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4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

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Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#71

Post by torlok »

ineedaj0b wrote: post #38
kacesensitive wrote: post #20

I know a few of these people. The two I've spoken with since their resignation basically said, "we're definitely getting laid off unless something insane changes with the funding cuts so at least this way we get a severance." It's really sad how our NASA funding is the lowest it's been since 1961. https://www.planetary.org/articles/nasa-2026-budget-proposal... I'm so sick of the not only incompetent leadership in the…

i too knew a lot of NASA employed peopled and it’s always regrettable to lose a job but.. what the heck was our space program doing? i know they blamed changing leadership and changing budget but the space shuttle’s replacement program was run horribly. the only working part of cape canaveral was whatever spy satellites they needed to launch. thankfully spaceX does a pretty good job and while I wish it was still nasa…

Looking forward to SpaceX launching the next Voyager mission.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#72

Post by nradov »

magicloop wrote: post #40

The real game the current administration is playing is to land on Mars before their current term expires. This mirrors the political, prestige, and technology triumph of the Kennedy administration. This is why the BBB Bill refocussed on the Mars mission despite having cuts. What is being cut is otherwise a symptom of the budget deficit (7%) and the fact that politically they cut areas where there are not republican v…

There is zero chance that humans will land on Mars before the end of the current administration. It isn't technically feasible. They are not seriously planning on this.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#73

Post by rockskon »

NASA has been downsizing a lot.

Friend of mine is a contractor for NASA who has been trained as a parts engineer for sourcing and testing electronic components that go into satellites and spacecrafts will be out of a job in a few months as her entire branch is eliminating all contractor positions.

Now she has a specialized skillset that isn't very readily transferable to other local companies and industries.

Sucks. Can't imagine she's the only one from NASA facing this crisis.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#74

Post by rockskon »

kacesensitive wrote: post #20

I know a few of these people. The two I've spoken with since their resignation basically said, "we're definitely getting laid off unless something insane changes with the funding cuts so at least this way we get a severance." It's really sad how our NASA funding is the lowest it's been since 1961. https://www.planetary.org/articles/nasa-2026-budget-proposal... I'm so sick of the not only incompetent leadership in the…

A phrase I've taken to heart from someone who has lived in a less stable nation than the US - it can always get worse.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#75

Post by LtWorf »

nradov wrote: post #68
LtWorf wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How does the US influence elections in Russia/China? Are you claiming the CIA doesn't exist? Are you claiming there was never any stay behind organisation? Are you claiming the entire continent of south america doesn't see USA intervention every time they vote wrong? I also don't like dictatorships, and USA propped dictators aren't any better than russian ones.

Are you claiming that there's something negative about stay-behind organizations? Those are a critical part of defense and deterrence.

There's a lot of negative. Perhaps you could do some reading on what those organisations do before telling me how amazing they are?

For example, being involved in killing prime ministers USA doesn't like that were regularly elected…

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizzazione_Gladio#Collegam...

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#76

Post by 15155 »

croes wrote: post #49
sokoloff wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What part of this do you think is the fault of the “tech industry”? The tech industry certainly has its flaws and things to criticize, but this doesn’t seem part of it, unless I’m missing a connection somehow.

So Thiel and Musk have nothing to do with Trump getting elected. Or Social networks as an easy way of spreading misinformation. New to the club AI that delivers convincing sound, photo and video „proofs“ for any fake news they want including elaborated texts fitting to their target audience

[flagged]

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#77

Post by [deleted] »

exe34 wrote: post #56
spwa4 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because a LOT of people have been left out of economic progress in Europe especially, and in the US. They want, even need change, and Trump came with a "believable" story for change. As in, more change than a president Harris would have delivered. Unless we get economic progress more equally spread this will get worse and worse.

> Trump came with a "believable" story If they believed Trump, they deserve everything they get. Sadly those who didn't believe didn't vote enough.

[deleted]

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#78

Post by 15155 »

exe34 wrote: post #56
spwa4 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because a LOT of people have been left out of economic progress in Europe especially, and in the US. They want, even need change, and Trump came with a "believable" story for change. As in, more change than a president Harris would have delivered. Unless we get economic progress more equally spread this will get worse and worse.

> Trump came with a "believable" story If they believed Trump, they deserve everything they get. Sadly those who didn't believe didn't vote enough.

> If they believed Trump, they deserve everything they get.

Is it a matter of "belief," or could it possibly be an optimal strategy to secure potentially two more Supreme Court nominations?

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#79

Post by crinkly »

tonyhart7 wrote: post #67
crinkly wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work for one of the largest financial companies. It's not us or the sector. There's a whole shadow sector behind the scenes doing this stuff run by billionaire funded think tanks who manipulated tech markets and leverage political and social manipulation through their connections. It's the world we live in but we didn't create it. Shit education leads to pliable humans leads to social manipulation leads to desired…

is that same people that I was thinking???? I know they all one to blame even they control government

Well there's quite a few of them who are ideologically aligned.

Re: 4k NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program

#80

Post by jart »

bradley13 wrote: post #59

I'm sure the bureaucracy can stand some serious cutting. However, with voluntary programs like this, you tend to lose the best people.

NASA ended their space shuttle program in 2011 and hasn't been able to send things into space since. For the rest of that decade, the only way Americans could access ISS was by purchasing tickets on Russian spacecraft. NASA pivoted to partnering with private government contractors like ULA, which did 4 launches in 2024, probably spy satellites for the military, but their Atlas V rocket only has 14 launches remaining before retirement. That's it. Aside from the greatly maligned SpaceX of course, which did their first manned mission in 2020 and operated 134 launches in 2024.

There are still maybe one or two cool jobs left at NASA like controlling the Voyager software. But I imagine everyone else at NASA who respects themselves would have left for SpaceX a long time ago, rather than waiting for Trump to incentivize their retirement. Half of all revenue collected by the US federal government in 2024 (totaling $2565 billion) was given to retirees. Mostly middle class and government retirees. So this policy shift is very aligned with the US status quo, which is paying people to do nothing, rather than having them go through the motions of tilting at bureaucratic windmills trying to do something.

Even in this thread you see how pervasive the attitude is. I've seen several comments here so far talking about how the economic system isn't giving them enough money, but I've yet to see anyone here express a willingness to eat ramen, sleep in the trenches, get their hands dirty, and endure whatever pain and peril it takes if it grants the opportunity to help out getting things done with space exploration. Those are the kinds of people who create material abundance.

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