Thomas Unise
The Trump administration has initiated plans to close over a dozen buildings and more than 100 labs at NASA’s historic Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Maryland by March, including shuttering the center’s largest library last month. This move has generated significant backlash from NASA insiders and lawmakers alike.
Key Developments in the NASA Goddard Controversy
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the agency’s oldest space center established in the late 1950s, faces major consolidation efforts that many critics describe as rushed and disorganized. The closure of NASA’s largest library at GSFC has become particularly contentious, with concerns about the potential loss of undigitized historical documents.
While NASA officials, including press secretary Bethany Stevens, maintain this is a planned “consolidation, not a closure” from a 2022 master plan, GSFC staffers have characterized the implementation as abrupt and careless. Planetary scientist David Williams expressed his distress to NPR, stating, “I feel like crying. I mean, it’s horrible.”
Budget Cuts and Administrative Approach
The facility closures appear to align with broader Trump administration budget-cutting initiatives. The proposed 2026 fiscal budget could potentially slash NASA’s science directorate budget by more than half, which critics have called an “extinction-level event.” Though Congress has rejected these proposed cuts, NASA’s budget remains under debate.
Operations research analyst Monica Gorman told NPR that the implementation has been “extraordinarily haphazard and chaotic, and really to the point of being cruel to the people who work in these buildings.” She described chaotic disruptions and lab equipment being treated carelessly during the consolidation process.
Response from NASA Leadership
Recently sworn-in NASA administrator Jared Isaacman has attempted to downplay the controversy, accusing the New York Times of sensationalizing its reporting. “At no point is NASA ‘tossing out’ important scientific or historical materials,” Isaacman tweeted on January 2, claiming that framing had led to misleading headlines.
However, spaceflight engineering expert Dennis Wingo, who has advised NASA for decades, countered this assertion, stating, “I can tell you for an absolute fact that many of the people making the determinations on what is historically valuable or not are not qualified to do so.”
Political Response
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MA) expressed concern about the administration’s approach, telling NPR: “NASA Goddard really is the crown jewel of the NASA facilities when it comes to space science. This administration is essentially doing things without letting the team at NASA Goddard know what their intentions are.”
Current Status
NASA has indicated that researchers will continue to have access to the library’s archives while agency teams conduct a 60-day review of all materials. However, the controversy highlights tensions between budget-cutting initiatives and the preservation of scientific and historical resources at one of America’s most significant space research facilities.
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