JPL's rough ride with layoffs

The lab has lost a fourth of its workers. Can it reclaim its high place in space sector?

- BY NOAH HAGGERTY AND CORINNE PURTILL

JET Propulsion Laboratory in La Ca ñada Flintridge is funded mainly by NASA.

(MARIO TAMA Getty Images)

Designing the system that would bring a slice of Mars back to Earth at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory — the Southern California lab that pioneered American rocketry and the scientific exploration of our solar system — was her dream job.

As she worked toward degrees in mechanical engineering, she watched JPL launches and became enamored with the photos the lab took on Mars. She attended a JPL open house, which she said felt like “Disneyland.” She applied to work at JPL more than 60 times. When she finally got the job working on the Mars Sample Return Mission, she hoped to spend the rest of her career there.

But on Tuesday, she was one of the 550 employees the lab laid off — representing more than 10% of the workforce.

It was the fourth round of layoffs in two years at the lab, which has struggled since Congress pulled funding for its flagship Mars Sample Return mission because of a ballooning budget and timeline.

Morale has tanked amid reports of management problems. Staffers say they're following budget discussions in the national news while hearing little from the lab's leaders.

"There's been this creeping dread in anticipation," said the mechanical engineer, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share her views candidly. “The boot was once again raised to stomp onus, but we didn’t know when it was going to drop.”

As a result, an institution with an illustrious record of solving the hardest problems in space now faces a daunting task here on Earth: reclaiming its place at the vanguard of exploration and innovation.