NASA fires chief scientist; more Trump cuts to come

From "one small step for a man", to "one step for such a small man".

Science deniers shouldn't be in control of science budgets, especially when their primary goal is to shove their heads into the sand so they can't learn anything.

Cleaning house at US Govt.= Big Job and LONG overdue, US taxpayers HAPPY about streamlining $waste, fraud and abuse in Govt. Agency Spending

DJT & DOGE will soon issue taxpayer $refund checks!

Trump has also fired 50% of the Education Department workers.

Some 1,315 employees were affected by the RIFs, leaving 2,183 employed by the department, according to senior officials at the DOE.

Given the conspiracy crackpots in the MAGA orbit, maybe this is seen as punishment for perpetuating the myth of the moon landing.

Those firings should free up enough to foot about 0.04% of Trump's taxpayer funded golf outings. Possibly more as his promo efforts for Tesla and Crypto are taking up so much of his time these days.

Science deniers want people to believe that climate change and the warming of the planet haven't been proven over the last 20 yrs. That just isn't true. Over 97% of the world's scientists agree that climate change and the warming of the planet is primarily caused by human activities.

When 97% of any group agree, who would listen to the 1.8% that disagree?

Yes, the vast majority of actively publishing climate scientists – 97 percent – agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change. Most of the leading science organizations around the world have issued public statements expressing this, including international and U.S. science academies, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and a whole host of reputable scientific bodies around the world.

Ref: https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/faq/do-scientists-agree-on-climate-change/ - before Trump has that page deleted.

The 97% number was from 2013. Even back then, it was 97% agrees. 1% didn't know and 2% disagreed.

And more ref: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/isnt-there-lot-disagreement-among-climate-scientists-about-global-warming

So, Trump is wrong on this FACT that is as close to fully agreed as anything in the world of science ever is. Only people bad at science reject it. Go back to worshiping the dog of the Sun, if you like with the flat-Earthers and watch out for sea monsters.

But who will be maintaining the alien corpse in Area 51. ?

Need more than ethanol I would assume.

One of the fundamental MAGA-truths....

"You have to keep 'em dumb...science makes them smarter - they start to question some of the more outrageous lies we tell...and may stop sending us money"...

This one's actually a bit of a puzzle.

The only logic, if we can call it that, behind Trump's thinking, is either "can I get rich from this?" or "will this benefit Russia"?

Now, if anyone's read their history books (I recommend doing so before they are banned), you will know that while the US was the first to put a man on the moon, it was the then USSR that put the first man into space.

So NASA's no threat to Russia, because Russia did it before NASA did.

And I don't see what immediate financial benefit Trump gets from gutting NASA; the worst they could do would be to continue their work on the climate and tell people that we're on a fast track to render the globe uninhabitable. And clearly nobody cares about that.

So this is a peculiar decision.

> lincolnmanToday  01:36 pm JST

One of the fundamental MAGA-truths....

"You have to keep 'em dumb...science makes them smarter - they start to question some of the more outrageous lies we tell...and may stop sending us money"...

'Give me men who are fat, contented. Sleek headed men....' - Julius Caesar

Tokyo GuyToday  01:02 pm JST

From "one small step for a man", to "one step for such a small man".

Flat Earthers of the world, unite!

> theFuToday  01:07 pm JST

Science deniers shouldn't be in control of science budgets, especially when their primary goal is to shove their heads into the sand so they can't learn anything.

Kissy kissy kissy der Fuehrer's buuuuhhhhh-uhhhhhhhhttttttttt. That's right now.

If those "chief scientists" actually cared about Science rather than DEI hiring quotas, then maybe china can hire them. Let's see how far their "science" can take them.

Americans voted in part for DJT who ran on bringing efficiency to the US Govt. via DOGE and Elon Musk.

There are no Americans that think NASA is well run, and so taxpayers want reorganization and streamlining and trust Elon Musk's DOGE to deliver a better NASA soon!

There are no Americans that think NASA is well run

Oh wait!

Yet again, I’m afraid we’ll need a number and source for this.

Spoiler alert - it won’t be forthcoming.

Don't look up!

DJT called Elon Musk a GREAT American Patriot on Tuesday at the White House multiple times. Why?

