"Though the House and Senate have much still to debate on full-year appropriations, this much is clear: Congress is rejecting ...

The departures are playing out as NASA and other government agencies contend with significant cuts to funding and personnel.

NASA’s massive, fully expendable Moon rocket is under heavy scrutiny. The 5.75-million-pound SLS was built using components from NASA’s Space Shuttle program, which ran from 1981 to 2011.

"Honestly, it's been a little devastating," Kevin Hardegree-Ullman, a scientist at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology, told Space.com. "NASA always has a ...