Thousands Fleeing NASA Amid Budget Cuts
As the Trump administration primes NASA for a 25% budget cut, thousands of employees are leaving the space agency. The latest departure is Makenzie Lystrup, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, who will leave her post on August 1.
Goddard is the largest of NASA’s 10 field centers, primarily devoted to scientific research and development of robotic space missions. It has a staff of over 8,000 civil servants and contractor employees, with a budget of around $4.7 billion last year. Lystrup oversaw these efforts since April 2023, managing the James Webb and Hubble telescopes in space, as well as assembling the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
"We’re grateful to Makenzie for her leadership at NASA Goddard for more than two years, including her work to inspire a Golden Age of explorers, scientists, and engineers," said Vanessa Wyche, NASA’s acting associate administrator. Cynthia Simmons, Goddard’s deputy director, will take over as acting chief at the space center.
Lystrup came to NASA from Ball Aerospace, now part of BAE Systems, where she managed civilian space projects for NASA and other federal agencies. She earned a doctorate in astrophysics from University College London and conducted research as a planetary astronomer before joining Ball Aerospace.
Goddard’s Departure Amid Budget Uncertainty
Lystrup’s departure comes hours after the release of an open letter to NASA’s interim administrator, signed by hundreds of current and former agency employees. The letter, titled "The Voyager Declaration," identifies what the signatories call "recent policies that have or threaten to waste public resources, compromise human safety, weaken national security, and undermine the core NASA mission."
Aerial view of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The letter reads: "Major programmatic shifts at NASA must be implemented strategically so that risks are managed carefully. Instead, the last six months have seen rapid and wasteful changes which have undermined our mission and caused catastrophic impacts on NASA’s workforce."
Budget Cuts Threaten NASA’s Mission
Goddard would suffer significant impacts from the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts. The White House’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 asks Congress for $18.8 billion to fund NASA, about 25% below this year’s budget. Funding for NASA’s science directorate would be cut from $7.3 billion to $3.9 billion, forcing the cancellation of dozens of NASA missions currently in space or undergoing development.
Appropriations committees in both houses of Congress advanced spending bills earlier this month that would restore NASA’s funding close to this year’s budget of nearly $25 billion. However, lawmakers are concerned the Trump administration might attempt to circumvent congressional budget and move forward with more lasting cuts through a process known as impoundment.
NASA Facilities Under Threat
Several NASA facilities operate under Goddard management, including Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation Facility in West Virginia, White Sands Complex in New Mexico, and the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Texas. Another NASA facility girding for cutbacks is the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a federally funded research center managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California.
JPL has been the architect of most of NASA’s robotic missions exploring the Solar System, including the Voyager probes and Mars rovers. JPL’s center director, Laurie Leshin, stepped down June 1 after ordering layoffs of over 10% of the lab’s workforce last year due to budget uncertainty over the future of NASA’s Mars Sample Return program.
Conclusion
As thousands flee NASA amid budget cuts, it remains unclear what the future holds for the agency. With Goddard losing its director and other facilities facing significant budget reductions, it is essential that lawmakers take action to restore funding for NASA and preserve its mission. The Voyager Declaration highlights the urgent need for strategic leadership at NASA and a commitment to protecting public resources and human safety.
The fate of NASA’s science missions and workforce hangs in the balance as Congress debates spending bills and the Trump administration considers budget cuts. One thing is certain: the departure of Makenzie Lystrup from Goddard is just one symptom of a larger problem affecting the entire agency.