NASA engineers say rushed lab relocations at Goddard damaged equipment, delayed missions, and risked national security
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched from Kennedy Space Center in late August after engineers at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, were repeatedly relocated out of their labs over the previous ten months. NASA's management said the moves, which affected more than 80 facilities, were aimed at reducing costs and eliminating "waste and redundancies." The NASA Office of Inspector General issued a report in June stating the relocations had not hurt ongoing projects and would "not impact NASA's anticipated missions."
Engineers and scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center told NPR that a series of forced lab relocations, which began in November 2025 and continued as recently as a month before the Roman telescope's launch, resulted in the loss of specialized equipment, workspaces, and personnel critical to ongoing and future missions. Seven current and former Goddard employees spoke with NPR on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation.
Among the specific impacts described: propulsion engineers working on Roman had to run fuel tests using less sensitive equipment after more precise tools were lost in a move; a radio communications lab lost nearly all its gear, including a one-of-a-kind $6 million antenna chamber, when staff were moved out during a government shutdown while they were at home. Engineers said they were actively prevented from retrieving their equipment. A satellite called GRITSS, launched in July to help track changes to Earth's water levels, was sent into orbit before engineers could verify its radio communications capability. "We are half-blind in terms of trying to troubleshoot it," one scientist told NPR.
NASA's disposal of Goddard equipment drew additional scrutiny. NPR found that more than 300 items from Goddard were listed on the U.S. General Services Administration auction site over the past six months. NASA's original cost for those items — which included specialized lab gear and telescope components — was approximately $5.4 million. One item, an aspheric test blank originally purchased for more than $250,000, received a final bid of $300. About a third of the auctioned items were classified as restricted due to their relevance to missile technology, national security, anti-terrorism, or regional stability. NASA did not respond to NPR's questions about whether it knew the items were restricted when they were listed. A GSA representative said all bidders signed statements certifying they were eligible to purchase the items.