2024/02/06
A NASA rendering showing all the space vehicles involved to get the Mars samples and bring them back to Earth from the Perseverance Mars rover. - JPL/NASA/TNS
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced it was laying off 530 on staff or about 8% of its workforce on Tuesday after expected congressional budget cuts kneecapped one of its biggest endeavors, the Mars Sample Return mission.
The Pasadena, California, institution is one of NASA’s major science mission hubs, the home to the majority of Mars missions, including the Perseverance rover currently collecting soil and rock samples as part of that mission.
JPL Director Laurie Leshin said fiscal wrangling in Washington has led to an expected budget for that mission of only $300 million, less than a third of the Biden administration’s requested $949 million for fiscal year 2024, which began last Oct. 1.
While a version in the House opts for the full request, the Senate’s version is at the much lower amount, and both the White House and NASA have directed JPL to begin operating with an expected $649 million shortfall.
NASA spent $822 million on the sample return mission in fiscal year 2023. The mission calls for a lander to make its way to Mars and collect the samples being gathered by Perseverance, after which they will be launched back off the planet to meet up with an orbiting probe that will then send them on their way back to Earth. The mission has been a priority for NASA after its top ranking in the latest Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, which helps guide NASA science mission choices.
California congressional leaders led by Reps. Adam Schiff and Judy Chu and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla wrote a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget last week asking for fiscal cuts to be reversed on the mission.
“This short-sighted and misguided decision will cost hundreds of jobs and a decade of lost science, and it flies in the face of Congressional authority,” they wrote in the letter co-signed by 41 other members of Congress.
That warning came to fruition this week as Leshin notified all of JPL’s workforce in a letter Tuesday that it would be contacting the 530 affected employees as well as about 40 more contract workers affected starting Wednesday.
“After exhausting all other measures to adjust to a lower budget from NASA, and in the absence of an FY24 appropriation from Congress, we have had to make the difficult decision to reduce the JPL workforce through layoffs,” Leshin wrote.
The targeted employees would be from both technical and support areas, she said.
“These are painful but necessary adjustments that will enable us to adhere to our budget allocation while continuing our important work for NASA and our nation,” she wrote.
Facing the cuts, JPL had already enacted a hiring freeze last fall and had reduced spending on the Mars Sample Return program and let go of some contract workers, but it wasn’t enough, she said.
“Unfortunately, those actions alone are not enough for us to make it through the remainder of the fiscal year. So in the absence of an appropriation, and as much as we wish we didn’t need to take this action, we must now move forward to protect against even deeper cuts later were we to wait,” she wrote.
JPL’s entire workforce was told to work from home on Wednesday as each employee would be emailed whether or not they were being laid off.
“To our colleagues who will be leaving JPL, I want you to know how grateful I am for the exceptional contributions you have made to our mission and our community,” she wrote. “Your talents leave a lasting mark on JPL. You will always be a part of our story and you have made a positive difference here.”
_____
© Orlando Sentinel
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced it was laying off 530 on staff or about 8% of its workforce on Tuesday after expected congressional budget cuts kneecapped one of its biggest endeavors, the Mars Sample Return mission.
The Pasadena, California, institution is one of NASA’s major science mission hubs, the home to the majority of Mars missions, including the Perseverance rover currently collecting soil and rock samples as part of that mission.
JPL Director Laurie Leshin said fiscal wrangling in Washington has led to an expected budget for that mission of only $300 million, less than a third of the Biden administration’s requested $949 million for fiscal year 2024, which began last Oct. 1.
While a version in the House opts for the full request, the Senate’s version is at the much lower amount, and both the White House and NASA have directed JPL to begin operating with an expected $649 million shortfall.
NASA spent $822 million on the sample return mission in fiscal year 2023. The mission calls for a lander to make its way to Mars and collect the samples being gathered by Perseverance, after which they will be launched back off the planet to meet up with an orbiting probe that will then send them on their way back to Earth. The mission has been a priority for NASA after its top ranking in the latest Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, which helps guide NASA science mission choices.
California congressional leaders led by Reps. Adam Schiff and Judy Chu and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla wrote a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget last week asking for fiscal cuts to be reversed on the mission.
“This short-sighted and misguided decision will cost hundreds of jobs and a decade of lost science, and it flies in the face of Congressional authority,” they wrote in the letter co-signed by 41 other members of Congress.
That warning came to fruition this week as Leshin notified all of JPL’s workforce in a letter Tuesday that it would be contacting the 530 affected employees as well as about 40 more contract workers affected starting Wednesday.
“After exhausting all other measures to adjust to a lower budget from NASA, and in the absence of an FY24 appropriation from Congress, we have had to make the difficult decision to reduce the JPL workforce through layoffs,” Leshin wrote.
The targeted employees would be from both technical and support areas, she said.
“These are painful but necessary adjustments that will enable us to adhere to our budget allocation while continuing our important work for NASA and our nation,” she wrote.
Facing the cuts, JPL had already enacted a hiring freeze last fall and had reduced spending on the Mars Sample Return program and let go of some contract workers, but it wasn’t enough, she said.
“Unfortunately, those actions alone are not enough for us to make it through the remainder of the fiscal year. So in the absence of an appropriation, and as much as we wish we didn’t need to take this action, we must now move forward to protect against even deeper cuts later were we to wait,” she wrote.
JPL’s entire workforce was told to work from home on Wednesday as each employee would be emailed whether or not they were being laid off.
“To our colleagues who will be leaving JPL, I want you to know how grateful I am for the exceptional contributions you have made to our mission and our community,” she wrote. “Your talents leave a lasting mark on JPL. You will always be a part of our story and you have made a positive difference here.”
_____
© Orlando Sentinel
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