Keith’s note: OK so I am ‘back’. Thanks for all the kind words, support etc. Let’s get down to business. The month of September is going to be the hardest yet for NASA. Multiple budget profiles will collide with one another – in an inelastic fashion. Missions will be on hold and operate in holding pattern mode. Other missions will simply die at the hands of budgeteers. And the people of NASA – regardless of where their paycheck comes from – will still be called upon to lead humanity’s exploration of space while being stressed from multiple directions. Meanwhile, the political people inside the glass doors on the 9th floor of NASA HQ simply don’t care what happens to the agency’s workforce – or keeping them informed. As if you had not already figured that out. That said, NASA is already ‘Great In Space”. No “Again” required. Despite the political rhetoric over the years, NASA has begun humanity’s expansion into interstellar space (see image). No one else has done that. And NASA’s lead will be rather hard to eclipse. Anyway – here is my top ten take on things to be aware of in September . Warning – it is not pretty – but it is also not without hope. [More below]

Keith’s note: Special thanks to some NASA JPL folks who called me on Friday – out of the blue – people I did not know – until now. While some temporary NASA HQ employees try to destroy America’s space exploration leadership by decimating the agency’s workforce, the people who actually do the exploring will remain undeterred and undaunted. #DareMightyThings

Keith’s note: the following was posted on 28 August at the GESTA IFPTE LOCAL 29 blog: GESTA recently received notification of Agency Management’s intent to modify NASA’s policies and procedures governing Reductions in Force (RIFs), or layoffs in the Federal Government, with its release of a revised RIF NASA Interim Directive (NID). To be clear, this is not yet notification that a RIF is underway. [More below].

Keith’s note: Oh yes, In addition to erasing NASA’s Union rights, this Executive Order says that NASA is “hereby determined to have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work. It is also hereby determined that Chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code, cannot be applied to these agencies and agency subdivisions in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.” No mention of that science and exploration stuff.

Keith’s note: The White House has issued an Executive Order that strips the ability of NASA employees (and employees at other agencies) to organize unions.

• FYI Chapter 71 of Title 5 of the United States Code is known as the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Act. It establishes the rights and obligations for labor organizations and employees in the federal government, covering areas such as employee rights to organize, the duty to bargain in good faith, and procedures for addressing unfair labor practices and grievances.
• According to this new executive order: “Section 1. Determinations. The agencies and agency subdivisions set forth in section 2 of this order are hereby determined to have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work. It is also hereby determined that Chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code, cannot be applied to these agencies and agency subdivisions in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations. …. 1-420. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration.”

Keith’s note: A reader started to give crap on LinkedIn on Wednesday about an image of his that had gone viral – and that I reposted before I knew the source. When I offered to credit him with is name it went sideways. So I retagged the photo with a generic tag to protect him. I did not identify him since I don’t do that. But then he started to stalk me on another social media platform and, given his employment as a law enforcement employee at NASA with a profile pic in full camo gear, well, a line had been crossed. Messages to NASA PAO have since gone unanswered – so there you go. Original posts below.

Keith’s note: the occupant’s last whiteboard message is a common sight across NASA. A wealth of expertise and dedication is being mindlessly forced out, undermining NASA’s leadership in space exploration. Ad Astra Per Aspera y’all. Larger image below.

Keith’s note: WARN notices were sent to some Human Space Flight Technical Integration Contract (HSFTIC) employees. Integrated Mission Operations Contract (IMOC) folks received generic 60 day WARN notices last week and there will be individual layoff notices sent out at the beginning of September to the specific folks who are being laid off. This is all being done according to the President’s Budget Request (PBR) for FY 2026 – even though NASA says that they are going to follow direction from Congress. This all comes to a head in September when Congressional budget stances, the PBR, threats of rescissions, and all of the other political nonsense that infects Washington, collides in advance of the end of FY 2025 on 30 September.

Keith’s note: This is the internal RIF planning chart circulating within NASA the Human Health and Performance Contract community. It specifically relates to contractor employees – but it mirrors plans being developed in other parts of the agency. Note that this is being explicitly done via “NASA Directive: Offices, Programs, and Projects to align with the FY26 Presidential Budget Request of $18.8B” – and not due to any budget agreed to by Congress. Of course, NASA Headquarters would rather that you not see this just yet – and spoil the post-Labor Day surprise. Text below.

