NASA's Chief Scientist is Departing
NASA Chief Scientist Abdalati Returning to University of Colorado
“Gale Allen, associate chief scientist for Life and Microgravity Sciences, will serve as acting NASA chief scientist until a successor is named. Allen joined the Office of the Chief Scientist in 2011 from the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) at Headquarters, where she was director of Strategic Integration and Management. Before joining ESMD, Allen was deputy for Bioastronautics in the Office of Biological and Physical Research.”
Whether for mundane or more substantial reasons, I’m always curious to know why someone leaves an organization, whether it’s Waleed Abdalati, Laurie Leshin, Bobby Braun, Mark Uhran or the several dozen other departures from NASA in recent years. Not the public facade fabricated reasons, but the real reasons.
I am familiar with the “real reasons” behind 3 of the departures you mention – they are totally normal, non-controversial reasons that are totally devoid of anything suspicious.