Roughly 4,000 NASA staff — over 20% of the company — have left prior to now six months. In unique interviews, The Planetary Society spoke with a number of scientists who’re talking out concerning the impression of the company’s mass departures. Their tales are assorted — some have been fired or retired early, and others took voluntary buyouts. However all of them paint a typical image: one among pointless waste, discarded experience, and haphazard choices. Picture credit score: NASA/The Planetary Society.
Within the face of finances threats, NIAC scientists and engineers are nonetheless trying to the long run. Every year, NASA’s Progressive Superior Ideas program (NIAC) funds visionary concepts that might form the way forward for area exploration. This week’s Planetary Radio brings you to the 2025 NIAC Symposium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, the place host Sarah Al-Ahmed introduces a number of the ideas introduced at this 12 months’s occasion.
Chief of House Coverage Casey Dreier has been nominated for a SpaceNews Icon Award. The chief of The Planetary Society’s area coverage and advocacy program has been nominated within the Particular person Achievement class, alongside Jarrett Jones (who led growth of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket) and Josef Aschbacher (head of the European House Company). The ultimate awards might be introduced in early December.
Catch Casey Dreier on the Sensible Lady Dumb Questions podcast. Casey joined host Nayeema Raza to debate area coverage, the explanations we discover, and the science that drives all of it. You will discover the present on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts.
Heading to TwitchCon in San Diego, CA? Planetary Radio host Sarah Al-Ahmed will be a part of Moohoodles for a dwell panel, NASA & The Planetary Society: House, Time, and You, on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. PT within the NomNom Theater. Collectively, they’ll discover area triumphs previous, current, and future, and the way on a regular basis individuals may also help form the following frontier. For those who’re not on the occasion, you too can watch dwell at twitch.television/nomnom.
