Skip to content

NASA Engineers Say Forced Relocations Risk Future Missions

scienceSep 15, 20262789

NPR reports that NASA forced repeated, rapid relocations of scientists and equipment at the Goddard Space Flight Center since last November, including moves as recent as a month before the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched late last month. Engineers told NPR that the disruptions caused the loss of specialized workspaces, staff and expensive machines, forcing propulsion teams to run fuel tests with less sensitive gear and leaving a radio communications lab without most of its equipment. One engineer said the team no longer had a 6 million dollar antenna chamber. NASA management says the moves cut costs, eliminated "waste and redundancies," and aligned with a master plan to consolidate more than 80 facilities to avoid tens of millions in deferred maintenance. NPR spoke with seven current and former Goddard scientists and engineers, who asked to remain anonymous; Jack Kiraly of the Planetary Society warned that the relocations add risk to multibillion dollar taxpayer investments and could hinder future spacecraft production. Workers said Goddard’s diminished capacity is already delaying projects and could reduce NASA’s ability to build complex missions going forward.

1 source