President Donald Trump’s proposed budget looks to end the Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft and Gateway space station central to NASA’s existing Artemis program — but only after a successful moon landing as the nation remains in a race with China.

A preliminary overview of the White House’s planned 2026 discretionary budget released Friday dubbed SLS and Orion as “grossly expensive and delayed,” citing that each launch SLS rocket alone costs the government $4 billion and is 140% over budget.

It’s among billions in cuts for the overall $18.8 billion proposed budget for NASA, which for the current fiscal year is nearly $25 billion. Ultimately, Congress will pass a budget and it often counters presidential proposals.

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The Trump administration looks to drop funds toward Artemis’ future launches by $879 million with a goal of ending them after the Artemis III flight.

“The budget funds a program to replace SLS and Orion flights to the moon with more cost-effective commercial systems that would support more ambitious subsequent lunar missions,” the White House proposal stated. “The budget also proposes to terminate the Gateway, a small lunar space station in development with international partners, which would have been used to support future SLS and Orion missions.”

NASA flew the successful uncrewed Artemis I mission that orbited the moon in 2022 and has its first crewed mission, Artemis II, gearing up to fly around the moon no later than April. Artemis III, still on NASA’s calendar for summer 2027, would return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.

NASA’s Office of the Inspector General in 2023 raised the red flag of rising costs of SLS and Orion, noting that by the time it manages to fly Artemis III the program would have topped $93 billion. That includes billions more than originally announced in 2012 as years of delays and cost increases plagued the lead-up to Artemis I.

Even nearly two years ago the audit said NASA should consider alternatives.

“Although the SLS is the only launch vehicle currently available that meets Artemis mission needs, in the next 3 to 5 years other human-rated commercial alternatives that are lighter, cheaper, and reusable may become available,” the audit said. “Therefore, NASA may want to consider whether other commercial options should be a part of its mid- to long-term plans to support its ambitious space exploration goals.”

That includes heavy-lift rockets such as Blue Origin’s New Glenn that flew for the first time early this year as well as the in-development SpaceX Starship that has made several suborbital test flights.

To that end, the Trump budget proposal looks to keep the human exploration budget the highest line item with more than $7 billion — including $1 billion in new investments to pursue Mars-focused programs.

That’s the only program with a proposed increase.

The biggest loser in the proposed budget is space science with cuts of more than $2.2 billion followed by more than $1.1 billion in cuts to Earth science, mission support and more than $500 million from space technology.

“In line with the administration’s objectives of returning to the moon before China and putting a man on Mars, the budget would reduce lower priority research and terminate unaffordable missions such as the Mars Sample Return mission that is grossly overbudget and whose goals would be achieved by human missions to Mars,” the proposal stated.

LONDON (AP) — For Ethel Caterham, the trick to a long life — and in her case, it really has been — is not to argue.

Caterham, who is 115, became the world’s oldest living person, according to the Gerontology Research Group, after Sister Inah Canabarro, a Brazilian nun and teacher, died on Wednesday at the tender age of 116.

“Never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like,” she said from her nursing home in Surrey, southwest of London, on the secret to her longevity.

This undated handout provided by Hallmark Care Homes shows Ethel Caterham, who on Friday, May 2, 2025 is now the world’s oldest woman according to LongeviQuest. (Hallmark Care Homes via AP)

She was born on Aug. 21, 1909, in the village of Shipton Bellinger in the south of England, five years before the outbreak of World War I. She was the second youngest of eight siblings.

Travel has been in her blood, it’s clear. In 1927, at the age of 18, Caterham embarked on a journey to India, working as a nanny for a British family, where she stayed for three years before returning to England, according to the GRG.

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She met her husband Norman, who was a major in the British army, at a dinner party in 1931, and they were stationed in Hong Kong and Gibraltar, the GRG said. They had two daughters whom they raised in the U.K. Norman died in 1976.

Hallmark Lakeview Luxury Care Home in Camberley, where Caterham is a resident, posted pictures of her cutting a cake and wearing a “115” tiara in a Facebook post on Thursday.

“Huge congratulations to Lakeview resident, Ethel on becoming the oldest person in the world! What an incredible milestone and a true testament to a life well-lived,” it said in an accompanying statement. “Your strength, spirit, and wisdom are an inspiration to us all. Here’s to celebrating your remarkable journey!”

The title of the oldest person ever is held by French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.

By JAMEY KEATEN and FARNOUSH AMIRI, Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — United Nations officials have circulated proposals for a vast consolidation of U.N. operations and other sweeping reforms to root out inefficiencies, overlaps and cost overruns as the world body faces a critical funding crunch, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The proposals, which are in the early stages of discussion and are far from certain to be adopted, would amount to one of the biggest overhauls of the U.N., which has been upended by funding cuts from its biggest donor, the United States, under President Donald Trump’s administration.

The document, labeled “strictly confidential,” falls under a reform initiative known as UN80 that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched in March.

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It comes as the United Nations is set to celebrate its 80th anniversary this summer, with its ability to work on resolving conflicts, help feed and house the poor, destitute and displaced, and fight disease, along with many other of its lofty humanitarian ambitions, increasingly in doubt.