Because of the work Elon and his team are doing at DOGE to help bring transparency and accountability to the entire US Govt., including the NASA Space Agency.

DJT campaigned with Elon to restructure US Govt., go to Mars, and Americans overwhelmingly approve of Musk and DOGE's efforts to streamline US Govt. Agencies and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse, including at NASA!

American taxpayers will soon receive DOGE $refund checks due to tremendous $efficiencies they're bringing to Govt, Agencies, including NASA via their digital audits.

The US following the same dictatorship playbook as Hungary, Russia and China.

Americans voted in part for DJT who ran on bringing efficiency to the US Govt. via DOGE and Elon Musk.

Nope. Americans voted for trump because they thought he would be good for the economy. Turns out trump is very bad for the economy. I told you so.

If those "chief scientists" actually cared about Science rather than DEI hiring quotas, then maybe china can hire them. Let's see how far their "science" can take them.

The "chief scientists" role isn't really about HR or quotas.

I worked for a chief scientist at a NASA center on a specific, funded, project. For 2 yrs before I was hired to that role, there were 5 people creating proof-of concept software that could be deployed everywhere. Without the research funding from that specific office, the US military massive war preparations that mixes real and virtual military people into the same virtual combat environment wouldn't be possible. That same technology ended up in all the MMOG worldwide, including World of Warcraft and real-flight with ATF where hundreds of thousands of players are all concurrently playing. Thanks to the vision of a chief scientists. That was just 1 project. There were probably 10 others being worked at the same time. From the chief scientists who I worked for, we had 2 "Software of the Year" winners across all the software created for all of NASA. The other winner was using Expert Systems (today, it would be called "A.I.") to lead human flight controllers through vehicle mission troubleshooting procedures in a consistent, yet flexible way. At the time it was groundbreaking.

Were these teams "bloat"? No. They filled a clear needs for NASA and the wider DoD community. The other 8 projects weren't as well received, but each moved the state of the art forward. One of the other projects was virtual reality with audio, physical and stereo visual virtual creations. At the time, it was groundbreaking too, but I don't think it found a paying customer to use it for deployment anywhere. The required CPU power was massive. Gaming programmers were just starting to learn to be much more efficient in their physics engines at the time and how to optimize visual virtual worlds efficiently. Over the next 15 yrs, the CPU power to accomplish similar things because less than 10% what they used initially.

NASA needs to be funded for fundamental science, not launching rockets into orbit. That's a solved problem with plenty of commercial ways to buy a ride to whatever orbit NASA or the DoD need.

NASA should be testing different aircraft designs, different spacecraft propulsion designs (not chemical rockets) and doing pure science that gets spacecraft moving faster for longer periods, for 200+ yrs. We (rocket scientists) think we know how to go really fast using solar wind. I think calculations say we can get a craft moving at 0.2c - which is damn fast. That's 215,850,570 km/hr or 134,048,256.4 mph. Currently, the fasted man-made object is the Parker Solar Probe at 394,736 mph (635,266 km/hr) - over 330x faster than the Parker Solar Probe is moving. I think we can do much better with what we already know. Just takes some funding the prove the methodology and taking "driving the bus" funds away from NASA. Let others compete to drive the bus.

Every new Administration cleans house, only DJT doing it at scale never seen before. Why?

Three main reasons, recent SCOTUS legal precedent, DOGE digital audits led by Elon Musk capturing massive amounts of data greatly speeding up re-organization of the US Govt. and DJT's Leadership Vision.

Replacing NASA Mgmt. hardly surprising, Agency's been a failure for years with cost over-runs and lack of mission success.

American Voters approve of DOGE's Advisory Mission of capturing info in order to facilitate Mgmt. at Agencies, put in place by DJT, to pursue Agency Reorganizations.

The anti-intelligence administration strikes again. Just a few more months and they will start ordering the firing of anyone who wears glasses.

People may not like DJT or Elon Musk, but nobody seriously accuses them of lacking intelligence. How else did they become the world's richest and most powerful?

DJT and Musk want to Make NASA Great Again, as SpaceX needs a great partner to make Mars a reality!

