{"id":125402,"date":"2024-11-13T15:50:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T08:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=125402"},"modified":"2024-11-13T15:50:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T08:50:47","slug":"new-layoffs-to-hit-jpl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=125402","title":{"rendered":"New layoffs to hit JPL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is preparing to lay off hundreds of employees this week, director <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/science\/story\/2022-01-28\/laurie-leshin-first-female-director-of-nasa-jpl\"><u>Laurie Leshin<\/u><\/a> said in a <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/jpl-workforce-update_-\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>memo to staff<\/u><\/a> sent Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>The La Ca\u00f1ada Flintridge research institution will let go of approximately 325 employees across the organization on Wednesday, or roughly 5% of its total staff, the memo stated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith lower budgets and based on the forecasted work ahead, we had to tighten our belts across the board,\u201d Leshin wrote. \u201cThis is a message I had hoped not to have to write.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is the third round of layoffs at JPL this year, a reduction spurred primarily by major budgetary cuts to the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/msr\/#Overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Mars Sample Return<\/u><\/a> mission, which is managed by JPL.<\/p>\n<p>NASA directed $310 million this year to the effort to bring Mars rocks back to Earth, a steep drop from the $822.3 million it spent on the program the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>In January, 100 on-site contractors at JPL were let go after NASA instructed the lab <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/science\/story\/2024-01-07\/questions-about-nasas-mars-sample-return-mission-put-jpl-jobs-in-jeopardy\"><u>to reduce spending<\/u><\/a> in anticipation of a much tighter budget. In February, the lab <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/science\/story\/2024-02-06\/budget-cuts-to-mars-sample-return-mission-prompt-hundreds-of-layoffs-at-jpl\"><u>laid off 530 employees<\/u><\/a> \u2014 approximately 8% of its workforce \u2014 and another 40 contractors.<\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s staff reduction will bring JPL\u2019s total workforce to about 5,500 employees, a number that managers expect will remain stable \u201cfor the foreseeable future,\u201d Leshin told staff.<\/p>\n<p>The reduction had been in the works prior to the U.S. presidential election, she wrote, and \u201cwould be happening regardless of the recent election outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The memo instructed staff to work from home on Wednesday. Employees will be notified of their job status by email.<\/p>\n<p>Last year was a crisis point for Mars Sample Return, whose goal is to fetch rocks from the Red Planet\u2019s <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/science\/sciencenow\/la-sci-sn-nasa-mars-rover-jezero-crater-20181119-story.html\"><u>Jezero crater<\/u><\/a> and bring them back to Earth for study.<\/p>\n<p>In July 2023, the U.S. Senate presented NASA with an ultimatum <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/the-senate-threatens-to-cancel-mars-sample-return\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>in its proposed budget<\/u><\/a>: Either present a plan for completing the mission within the $5.3 billion budgeted, or risk cancellation. <\/p>\n<p>A sobering <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/msr-irb-report-final-copy-v3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>independent review<\/u><\/a> two months later determined there was \u201cnear zero probability\u201d of Mars Sample Return making its proposed 2028 launch date, and \u201cno credible\u201d way to fulfill the mission within its current budget. As designed, the review board found, the mission would probably cost up to $11 billion and not return samples to Earth until at least 2040.<\/p>\n<p>In response, NASA put out a request for alternative proposals to all of its centers and the private sector, essentially putting JPL in a position of having to compete for its own project.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.padilla.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mars-Sample-Return-Final-Letter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>lobbied<\/u><\/a> to preserve JPL\u2019s funding, citing the need to protect jobs and keep the U.S. space program competitive. China has announced a sample return mission of its own to launch in 2028 or 2030.<\/p>\n<p>But funding across NASA, adjusted for inflation, has plummeted from its Apollo-era high and remained<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-policy\/nasa-budget\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u> essentially flat<\/u><\/a> for decades.<\/p>\n<p>NASA\u2019s budget for years has hovered around 0.1% of total U.S. gross domestic product \u2014 less than one-eighth of its allowance during the mid-1960s.<\/p>\n<p>The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine said earlier this year that the agency is suffering under <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/science\/story\/2024-09-12\/report-warns-of-dire-times-ahead-for-nasa\"><u>budgets that fall far short<\/u><\/a> of what\u2019s needed to support its ambitions.<\/p>\n<p>In a September <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/nap.nationalacademies.org\/catalog\/27519\/nasa-at-a-crossroads-maintaining-workforce-infrastructure-and-technology-preeminence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>report<\/u><\/a> commissioned by Congress, experts from the National Academies identified a number of the agency\u2019s technological resources in decline from a lack of funds, including the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/somd\/space-communications-navigation-program\/what-is-the-deep-space-network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Deep Space Network<\/u><\/a> \u2014 an international collection of giant radio antennas overseen by JPL.<\/p>\n<p>Either the U.S. must increase funding for NASA, or the agency must cut some missions, the authors concluded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor NASA, this is not a time for business as usual,\u201d lead author Norman Augustine, a former executive at Lockheed Martin, said in September. \u201cThe concerns it faces are ones that have built up over decades.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/science\/story\/2024-11-12\/jpl-to-lay-off-roughly-5-of-its-workforce\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is preparing to lay off hundreds of employees this week, director Laurie Leshin said in a memo to staff sent Tuesday afternoon. The La Ca\u00f1ada Flintridge &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=125402\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8628],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125402\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}