TWiS 185: Gutting Goddard - Dismantling a NASA Center

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Nov 7, 2025

Josh Dinner, an investigative reporter at Space.com, dives into the turmoil at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, highlighting alarming budget cuts and staff furloughs. He reveals the deteriorating state of crucial climate science programs and the accusations against NASA's leadership for illegal preemptive measures. The discussion touches on implications for missions like Hubble and the loss of institutional knowledge. Dinner emphasizes the importance of public advocacy and the potential ramifications of congressional budget decisions on NASA's future.

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INSIGHT

Goddard Targeted By Preemptive Cuts

Goddard Space Flight Center faces rapid, administration-driven cuts tied to a focus on climate science reduction.
Josh Dinner reports leadership is enacting budget changes before Congress approves appropriations, risking core science capabilities.

INSIGHT

Goddard Is Central To Climate Data

Goddard houses critical climate-data infrastructure and researchers who often must avoid saying "climate" at work.
The center curates world temperature and ocean records, so cuts risk degrading foundational climate science.

INSIGHT

20-Year Plan Was Rapidly Accelerated

Goddard accelerated a 20-year campus consolidation to complete half the campus by March 2026.
Employees say 13 buildings face closure, causing rapid emptying and disruption during the shutdown.

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As you may or may not know, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is in the administration's crosshairs. With cuts to their budget and staffing beginning under Elon Musk's DOGE, it has taken a different form with the government shutdown. Employees furloughed or retired from critical programs, laboratories shuttered, and entire facilities gutted--all without the approval of Congress. By the time the shutdown is over, NASA's primary research center--and the one most responsible for what many are now calling "the C-word," climate science--will be a shell of its former self. Josh Dinner, who recently completed a months-long investigative report, joins us. Also: Jared Isaacman is back in the running as NASA chief, the 25th anniversary of the ISS, and China now working with the US on orbital dangers.

Headlines:

Trump Renominates Jared Isaacman as NASA Chief, Sparking Political Drama
25 Years of Continuous Astronaut Presence on the International Space Station
China Initiates Rare Satellite Collision Avoidance With NASA
Apollo-Era Radio Telescope That Spied on Soviet Satellites Up for Sale
Mars ESCAPADE Missions Twin Probes Prepare for Launch on New Glenn Rocket

Main Topic: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Crisis

Goddard Hit by Accelerated Building Closures and Funding Cuts
NASA Employees and Lawmakers Accuse Agency Leadership of Breaking the Law
Climate Science and Political Motives at the Core of Goddard's Struggles
Union Power Stripped After NASA's Reclassification as National Security Agency
High-Profile Missions Like Hubble, the Nancy Roman Space Telescope, and LISA Facing Uncertainty
Loss of Talent and Institutional Knowledge Threatens Future Space Projects
Congress and the Public Urged to Support, But Outlook Remains Grim
Could New Leadership Reverse the Changes Brought to Goddard, or Reinforce Goddard's Decline?

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Josh Dinner

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