Keith’s note: First of all: Karen Feldstein: thank you for the decades service you provided NASA and your support not only of NASA but of space exploration by/for everyone – everywhere. According to NASA: Today, Karen Feldstein, associate administrator for international and interagency relations, announced she is leaving the agency after more than 30 years of distinguished public service. She leaves behind a legacy of strong American leadership in the global space community.

Keith’s Update: I will been CNN at 6:37 pm EDT to talk about Jim Lovell. Keith’s note: I met Jim Lovell a bunch of times. He was such a nice guy. One time we were both on MSNBC and the moderator asked us about the whole ‘spending money in space – problems on Earth’ thing. I said “Hey Jim – did you ever see a 7-11 or a gas station up there in space – somewhere where you could actually spend money in space“? He laughed and said “No Keith I can’t say that I did.” I replied “Yea that’s because all that money is spent here on Earth” He replied something akin to “exactly”. That is my Jim Lovell Story. This statement has been issued by NASA: “NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades. Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned an enormous amount. We mourn his passing even as we celebrate his achievements.” Ad Astra Jim.

Keith’s note: Multiple sources have mentioned ongoing discussion at NASA HQ, NASA Goddard, and NASA Wallops that consider the option of moving toward a Government-Owned, Contractor-Operated (GOCO) model for the future of Wallops.

Keith’s update: This morning AFGE members at Wallops got the same notification that GESTA received regarding GSFC/WFF facilities.  Keith’s note: There is already a plan to more or less abandon half of Goddard’s buildings. Proposals are due by 1 September on the plan to shut down (maybe commercialize) all of the GSFC buildings West of Goddard Road – which includes Bldg 1 (where the cafeteria/exchange is).  Now NASA is closing the place where people eat lunch and putting a halt to the public’s ability to visit GSFC and WFF. This is really starting to get petty, Sean. People are already demoralized. The following NASA Goddard/Wallops message was re-forwarded tonight by GESTA: “Colleagues, GESTA has just received the following notification from management. We believe all GESTA members, and in fact all Goddard employees, union or not, should be aware of this immediately. Original notice from GSFC management is as follows: This is formal notice regarding several upcoming facility closures at Goddard and Wallops effective October 1, 2025. Management has assessed these closures and is providing this notice to support timely and transparent communication. GESTA wants to ensure you are informed of happenings around Center so that you can help assess the impacts of such closure implementations as soon as possible.”:

• Cafeteria (GB/WFF)
• Vending Services (GB)
• Motor Pool Services (GB/WFF)
• Recreation Center (GB)
• Rocket Club (WFF)
• Visitor Center (GB/WFF)
• Dormitory Facilities Bldg F-4

Keith’s note: I don’t want to freak people out, but there is a question that has been troubling me. A lot of media focus has been on departing NASA civil servants (which sucks) but there may be massive contractor employee layoffs as well (which equally sucks). If things stay on the path that they seem to be on something needs to break soon.

• NASA is acting as if the President’s Budget Recommendation (PBR) for FY 2026 is formal direction with regard to missions, contractor personnel issues. Congress has not finalized a FY 2026 budget yet. But the White House and NASA seemingly do not care. Congress has already complained about this.
• The WARN Act (29 USC Ch. 23 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) requires employers to provide 60 days advance written notice of mass layoffs. FY 2025 ends on 30 September and FY 2026 Begins on 1 October. So if these PBR directives are going to be implemented legally, would not WARN notices start to be sent out to employees on 1 August i.e. Friday?
• Let me know if you see or hear anything. Hang in there.
• UPDATE: I have learned that NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility contractors (Peraton) have received WARN letters. 
• UDPATE: Significant contractor cuts (15-20% overall, some groups being eliminated) coming at the NASA Shared Services Center/ WARN letters are going out.
• UPDATE: NASA Goddard WARN notices are arriving with contractor employees – now: “We anticipate that the separations will become effective on October 1, 2025 (or within 14 days thereafter) and are expected to be permanent. This notice is being provided to you following the WARN Act, 29 U.S.C. 2101-2109, as implemented by federal regulations at 20 C.F.R. Part 639. The information set out below is based on the best information currently available to the Company, but may change due to subsequent events.” “This notice, is to inform you that you may be laid off due to these reductions. Based on current information, the Company believes that all job titles and positions at the employment site listed above may be impacted”

