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NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Lays Off 300 Engineers

Posted by Zonk on from the people-are-superfluous dept.

Ghost of Von Karmen writes "NASA JPL, the lab that brought us missions such as Voyager, Cassini, and the Mars Exploration Rovers will eliminate about 300 engineering related positions due to Congressional budget cuts, according to various sources. The cuts reflect a change in emphasis away from robotic technology and toward human exploration of space. Prof. Elachi, head of JPL has indicated that the lab may pursue Department of Defense contracts to minimize additional reductions in personnel."

3 of 318 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah right by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The cuts reflect a change in emphasis away from robotic technology and toward human exploration of space.

    The cuts reflect the tremendous cost of warmongering around the world...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  2. Write your Congressman TODAY! by Derling+Whirvish · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This is serious and incredibly stupid. Do not let this pass without contacting you Congressman and telling tham how incredibly stupid and short-sighted this really is.

    http://www.house.gov/writerep/

    Commenting here will accomplish nothing. You MUST write your Congressional representative. Be civil.

    1. Re:Write your Congressman TODAY! by Dominic_Mazzoni · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is serious and incredibly stupid.

      I'm a JPL employee. I'm not a manager or anything, but here's how I understand the situation.

      While this is serious and unfortunate for the people being laid off, I don't think that NASA's priorities are necessarily misplaced in this case. Mike Griffin, the new NASA administrator, has made it his top goal to get the replacement for the space shuttle ready as soon as possible - much faster than had been planned previously. This is a very good thing - everyone I know at NASA is applauding this.

      NASA's overall budget has not changed significantly. As a result, Griffin had to make the tough decision to cancel a few programs, including one big robotic mission, in order to put more money into retiring the shuttle. Very importantly, he did not cancel any Earth science programs, and didn't cancel any Mars exploration programs.

      It's unfortunate that this has affected JPL so much (more than all other NASA centers except Ames), and to be totally honest morale is pretty low at the lab right now because this caught everyone by surprise. But the truth is that JPL's director, Charles Elachi, has been very forthcoming and frank about the whole thing, and really seems to be making a serious effort to be fair about the layoffs. And even though I may not agree with every decision they make, I have enormous respect for both Elachi and Griffin. They're both scientists/engineers, not MBAs or something like that (the first NASA administrator Bush appointed was an accountant - he had no clue what he was doing), and they have extremely impressive credentials. They're smart, honest, and very experienced, and they're both trying to do what's best for NASA in the long run.