Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

kcrw.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 774 posts

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

#171

Post by stetrain »

dextrous wrote: post #142

Politics aside, according to a pretty comprehensive study (118 missions) it does seem that SpaceX is much more efficient than NASA [1]. Data like this would suggest privatization of space missions is a good idea. Maybe this conclusion is biased somehow, or perhaps the purpose of a dedicated govt org is different in some way that justifies its budget and scope despite the difference in efficiency? https://qz.com/email…

SpaceX is pretty efficient at space launches, and has gotten there using a lot of NASA guidance and funding.

NASA does a lot more than space launches, and they do use private sector (including SpaceX) for most of their launches.

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

#172

Post by magicalist »

Balgair wrote: post #156
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.

Hot Take: Maybe this DOGE approach of sledgehammering the bureaucracies is all there is left to do? Look, I have family that works for the Feds. I have also collected money from federal programs. I know the pain that is coming and is here. It really really sucks, and it will suck for me too, though not as badly. But the 'scalpel' approach where you go in, understand the system, take out the bad parts, leave the good,…

Sounds less like a hot take than a false dichotomy? The only choice is one of two non-specific analogies?

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

#173

Post by jeffbee »

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…

> land on Mars before their current term expires

As a nation we need to figure out how you, probably a person who considers yourself a functioning adult member of society, came to believe and even repeat this.

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

#174

Post by dahart »

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…

> and not even nasa could figure out how to run a profit despite a monopoly

You seem to be unaware that NASA does run a profit, and that SpaceX wouldn’t have been possible without NASA’s research and money. NASA has invested tens of billions in SpaceX.

https://www.planetary.org/articles/nasa-versus-spacex

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_NASA#Economic_impact...

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3721375-how-much-does...

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

#175

Post by jebarker »

eagerpace wrote: post #125

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…

> Their science missions are inspiring, but not as inspiring as they ought to be

Are they 1% as inspiring as what the DoD does with their budget? I don't mean to be snarky, but level of inspiration is pretty subjective and difficult to put a price tag on. Honestly, I feel like the NASA budget needs to be considered in context relative to the DoD budget and then these cuts look much less convincing as being necessary.

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

#176

Post by jeffbee »

spicyusername wrote: post #4

Wow, that's terrible news... I just don't understand why this is something people would want.

Many Americans are invested in getting rid of Earth science altogether. The less the people know about the state of the atmosphere, the better it is for Exxon. NASA had an extremely large Earth science mission.

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

#177

Post by timeon »

Strom wrote: post #166
belter wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Data like this would suggest privatization of space missions is a good idea How is that working out with the US Health Care System?

Better healthcare for fewer people. Might work well for space exploration.

But still expensive burden for tax payers.

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

#178

Post by jajko »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #155
justin66 wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 in the room and is a complete disaster. It’s a jobs program limping along decades old technology when the commercial options are better. It’s more accurate to say that Congress needs an overhaul. Over the years NASA administrators have pushed back on SLS to the fullest extent you’d expect, but…

It’s going to kill institutional knowledge and be so expensive to repair after regime change.

[flagged]

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

#179

Post by samrus »

dextrous wrote: post #142

Politics aside, according to a pretty comprehensive study (118 missions) it does seem that SpaceX is much more efficient than NASA [1]. Data like this would suggest privatization of space missions is a good idea. Maybe this conclusion is biased somehow, or perhaps the purpose of a dedicated govt org is different in some way that justifies its budget and scope despite the difference in efficiency? https://qz.com/email…

Efficiency is important for public institutions but not the highest priority. The highest priority is public service. These institutions should have public good as their north star, not shareholder value

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

#180

Post by qotgalaxy »

Balgair wrote: post #156
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.

Hot Take: Maybe this DOGE approach of sledgehammering the bureaucracies is all there is left to do? Look, I have family that works for the Feds. I have also collected money from federal programs. I know the pain that is coming and is here. It really really sucks, and it will suck for me too, though not as badly. But the 'scalpel' approach where you go in, understand the system, take out the bad parts, leave the good,…

[dead]
Post reply on HN