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President Donald Trump provided an update on the stranded NASA astronauts set to make their way back to Earth in a social media post on Monday. In a Truth Social post, Trump said that he recently conferred with Janet Petro, the acting administrator of NASA, who is coordinating the return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. "She is coordinating our Team of highly respected Scientists, Space Engineers, and various other ‘geniuses,’ who has agreed to let our Astronauts come home long prior to the two week period originally approved by NASA," Trump wrote. "Janet was great. She said,...

NASA has begun implementing its reduction in force (RIF) approach, closing three offices and laying off staff in compliance with executive orders by the new administration that target the federal workforce. NASA announced on Monday that it will be closing the Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy; the Office of the Chief Scientist; and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Branch of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Twenty-three employees will be affected by the cuts, according to SpacePolicyOnline.com. The recent workforce cuts are in response to an executive order to end “radical and wasteful government DEI programs...

Bill Nelson has stepped down as NASA administrator, ending a half-century of public service. Nelson and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy left the agency on Monday (Jan. 20), the day that Donald Trump began his second term as president. Trump has appointed Janet Petro, who most recently served as director of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, as NASA's interim chief. "As I leave public office today after 53 years, thank you for the great privilege of a lifetime of serving the people of our country. I am humbled and grateful," Nelson said in a Monday X post.