trillion national debt is still out there and needs to be fixed. But it looks like the federal government will have to look elsewhere than NASA to find some savings.
太空探索已步入历史上一个独特的时期。将宇航员送出近地轨道、前往月球、火星乃至更远深空，这一耗资巨大且雄心勃勃的事业，已在政治光谱的两端均赢得了广泛支持。其他任务，包括金星探测器和空间望远镜，同样备受青睐。
Space exploration has entered a unique period of history. The hugely expensive and ambitious undertaking of sending astronauts beyond low Earth orbit to the moon, Mars and beyond has gained popularity on both sides of the political divide. But so have other missions, including probes to Venus and space telescopes.
历史学家将弄清这一新太空时代为何而来。中国构成的威胁、埃隆·马斯克等太空大亨的崛起，以及贾里德·艾萨克曼和吉姆·布里登斯廷等极具魅力且精通政治的美国国家航空航天局（NASA）领导人，所有这些因素都发挥了作用。
Historians will figure out why this new space age has come to be. Factors like the threat of China, the rise of space barons like Elon Musk, and charismatic and politically savvy NASA leaders such as Jared Isaacman and Jim Bridenstine all have come into play.
正如任何打开电视或浏览社交媒体的人所能证实的那样，世界可能是一个令人恐惧的地方。但在地球之外，某种光荣而美好的事物正在成形。人类依然充满希望。
The world can be a frightful place, as anyone who has turned on a television or seen social media can attest. But, beyond the Earth something glorious and good is taking shape. There is hope for humanity yet.
马克·R·惠廷顿经常撰写关于太空政策的文章，出版过关于太空探索的政治研究著作《为何重返月球如此之难？》（Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?）、《月球、火星与更远》（The Moon, Mars and Beyond），以及最近出版的《为何美国要重返月球？》（Why is America Going Back to the Moon?）。他在“Curmudgeons Corner”撰写博客。
Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, has published a political study of space exploration entitled “Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?” as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond” and, most recently, “Why is America Going Back to the Moon?”He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.