What's inside the story of NASA's brain drain, with 4,000 employees leaving in just six months?
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In the United States, under President Donald Trump, who took office in January 2025, significant cuts to funding for scientific research and policy changes have continued, leading to the departure of approximately 4,000 employees, or more than 20% of the total staff, at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in just six months. The Planetary Society, a non-profit space organization in the United States, has published interviews with four former NASA scientists, asking them about what was happening at NASA and what impact it will have.
4,000 gone: Inside NASA's brain drain | The Planetary Society
https://www.planetary.org/articles/4000-gone-inside-nasas-brain-drain
Ronald Gamble (Founder and Director of the Cosmic Pathfinders Program for students)
Gamble is a theoretical astrophysicist specializing in black holes and the founder and director of the Cosmic Pathfinders Program, which aims to train the next generation of scientists. Technically, Gamble is affiliated with the University of Maryland, College Park, and his relationship with NASA is a 'co-investigator,' but all of his research is funded by NASA.
However, on June 27, 2025, Gamble received notice that his funding would be terminated on October 1. The termination date was later extended to December 31, but in any case, if his funding was terminated, he would have no choice but to resign from NASA. Regarding the termination of his funding from NASA, Gamble commented, 'I was shocked. This was my dream job. What do I do next?'
When asked, 'What do you think the impact of these departures is having on NASA?' Gamble replied, 'It's devastating. It's like a stage 5 hurricane.' NASA wasn't just a research lab; it was a community of scientists, so sometimes a quick note, a hallway conversation, or a calculation written on the back of a napkin could lead to an important theory. However, if many researchers leave NASA, this unexpected collaboration will be lost.
Gamble said he was quite confused by the various decisions made by the US government, saying, 'Every day I hear news that makes absolutely no sense. Why are they doing this?' He also expressed concern that some young people who would have otherwise aspired to be astronomers will instead pursue other paths, such as machine learning or the financial industry.
David Draper (former Deputy Chief Scientist)
Draper is a 26-year veteran of NASA, and as Deputy Chief Scientist, he provided fair evaluations to senior leaders and cooperated in interdepartmental cooperation. Sensing the worsening situation after President Trump took office, Draper submitted his resignation as early as January 28. On March 10, just weeks before his retirement, the entire Office of Chief Scientist, to which Draper belonged, was abolished. However, unlike his colleagues, he was allowed to resign voluntarily.
Draper was surprised at how quickly NASA changed, and pointed out that the departure of the next generation of leaders was a major blow. 'The young people who stayed at NASA didn't have the experience. They needed people to take them to the next level. NASA's fundamental identity was stripped away, and its secret sauce was lost,' he said.
Draper also believes this series of events will have a devastating impact on the United States, because NASA is one of the world's greatest brands and embodies the democratic values, freedoms, and rights that America stands for. 'Frankly, it's hard not to feel anything but despair about what's happening to NASA,' Draper said.
Draper said he won't just wait for NASA to collapse. 'I won't give up. I'm going to do everything I can to bring NASA back from the brink. We, the people, have to take action and lead this country in the right direction,' he said.
◆Daniel Shimkus (former OSIRIS-REx science team member)
Shimkus, a scientist who worked at
When asked, 'Do you think you would have lost your funding if you had stayed at NASA?' Shimkus replied, 'If I hadn't had the option to go to Canada, I would have been very anxious about the uncertain situation and worried about not having funding for the next few months. I feel like we would all be living in a state of uncertainty, wondering, 'Will I have a job next year? Or even worse, what will happen at the end of 2025?''
Originally, NASA was a very supportive and welcoming environment, but the change in administration meant that certain things were forbidden and people were no longer able to work freely. Shimkus is convinced that his decision to leave NASA was the right one, and he still hears from former colleagues every week about them quitting.
'A lot of the leading scientists, researchers and management-level people are leaving,' Shimkus said. 'All the expertise is leaving. Young researchers are feeling stuck and at a loss.'
◆Michael Garcia (former Hubble Space Telescope project scientist)
Garcia served as a de facto secondment to NASA from the Smithsonian Institution for 13 years, having served as project scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope and then as head of the Astrophysics Pioneers program, which focused on low-cost, high-impact missions. He ultimately left the agency due to a 'lack of personnel to process the paperwork necessary to continue employment.'
When asked, 'Did anything surprise you about your retirement?', Garcia said that the US government's budget request was particularly surprising. Garcia said that the extreme budget request signaled that the US government had no intention of ever launching a space telescope again, would shut down 95% of its orbiting space telescopes, and would completely withdraw from the space telescope program.
Garcia said morale at NASA is incredibly low, the lowest it's been in his 13 years there. He also said the more experienced and experienced astronomers are leaving the agency. He advised early-career astronomers to 'keep your options open, or move to Canada, France, or the UK. For now, it seems like the U.S. is moving away from this business.'
by Chad Davis
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