Keith’s note: This memo was just sent out to NASA SMD employees (and others). It opens with “To ensure the continued safety of our workforce and compliance with security measures, the NASA Headquarters Protective Services Office will be reinstating random searches and inspections of individuals, belongings, and vehicles…” A day or so after NASA scared 4,000+ civil servants out of their jobs (and the contractor count is still TBD), the 9th floor sends out scary memos like this to their workforce. Brian Hughes et al simply do not know how to read the room. When the White House gets around to asking NASA to do something spectacular it will become obvious that they pushed NASA to throw away far too much human expertise. And NASA management now makes a point of needlessly freaking out those who remain. You have minimal resources left Brian, Darren, Sean et al. Treat them as the valuable individuals that they are – not sheep for you to scare whenever you get a memo from the White House . (Full memo below).

Keith’s note: Kevin Coggins (LinkedIn), the current AA for NASA SCaN, who was trying to be noticed as a possible administrator nominee, is supposedly going to be the next Associate Administrator of NASA. Vanessa Wyche is the Acting Associate Administrator so I guess she goes back to JSC where Stephen Koerner is Acting Director. With Coggins moving up that means he’ll be with other Florida natives – de facto NASA head (Chief of staff) Brian Hughes and White House Liaison Darren Bossie (who goes by his rapper name “Darren B.” on LinkedIn) inside the glass doors on the 9th floor. Meanwhile there’s no movement toward getting a real leader in place to head NASA.

Keith’s note: Joe Rothenberg, former NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight and former Director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, had this to say last night on LinkedIn: “What is happening at NASA has long term and potentially unrecoverable consequences to U.S. scientific and technology leadership in not only space but in technology that impacts our quality of life on Earth. Clearly the actions of the current Administration and NASA leadership have mortgaged America’s space and scientific research capabilities, well beyond the point of being able to be recovered by any potential restoration of funding by Congress. The nation’s space program in its early days inspired career pursuits in science and engineering, resulting in not only America’s leadership in space, but in developing technology that has significantly improved medical, communications, and numerous quality of life applications. America now faces the strong possibility of the reverse happening, the indiscriminate cuts in our nation’s scientific research program budgets, and government and civilian workforce, will discourage the next generation from pursuing careers in engineering and sciences. The implications of which are not only loss of leadership in these areas, but also a signicant weakening of our economic and military leadership and a continued downward position of the U.S. on the world stage.”

Keith’s note: To those in and around NASA who like to minimize layoffs at NASA and its contractor workforce: I did not come out of retirement to help my extended NASA family just to listen to you rationalize this massive hit on NASA as a “routine” or “voluntary” exercise. I especially don’t like hearing people on the 9th floor of NASA HQ – both long-time NASA employees and recent political appointees – who have been pushing managers to push their people out the door. NASA will rebound one way or another – not because of you – but in spite of you.

Keith’s note: this was just issued by NASA HQ: “NASA’s Deferred Resignation Program, Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, and Voluntary Separation Incentive Program are closing at 11:59 p.m. EDT Friday. Safety remains a top priority for our agency as we balance the need to become a more streamlined and more efficient organization and work to ensure we remain fully capable of pursuing a Golden Era of exploration and innovation, including to the Moon and Mars. Numbers are as follows:

• Deferred Resignation Program #1: about 4.8% of the workforce (about 870 individuals)
• Deferred Resignation Program #2 (including VERA and VSIP, in addition to DRP): about 16.4% of the workforce, approximately 3,000 employees
• NASA’s expected remaining civil servant workforce following both DRP programs, as well as normal attrition (about 500) over the same time period: about 14,000
• As more official information becomes available, we anticipate answering more of your questions.