How you can help

First, and most importantly, we’d like to thank you for your time, energy, and support. Discovery is human-powered, and Chandra’s mission is animated by a national and global community of stakeholders reliant on its generational power to reveal the high energy Universe. If you have the energy to help, first make sure you’re caught up on the major details of what, exactly, is happening. You can read a (reasonably) short summary of that here.

Know that our goal of rescuing Chandra from premature cancellation is possible. It will be a steep hill to climb, yes, but this is not the first time that a Great Observatory has been under threat of cancellation. The only path to save Chandra is through Congress, mostly (but not entirely) through the FY25 Appropriations Process. You can read a detailed primer on how that process works here, but know that, especially as we head into an election year, the likelihood of a string of Continuing Resolutions (on FY24 authority) is very likely. This is why we need an expression of Congressional intent in addition to, e.g. marks in House and Senate CJS Appropriations reports that may be drafted this Spring and Summer, even in the extremely likely event we don’t have a conferenced and signed Bill before the end of the Fiscal Year.

Below, and to the extent that you can, we are going to ask you to reach out to your representatives in Congress (if you’re in the United States), as well as sign a coming community letter to NASA leadership (everyone, including our international friends, are welcome to sign on). In all messaging with NASA and Congress, please be kind, respectful, and advocate from a position of understanding and grace. The folks at NASA are our friends, and they are trying their best in a nearly impossible budget situation. Every trade they make is a painful zero-sum game amid immense downward pressure from a contracting top-line budget. They don’t want to destroy the U.S. X-ray community, although that is a very real possibility if we stay on this current course and prematurely cancel Chandra.

With that said, here’s what you can do.

First, contact Congress

By far, the most high-impact action you can take to #SaveChandra is to contact your Representative or Senators, assuming you are a constituent in the United States. Chandra can likely only be saved in Congress, and it really does matter when constituents reach out to representatives and their staff.

(One of) the higher impact ways to make contact is to place a direct phone call to a staffer during normal business hours. Click here to find your representatives’ Main Office phone number, call that number during normal business hours, and you’re likely to reach a staffer. See the rough script below for the main talking points that you should deliver.

An easier but lower-impact way to contact your representatives is via email. This site makes it easy, or, if you’d prefer to send a more personalized email from your own account, you can find direct email addresses at this site.

Here’s what you should say

You should always have an “ask” when contacting Congress, and it is critical that everybody have the same ask. Whatever you say to your representative, it’s important to hit the talking points below clearly and succinctly. With the caveat that we fully understand and agree that some of the below statements are outright jingoistic, and that you should message in the way you feel comfortable, here’s your rough script with the ask:

“Please restore full funding (approximately $70M/yr) to NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in any FY25 legislation.”

Chandra, the most powerful X-ray telescope in history, is the vanguard of U.S. Leadership in High Energy Astrophysics, a Nobel-prize winning field that began in the US.

Chandra is healthy, efficient, and returning its best-of-mission science. Its greatest discoveries lie ahead.

Chandra is a keystone of multi-wavelength observations, providing enormous synergy with the James Webb Space Telescope and essentially all cutting-edge ground-and space-based telescopes for the next 5-10 years, vastly increasing our return-on-investment in these major facilities.

“It is critical that full funding to Chandra is restored before it’s too late. Without Congress, the proposed FY25 funding for Chandra would mandate devastating cuts to Mission Staffing by the fall of 2024, potentially leading to loss of the mission.

Premature loss of Chandra will result in a death spiral for X-ray astronomy in the United States, resulting evaporation of a talented national workforce, and ceding US Leadership in the most important cosmic discoveries of the coming decade.

“The restoration of Chandra cannot be an unfunded mandate to NASA. Please take action to modestly increase the NASA Astrophysics Budget to ensure U.S. Leadership in making the greatest cosmic discoveries of the century.”

Important Note before contacting Congress

No matter where you work, your Constitutional rights to petition your government are always valid; you can always participate in advocacy, but you may need to be careful about doing it on your own time and resources.

Federal employees, in particular, should be especially careful. While Federal Employees have the right to contact members of Congress as private citizens, you must understand the potential implications and restrictions involved. Here are some vital points to remember:

• Capacity: Always make it clear that you are communicating as a private citizen and not as an official representative of your agency. Avoid using government resources (work email, office supplies, etc.) for this purpose.

• The Hatch Act: Be mindful of the Hatch Act, which limits certain types of political activities for some federal employees. Consult your agency's ethics guidelines for specific restrictions.

• Content: Exercise caution when discussing sensitive or work-related matters. Do not disclose classified or non-public information.

• Respect: Maintain a respectful and professional tone in all communications with members of Congress and their staff.

If you have any doubts, it is best to first contact your agency's ethics or legal office.

Second, show your support & sign the in-progress community letter to NASA & Congress

We will link the full text of the letter as soon as it is ready. In the meantime, if you feel comfortable signing onto a letter you haven’t yet seen, please do fill out the form below. The messaging in the letter will be fully aligned with the content on this website (i.e. there will be no surprises!). Note that there may be several letters tailored to different stakeholders (members of Congress, NASA leadership, etc.). If you wish to express support but do not wish for your name to appear on any letter, we give you that option below.

Third, show your support on social media, and everywhere you advocate.

Use the #SaveChandra hashtag.

Share www.savechandra.org with your friends.

Feel free to use the logos below anywhere and everywhere

#SaveChandra Wordmarks
(right click and “save as” on Desktop, or long hold+”save image” on iOS & Android)

Most importantly, don’t give up.

With ❤️,
the global Chandra Community.