efaardvark

That's one depressing read.  My view from across the Pond is that the current US administration is determined to cut everything except tariffs.

Will these budget cut-backs affect you and are you at risk of losing your job?  I really hope not.

@Animedragon tbh I don’t know if or how this will affect me and my group.  In previous rounds of layoffs we already got rid of two people that I worked with directly and several more that I know by name but didn’t work with on a daily basis.

What I’m doing is integration, testing, and deployment of the data processing systems in support of the DSN (Deep Space Network).  We’re also on call 24/7 as sort of front-line tech support for real-time operations.  The group has plenty of work… even more on a per-person basis now that we’ve already cut staff in previous rounds of layoffs.  (Pic is of our typical daily tracking schedule.  We’re always tracking about a dozen spacecraft at a time, all the time.)  Not sure if we could keep up with the work if we lose any more people, but If they’re cutting the planetary science budget by that much then it will probably means significantly fewer spacecraft/missions to handle.  Maybe that’s their plan?

Management here doesn’t seem to have any details on how this will affect us.  At least if they do then they’re not sharing it yet.  But I don’t see how anybody’s job here is safe if this Whitehouse budget request gets through Congress.