Sept. 11 (UPI) -- NASA has banned Chinese citizens with valid U.S. visas from working on its space programs at its facilities.

NASA has banned Chinese citizens with US visas from participating in agency programs — a dramatic escalation in the space race between China and the United States.

The House committee met to discuss the commerce, justice, and science budget bill, which allocates funding to federal agencies like NASA. The bill secures more than $24.8 billion for NASA, about the same amount the agency received in 2024 and 2025—much higher than the administration’s previously proposed $18.8 billion for 2026.

NASA employees are once again taking to the streets to raise awareness about deep science cuts and layoffs at the space agency.

It is unclear how much notice Nasa gave Chinese nationals who were working for the agency. Bloomberg reported that they had suddenly found they were denied access to the agency's data systems and were barred from participating in meetings relating to their work - both in-person and virtual.

A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami off Russia in late July tested an experimental detection system that had deployed a critical component just the day before.

NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy pushed back against recent claims that the agency is losing ground to China in the race back to the moon, promising the Artemis program will get astronauts there first,

Who's up for a nighttime rocket launch? NASA, SpaceX team up on an International Space Station resupply mission. Falcon 9 may be visible after liftoff