“The memo is the preliminary result of an exercise to generate ideas and thoughts from senior officials on how to achieve the secretary-general’s vision,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

He noted that it was just one way the U.N. is working on changes and that “this exercise is designed to ensure we are responsible stewards of the monies from hardworking taxpayers around the world who underwrite everything we do through member state contributions.”

The memo notes “significant overlaps, inefficiencies, and increased costs in the UN system” and a “fragmented development system” — an allusion to the work to help poorer or conflict-battered countries build and rebuild.

The document, in an apparent signal to aid cutbacks by the U.S. and other Western countries, noted that “geopolitical shifts and substantial reductions in foreign aid budgets are challenging the legitimacy and effectiveness” of the United Nations.

The U.N. proposals underscore the impact of Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. back from its position as the world’s single largest aid donor, as his administration slashes foreign assistance. But even before the Republican president took office, many donor nations had reduced humanitarian spending, and U.N. agencies struggled to reach funding goals.

Among the ideas being discussed in New York is a proposal to form a single humanitarian entity, such as by creating a “streamlined” organization that pulls together the U.N.’s aid coordinator, refugee agency and migration agency and “leveraging” the expertise of the U.N. World Food Program.

The AP reported this week that several U.N. agencies that provide aid to children, refugees and other vulnerable people around the world would be slashing jobs or cutting costs in other ways, ahead of any mandates from headquarters. Among those organizations is the World Food Program, which is expected to cut up to 30% of its staff.

The head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it would downsize its headquarters and regional offices to reduce costs by 30% and cut senior-level positions by 50%. Other agencies, including UNICEF and OCHA, also plan to make cuts.

Other ideas being discussed in New York are options for a merger of multiple organizations — possibly including the U.N. bodies for peacekeeping; drugs and crime; development assistance; and the office of the special adviser on Africa — into one peace and security entity.

Other options could include moving U.N. peace and security operations “closer to the field,” with a more regional, decentralized management, and a “comprehensive restructuring” of the political and peacekeeping operations.

More broadly, the proposed reforms would affect the U.N.’s approach to new technologies like artificial intelligence and alter the internal culture, down to the way meetings would be structured, operations funded, budgets set and new organizations created in the future.

The existence of the internal memo was first reported by Reuters.

Keaten reported from Geneva.

Most comics-derived superhero movies really wouldn’t be much of anything without buried rage, and what happens when it won’t stay buried. Their stories’ relentless emphasis on childhood trauma and the crippling psychological load carried by broken souls (heroes and villains both) — that’s the whole show.

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With its adorable little asterisk in the title, “Thunderbolts*” goes further than most Marvels in its focus on psychological torment, mental health and, more broadly, a shared search for self-worth among a half-dozen also-rans who learn what it takes to be an A-team. Their sense of shame isn’t played for laughs, though there are some. Mostly it’s sincere. And it’s more effective that way.

“A” stands for Avengers, among other things, and with the legendary Avengers AWOL for now (hence the asterisk in the title), there’s a vacuum in need of filling.  Targeted for elimination, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus returning for duty as U.S. intelligence weasel Valentina, the combatants of the title have their work cut out for them. Who can they trust? If not Valentina, taking a more central role this time, then who?

Joining forces are Yelena/Black Widow (top-billed Florence Pugh); her gone-to-seed father Alexei/Red Guardian (David Harbour); the tetchy John Walker/Captain America (Wyatt Russell); Antonia/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko); the quicksilver invisible Ava/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen); and the Winter Soldier himself, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), whose entry into the “Thunderbolts*” storyline is most welcome. Their mission: To neutralize as well as rehabilitate the all-too-human lab experiment known as Bob, aka The Sentry, aka The Void, played by Robert Pullman. He’s Valentina’s little project, more dangerous than anyone knows.

Sebastian Stan and David Harbour, foreground, with John Walker and Hannah John-Kamen, rear, in “Thunderbolts*.” (Marvel Studios)

The misfits scenario guiding “Thunderbolts*” is nothing new. “Suicide Squad” did it, “Guardians of the Galaxy” does it, and this motley crew keeps the tradition alive. It works, even when the material’s routine, because Pugh’s forceful yet subtle characterization of a heavy-hearted killing machine with an awful childhood feels like something’s at stake. She and the reliably witty Harbour work well together, and while there’s a certain generic-ness at work in the character roster — these insecure egotists are meant to be placeholders, with something to prove to themselves and the world — the actors keep the movie reasonably engaging before the effects take over.

Even those are better than usual, for the record. That sounds weird when you’re dealing with another $200 million production budget commodity. Shouldn’t they all look good, preferably in wildly different ways?

It’s a matter of simplicity and selectivity, not assault tactics. The poor, tormented newbie Bob has a superhero guise (The Sentry, fearsomely powerful, essentially all Avengers packed into one fella). but SuperBob has a dark side. When The Void takes over, it’s insidious psychological warfare, with The Void’s victims suddenly, quieting disappearing into a massive black handprint. His targets must relive the worst guilt and shame they have known, whoever they are, wherever that shadow of anguish and rage may lead them.

Sounds heavy, and it is. But at its best, the visualization of this part of “Thunderbolts*” feels like something relatively new and vivid. And there you have it. The 36th MCU movie, if you’re interested. It’s the most pretty-good one in a while.

“Thunderbolts*” — 3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references)

Running time: 2:06

How to watch: Premiered in theaters May 1

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.