A small group of employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has submitted a formal letter of dissent against Trump administration policies to interim Administrator Sean Duffy.
The letter says all of those signing are current or former employees who are unhappy about "harmful cuts proposed by this administration, as they are not in the best interest of NASA."
The letter claims the Trump administration has put a focus on "political momentum over human safety," and invokes the space shuttle Columbia disaster to add emphasis to their claim that Trump's policies "waste public resources, compromise human safety, weaken national security, and undermine the core NASA mission."
The letter points to current staffing issues and employee departures as a critical factor behind the communication.
"Thousands of NASA civil servant employees have already been terminated, resigned or retired early, taking with them highly specialized, irreplaceable knowledge crucial to carrying out NASA's mission," the letter said.
The total number of people signing the letter, including those who would not reveal their identity, amounts to about 1.5% of NASA's 18,000 workforce.
Stand Up For Science posted the letter on behalf of the NASA employees, as it has done with similar letters of dissent from people in other federal agencies and departments, all aimed at the policies of the Trump administration.
The website indicated it is working against "unprecedented government censorship of scientific work," along with "targeted attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility."
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