The Trump administration issued an executive order late last month, quietly declaring that NASA will operate as a national intelligence and security agency going forward.

The order stipulates that the agency will now "have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work."

It's a major departure for the agency, which has historically focused on space exploration, as well as space and Earth sciences over its 67-year lifespan.

"No mention of that science and exploration stuff," NASA Watch founder Keith Cowing, a former scientist at the agency who now closely follows its internal and external politics, wrote in a blog post.

There are signs that Trump's intentions behind the order were at least partially related to labor concerns, rather tha

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