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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

#631

Post by mmmlinux »

jrflowers wrote: post #552
cyphertruck wrote: post #540

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These cuts are absolutely not the ones I would make, but the reality is not as it is being portrayed. The claim that SpaceX does not do science is false. Not only do they launch most of NASA's science missions, which counts, they also do independent science, including the Polaris Dawn and FRAM 2. Along with Axiom, they put science missions on the ISS, and all the NASA science done on ISS is facilitated by SpaceX putt…

> they launch most of NASA's science missions, which counts Exactly. Like if I am an uber driver and I bring a surgeon to a hospital, it counts as me doing surgery since the most important part of surgery is the process of driving to the place where it happens

so ambulances do nothing, got it.

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

#632

Post by WorldMaker »

hansvm wrote: post #520
wat10000 wrote: post #518

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s even simpler: government is seen as bad. The military and some law enforcement are excepted, but otherwise, dismantling government agencies is a goal in and of itself. I listened to way too much Rush Limbaugh in the 90s and none of this stuff is a surprise. Distressing, but exactly what this particular segment of Republicans have been working towards.

I could buy that argument if it weren't for the disparity in which organizations are being targeted and the degree to which they're being attacked. Getting rid of all government is just the story they use to appease their base.

There's definitely a Venn Diagram intersection of "small government means 'no Science' because it is a 'waste' of money" and "Science is bad because it keeps talking about Climate Change", but it's not clearly all one set or the other of that chart (it's a full union applying pressure here).

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

#633

Post by moolcool »

Molitor5901 wrote: post #614

But haven't people wanted NASA to be more streamlined, and efficient? Not sure if that is reducing staffing, or changing its mission. SpaceX making such leaps and bounds over NASA had to be a shot across the bow.

NASA and SpaceX aren't competitors.

NASA's mission statement is "explore the unknown in air and space, innovate for the benefit of humanity, and inspire the world through discovery".

SpaceX is a p̶u̶b̶l̶i̶c̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶d̶e̶d̶ privately held company whose mission is to increase shareholder value.

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

#634

Post by nilamo »

Molitor5901 wrote: post #614

But haven't people wanted NASA to be more streamlined, and efficient? Not sure if that is reducing staffing, or changing its mission. SpaceX making such leaps and bounds over NASA had to be a shot across the bow.

Streamlined and efficient normally means removing unneeded excess, or removing programs that didn't align with the overall goal. Convincing all your smart people to work somewhere else isn't streamlining, it's eliminating all possibility of future progress.

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

#635

Post by nixass »

moolcool wrote: post #633
Molitor5901 wrote: post #614

But haven't people wanted NASA to be more streamlined, and efficient? Not sure if that is reducing staffing, or changing its mission. SpaceX making such leaps and bounds over NASA had to be a shot across the bow.

NASA and SpaceX aren't competitors. NASA's mission statement is "explore the unknown in air and space, innovate for the benefit of humanity, and inspire the world through discovery". SpaceX is a p̶u̶b̶l̶i̶c̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶d̶e̶d̶ privately held company whose mission is to increase shareholder value.

SpaceX is not publicly traded

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

#636

Post by vpShane »

> SpaceX and friends don’t do scientific research.

They do though. That's the premise of xAI and even on their website is that they have all this 'research' and are feeding it to that 'grok' to establish even more scientific 'discoveries'

I use quotes because I value the human side of things and like to enjoy the excitement and joy of collaboration and people coming up with new stuff.

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

#637

Post by kortilla »

pklausler wrote: post #628

For obvious reasons, the people who are most able to find a good gig elsewhere are the most likely to elect to go do so; and they tend to be the people that you'll miss more.

Im not sure this applies. Good people at NASA were already capable of easily finding higher pay in the private sector.

People work at NASA because they believe in the mission. So if they are leaving now they either stopped believing in the future of NASA because of this or they were money motivated and sucked.

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

#638

Post by jotux »

Molitor5901 wrote: post #614

But haven't people wanted NASA to be more streamlined, and efficient? Not sure if that is reducing staffing, or changing its mission. SpaceX making such leaps and bounds over NASA had to be a shot across the bow.

>SpaceX making such leaps and bounds over NASA had to be a shot across the bow.

SpaceX, which has been awarded tens of billions in government contracts from NASA, is making leaps and bounds over NASA? I think in 2022 almost 50% of SpaceX revenue was NASA contracts. All those leaps and bounds over NASA are literally NASA funded.

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

#639

Post by vpShane »

The top comment on the main thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44699052

> SpaceX and friends don’t do scientific research.

They do though. That's the premise of xAI and even on their website is that they have all this 'research' and are feeding it to that 'grok' to establish even more scientific 'discoveries'

I use quotes because I value the human side of things and like to enjoy the excitement and joy of collaboration and people coming up with new stuff.

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

#640

Post by ck2 »

Meanwhile Pentagon just transferred a BILLION dollars from Nuclear Missile maintenance program to refurbish QatarForceOne

Do we survive this? Are you sure? Because this is just the first six months, imagine by summer 2028 what things are going to be like with every single thing defunded, homeless and car-living exploding, etc.

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