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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

#131

I’m trying to think how I feel about this. I’ve been obsessed with space for a long time, remember traveling to see my first rocket launch of the shuttle in 2006. Follow the commercial development closely since then. Their science missions are inspiring, but not as inspiring as they ought to be. NASA needs an overhaul. This isn’t how I would do it, but that’s not how things work in the real world. SLS is the elephant…

Anytime you have subcontractors of the subcontractor of the prime contract holder, you’re going to get construction projects that go 20 years. It’s totally a jobs program. Job security and predictable pay outs. The entire space coast of Florida was built on this, from Kennedy Space Center down to Jupiter, FL.

Beyond FL, they’re careful to make sure parts of the rocket at built in EVERY state! Now something that should be cutting edge innovation is tied to Congress which is intentionally not innovative and you wonder why it falls behind.

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

#132
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every large country is doing that everywhere constantly. It's not an exclusive of the ones you don't like.

How does the US influence elections in Russia/China? Also, I care about my children not growing up in a dictatorship. As such, their manipulation affects me directly... You should too. You won't like being treated like a literal slave. Deflecting like this just empowers the same manipulation.

> How does the US influence elections in Russia/China?

This might be the funniest thing I have ever read.

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

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you remember when a President of the United States was impeached for an affair with an adult intern? Do you remember when a Republican presidential nominee defended his opponent from a racist question at a Republican Rally, calling him a "decent family man?" -- Then, can you think of a time when a POTUS committed a pump a security he was selling, only to dump it immediately after his inauguration, and it it was ba…

[flagged]

It was factual, it just skipped some steps.

Similarly we could use random phrase associations like:

The episode with golden rain -> facebook manipulation done by private office in St. P. -> elected

It sounds non-factual until you know the story, then you see its extrapolation.

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

#134
post #80

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…

> I imagine everyone else at NASA who respects themselves would have left for SpaceX a long time ago

not everyone wants to work for a company that is well known for grinding 20-somethings into the dust with an extremely poor work-life balance.

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

#135
post #56
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.

These two sentences paired together is so fantastically american.

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

#136

Thanks, tech industry! A generational disruption in all forms of science and the destruction of the crown jewels of America’s last century, but at least now you get to be ruled by a violent senile pedophile and his deranged crackhead enablers.

[dead]

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

#137
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They have done some pretty interesting not for profit missions like inspiration 4. do the axiom missions count too (lol)?

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

#138

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. C…

I know that people wanted to stay in their own country. However, she could likely get a good position in the space industry in Europe.

The bottom line is, she would be very likely to get a good salary, even better than she did in the US, in China, Russia, or India, which are desperately seeking space specialists with experience in more advanced technologies.

It is a shame that the US couldn't even keep their payroll, forcing them to leave the country and flow to its enemies.

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

#139
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> I imagine everyone else at NASA who respects themselves would have left for SpaceX a long time ago not everyone wants to work for a company that is well known for grinding 20-somethings into the dust with an extremely poor work-life balance.

Not to mention the ethical questions about working for a company that is privately owned by a megalomaniac who’s demonstrated an interest in playing king of the world.
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