NASA’s Decision to Reduce Funding for Mars Mission Could Cost Hundreds of Jobs in California

Some California lawmakers are raising concerns about a decision by NASA to reduce funding for a planned mission to return samples from Mars, suggesting such would lead to the loss of hundreds of high-paying jobs. In a letter written to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson Nov. 21, signed by four congressmembers and both senators from the Golden State—all Democrats—the lawmakers requested NASA reconsider the decision. “This short-sighted and misguided decision by NASA will cost hundreds of jobs and a decade of lost science, and it flies in the face of Congressional authority,” the letter reads. At issue are plans announced in a Nov. 8 letter sent by the space agency to Jet Propulsion Laboratory—a research and development center located in Pasadena, north of Los Angeles—to reduce funding for the Mars mission, with resources reallocated to other programs and facilities....