Space is really big and exploring it is a costly endeavor. Currently NASA is looking for exoplanets, examining the life cycle of stars, monitoring near-Earth objects for potentially dangerous asteroids, exploring Mars, and planning missions to other points in our solar system. Due to congressional budget cuts, however, the agency has to figure out how to do all of that with fewer resources.

After recent review panel findings it appears that the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope, which made headlines just a few days ago for exploring the darkest regions of space, is on the chopping block.

The Spitzer was originally launched in 2003 as Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) as part of the NASA Great Observatories program. The primary mission officially came to an end in 2009 when the liquid helium supply, used to cool the crafts instruments, ran out. Since that time the mission has continued as the Spitzer Warm Mission, which utilized the two shortest-wavelength modules of the IRAC camera, which are still functional.

Although the cost of the Spitzer program has continued to decline year over year, three separate review panels including the Astrophysics Senior Review Panel have recommended that the program be shuttered, according to Scientific American. 

Also on the block is the MaxWISE proposal, part of the NEOWISE mission.  MaxWISE would have converted data on near-Earth objects into a format that was more usable by researchers outside of NASA. Many other programs will be forced to tighten their belts but will continue to operate.

“To me it’s really sad that this country can’t find just a few million bucks more to throw into this to keep these things active and running as they should be,” senior review panel chair Ben R. Oppenheimer, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, told Scientific American.