--- title: "Experts Find NASA Is in Major Trouble" description: "Death Becomes Her In a new report, a group of aerospace experts have declared that NASA is at a turning point — and the agency's death could be imminent. As the Washington Post notes, the new report, fittingly titled \"NASA at a Crossroads\" and published at the behest of Congress by the National Academies of Science, […]" date: "2024-09-11" modified: "2024-09-11" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/expert-report-nasa-crossroads" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "bill nelson" - "NASA" - "Spaceflight" - "the digest" --- # Experts Find NASA Is in Major Trouble ![A group of aerospace experts have declared that NASA is at a turning point — and the agency's death could be imminent.]() *\Image: Gregg Newton / AFP via Getty\* ## Death Becomes Her In a new report, a group of aerospace experts have declared that NASA is at a turning point — and the agency's death could be imminent. As the [*Washington Post* notes](), the new report, fittingly titled "[NASA at a Crossroads]()" and published at the behest of Congress by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, highlights in grim detail just how much trouble the agency is in. NASA has [for a while now]() been hemorrhaging talent as its [best engineers retire]() or [take higher-paying jobs]() in the [private sector]() amid [cut after cut]() to the [agency's funding](). Though it continues pursuing complicated and attention-grabbing missions like the launch of the [James Webb Space Telescope](), others like the [Mars Sample Return mission]() have been [delayed](), leaving openings for [rivals like China to forge ahead]() and leave the US in its space dust. Clocking in at roughly 200 pages, the report features committees comprised of dozens of experts from both public and private entities including SpaceX, the Planetary Society, and a number of universities to issue recommendations. As *WaPo* notes, the overwhelming consensus reached by these assembled luminaries is that NASA is too focused on the short term to plan strategically for the future. Norman Augustine, a former Lockheed Martin CEO who served as the report's lead author, put it another way when speaking to *WaPo*: "One tends to neglect the probably less glamorous thing that will determine the success in the future." ## Private Sector Blues To fill the gaps presented by its talent and budgetary woes, NASA has over the past decade increasingly come to rely on the private sector. Results may vary, as seen when the agency [contracted Boeing]() to fly astronauts to the International Space Station [on its Starliner launch craft]() this summer, but was forced to [tap SpaceX fly them back]() on a Crew Dragon capsule when [Starliner proved not up to snuff](). "It will have trouble hiring innovative, creative engineers," Augustin told the newspaper. "Innovative, creative engineers don’t want to have a job that consists of overseeing other people’s work." NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who is both [quite hawkish]() when it comes to the [US-Chinese space race]() and a [champion of the agency's private sector partnerships](), said in a statement provided to *WaPo* that the report "aligns with our current efforts to ensure we have the infrastructure, workforce, and technology that NASA needs for the decades ahead." Still, it seems that Nelson may be missing the forest for the trees when it comes to this scathing report — or in this case, the stars for the spaceships. **More on NASA:** [*Boeing Execs Snub NASA at News Conference After Starliner Landing*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()