Ugh. Less money for important things, more money for war!

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Budgetary issues have forced the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA’s chief center for robotic planetary exploration, to reduce its workforce by about 8%.

The center leads many of NASA’s big-ticket science projects, such as the Curiosity and Perseverance rover missions on Mars.

JPL is a driving force behind this ambitious Mars sample return (MSR) campaign, which aims to ratchet the search for Red Planet life up to new and exciting levels.

For example, the Senate allocated just $300 million for MSR in its fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill — a 63% decrease from the funding granted in 2023, as JPL Director Laurie Leshin noted in a letter to employees that the lab released with today’s layoff announcement.

Congress has not yet come together to pass a final appropriations bill for fiscal year 2024 — the House and Senate are still negotiating — but NASA instructed JPL to plan for a $300 million MSR budget, Leshin said.

“Even in the wake of current challenges, JPL will continue to help drive key upcoming NASA missions as we explore the cosmos with Europa Clipper, study our changing climate with the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), and defend the planet with the Near-Earth Object Surveyor space telescope (NEO Surveyor).”

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