Then a Wednesday morning, the U.S. government abruptly closing its doors. This decision ultimately led to the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including hundreds of NASA employees. NASA has directed workers on the Artemis missions to not report to work. This spans everyone from astronauts working with SpaceX and Blue Origin contractors. The agency will continue its efforts to support the Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the Moon’s south polar region.
Steve Shinn, NASA’s acting finance chief, sketched out his plan in a memo. He explained that approximately 3,000 personnel will have to work in person full- or part-time through the shutdown. The agency has estimated that as many as 15,000 employees will be subject to furlough. This decision comes on the heels of a major lapse in federal government funding.
NASA’s Artemis mission is an ambitious agenda. It intends to send astronauts to the Moon and establish a path for future crewed missions to Mars. NASA’s official communications emphasize their missions of leading scientific discovery and fostering economic opportunities. Perhaps more importantly, they’re laying the groundwork for future, deeper space exploration.
SpaceX’s Starship has had a turbulent month of test flights, with five full failures or explosions and one partial failure. There were also four successful launches. Despite these disappointing results, the program remains central to NASA’s plans. Under the leadership of Elon Musk, SpaceX is still doing the same thing, pushing as hard as they can in the space race. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at the launch viewing of Starship’s sixth test flight on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. On the second day of the event, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump acknowledged him with the tweet below.
Cheryl Warner, NASA’s news chief, is now on furlough. In her out of office she sent an automated reply stating “I am not in a position to respond to your email today. More details of the damage The shutdown is primarily hurting agency operations. It can make it impossible for critical staff members to do their jobs—or even speak to one another.
The continued government shutdown has forced the cessation of many essential programs and services in all departments. Though there is some wavering at the top, NASA’s longterm commitment to the Artemis missions has not changed. Secretary Buttigieg and the agency’s management have repeatedly signaled their intention to maintain that unforgiving spotlight. They are nonetheless committed to keeping critical projects and missions on track.