NASA is laying off 570 workers in the hunt for life on Mars due to lack of funding.
They have laid off 530 employees in their Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as well as around 40 contract staff.
It has impacted 8% of their workforce.
Staff were told to work from home in the meantime.
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NASA’s JPL is working on missions to investigate the surface and interior of the planet Venus.
They also teamed up with the European Space Agency where they planned to bring Martian rock samples back to Earth in the search for past signs of microscopic life on Mars.
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These efforts will also help NASA prepare to send humans to Mars.
They say they have made the “difficult decision” as a cost-cutting measure.
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The blow will also help them adhere to their “budget allocation.”
Additionally, JPL Director Laurie Leshin wrote that the lab is waiting for funding from Congress.
This funding is for the ‘Mars Sample Return‘ mission.
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The proposed mission planned to collect rock and dust samples on Mars and return them to Earth.
A memo was sent out to staff from JPL Director Laurie Leshin on Tuesday (6 Feb).
She advised staff to WFH yesterday (7 Feb).
This was so “everyone can be in a safe, comfortable environment on a stressful day.”
She said “All impacted employees will continue to receive their base pay and benefits through their 60-day notice period, though they will not be on Lab or be expected to work during this time.”
She wrote: “Dear Colleagues,
Today I’m writing to share some difficult news.
”While we still do not have an FY24 appropriation or the final word from Congress on our Mars Sample Return (MSR) budget allocation, we are now in a position where we must take further significant action to reduce our spending, which will result in layoffs of JPL employees and an additional release of contractors.
”These cuts are among the most challenging that we have had to make even as we have sought to reduce our spending in recent months.
“The workforce reduction will affect approximately 530 of our JPL colleagues, an impact of about 8%, and approximately 40 additional members of our contractor workforce.”
She added: “I am writing to share as much detail and clarity on our actions as I can, including reviewing the factors that have led to this decision, and our next steps.
”First, how we got here.
”Without an approved federal budget including final allocation for MSR FY24 funding levels, NASA previously directed JPL to plan for an MSR budget of $300M.
”This is consistent with the low end of congressional markups of NASA’s budget and a 63% decrease over the FY23 level.
”In response to this direction, and in an effort to protect our workforce, we implemented a hiring freeze, reduced MSR contracts, and implemented cuts to burden budgets across the Lab.
”Earlier this month, we further reduced spending by releasing some of our valued on-site contractors.
“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 signed off the letter thanking the staff for their hard work.
She said: “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.
”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.”
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