JPL’s Human Cost
Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, long a symbol of humanity’s reach beyond Earth, enters contraction as 550 positions are cut in a sweeping realignment. The losses strike at the heart of Caltech’s partnership with NASA, shrinking internships and thinning mentorship. Programs that fed undergraduates into mission teams now face fewer placements, and graduate work risks slipping as key staff depart. Administrators describe stabilization, yet many inside the community register disillusionment as a laboratory built for discovery wrestles with the gravity of austerity.
NASA/JPL-Caltech, Mars 2020 Rover – First Test Drive, 2019. Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech. Public domain.