That sound you hear? It’s the United States’ leadership role in space exploration disintegrating in real time.

This week, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced it was cutting 550 jobs as part of a “restructuring” scheme. The planned cuts will impact the JPL’s technical and support teams, as well as the business side, carving a huge dent in the storied R&D center’s 5,500-head workforce.

In an announcement, JPL says the layoffs are “part of a reorganization that began in July and not related to the current government shutdown,” which has been ongoing since the beginning of October.

“This week’s action, while not easy, is essential to securing JPL’s future by creating a leaner infrastructure, focusing on our core technical capabilities, maintaining fiscal discipline, and positio

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