Director of the Goddard Space Flights Center Mackenzie Listrup will leave NASA on August 1. Her departure became the most noticeable in a series of large -scale dismissals that covered the agency against the backdrop of a planned 25 percent budget reduction under the Donald Trump administration.
According to the information posted on the official website of NASA, Listrup, who headed the largest scientific center NASA since April 2023, became the first female director in his history.
During its work, the center oversaw key scientific missions, including the James Webb telescope and satellite programs for observing the Earth.
The official reasons for her departure are not disclosed, but the resignation coincided with the publication of the open appeal of NASA Voyager Declaration, signed by more than 500 operating and former employees.
A document posted on the Standupforscience.net platform criticizes the ongoing reforms as “fast, wasteful and dangerous for the stability of the agency.”
Although the NASA statement does not mention the connection between Listrup’s resignation and protest, a coincidence in time caused a wide resonance in the scientific community.
According to the American media, NASA has already left almost 3,000 employees – both scientists and specialists of engineering and administrative profile. The mass outcome of the staff is associated with the program of voluntary dismissals and abbreviations that the agency launched on the eve of discussion of the new budget.
The project proposed by the White House involves reducing the total financing of NASA from $ 25 billion to $ 18.8 billion. The scientific units are expected to suffer especially strongly, including the Godard Center located in the suburbs of Washington.