Workforce cuts are putting NASA’s plans to send astronauts to the moon and, eventually, Mars, at risk, according to a new audit from the government’s top watchdog.
NASA shed 4,000 of its permanent staff last year, an overhaul officials said is now impacting 70% of its major projects. The agency has felt the cuts throughout its headquarters and in each of its centers across the country, the Government Accountability Office found in a report released on Thursday.
The Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland was the hardest hit, shedding more than one-third of its workforce through a hiring freeze and various separation incentives, followed by the Langley Research Center in Virginia and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, operated by the California Institute of Technology, also laid off 10% of its workforce.