People may not like DJT or Elon Musk, but nobody seriously accuses them of lacking intelligence. How else did they become the world's richest and most powerful?

You’re wrong. Most people think trump and elon are stupid idiot psychopaths.

Frank Sinatra "Fly Me To The Moon".

Also eliminated are the Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Branch of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Good..that's the primary target, and anyone related/hired via this office.. Next step - hire the real experts.

mrtinjpToday  02:41 pm JST

Also eliminated are the Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Branch of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Good..that's the primary target, and anyone related/hired via this office.. Next step - hire the real experts.

Exactly, as MAGA = Meritocracy NOT Bureaucracy!

NASA Missions = Dangerous & Complex = Hire the BEST!

One terribly obvious effect that the attack on science from Trump is now causing is that other countries are doing a huge effort to head hunt scientists that normally would not have had reason to leave the US. Suddenly there are a lot of offers for positions as heads of departments and laboratories that did not exist in January. It will be very interesting to see how the US slips out of the first places in the different scientific fields and which countries replace it.

Even Japan, with the famously glacial speed to adapt seem to be offering quite a lot more of positions at relatively higher levels (just not likely to be filled as the offers from other countries are usually much better)

https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekTop?ln=1

@virusrex

100%

Russia and China are actually headhunting fired government workers, particularly those from security and defense. I think a lot of unhappy fired Americans will be happy to flip off trump and elon and take these offers.

Get rid of the educated elite -- the strategy worked wonders during China's Cultural Revolution. Make them all work on farms!

Nibek32Today  03:10 pm JST

Russia and China are actually headhunting fired government workers, particularly those from security and defense. I think a lot of unhappy fired Americans will be happy to flip off trump and elon and take these offers.

And no FBI to track them down (chef's kiss).

Science deniers shouldn't be in control of science budgets

You're right, but maybe not as expected. The whole thing belongs canceled or at least minimized. We humans have nothing to do on other places that contradict our biology. We can't live in the air like birds, we are no fish that can live in water and we can't leave here and live on Moon, Mars or whatever else they have in mind. We better rethink a minute and from now on use all money, remaining resources and energy here on Earth.

People may not like DJT or Elon Musk, but nobody seriously accuses them of lacking intelligence. How else did they become the world's richest and most powerful?

Scams, ponzis, grifts and corruption.

Hope...I like the way you term Musk, "Elon "...sort of like you and he are besties eh ?

"Russia and China are actually headhunting fired government workers, particularly those from security and defense. I think a lot of unhappy fired Americans will be happy to flip off trump and elon."

That's where CIA comes in can't lose sleep over it

Typical "head in the sand" approach to climate change from Trump. If we do things to make it worse, by burying our heads in the sand and ignoring it, climate change should just go away.

We humans have nothing to do on other places that contradict our biology.

The world is actively trying to kill us continuously, your argument would necessarily mean that there is no place where our biology is not being contradicted, you are of course free to stop seeking medical attention and give up trying to survive, but understandably for everybody else there are lots of things to do living in inhospitable places.

That's where CIA comes in can't lose sleep over it

If only the person that Trump choose to lead the agency was not a yes-man deeply unprepared for the position, but since he is...

That's where CIA comes in can't lose sleep over it

If they have any employees left. Never know if Trump and Elon will make cuts to the CIA yet. Seems like no agency or organization is safe.

President Trump administration is bring about dismantling of government, not just brick by brick, total restructuring dismemberment, I suggest instituting "off-piste" non governmental "advisors".

Forced reduction on the decision making process layers to a defined minimum. a total rethink to the efficiency of government functioning.

Elon Musk role is evidence enough,

To focus on removing bureaucratic inertia.

To steer the economy to become less dependent on oversight, regulation, administration and enforcement.

In break neck spend of delivery.

That is Trump II.

Well, fasten your seat beats.

No spot landings. "tariffs" could well be a forewarning.

Sheriff Trump, and deputy JD Vance has rode into town, "Y'all".

President Trump is the most crucial cataclysm ever bestowed upon 21st century political economical diplomatic governmental thinking,

Not once, but twice.

Better wake up

Unbelievable, it lie playing a chess game with people Families and livelihood.