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NASA today announced a wave of layoffs, including its chief scientist, as part of drastic federal spending cuts demanded by Donald Trump.
The first cuts affect 23 employees at the US space agency, a NASA spokesman said, noting that more are to follow. In this first phase, NASA fired its prominent chief scientist and senior climate advisor, Catherine Calvin. The prominent researcher, who was appointed in 2022 by Joe Biden, contributed to many important UN climate reports.
Catherine Calvin and many other American scientists were prevented from attending a meeting of UN climate experts being held in China in late February.
"To optimize its workforce and by executive order, NASA is beginning a gradual process, called 'RIF,' for staff reductions," said US space agency spokeswoman Cheryl Warner.
"A small number of individuals were notified on March 10 that they were affected by this process. These employees may choose to participate in an early retirement program, if eligible, or pursue the RIF process," the agency explained.
NASA had so far avoided the drastic cuts affecting other US federal agencies thanks to the last-minute intervention of American billionaire Jared Isaacman, who was chosen by Donald Trump to become the next NASA administrator.
Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has made many announcements targeting the scientific community, major budget cuts, the firing of hundreds of federal employees responsible for climate or health, the censoring of certain topics in subsidized research, etc.
NASA plays a critical role in climate research, operating a fleet of Earth-observing satellites, conducting studies of the atmosphere and land, and providing freely accessible data to scientists and the public.
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