NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland, is under attack. Long regarded as the heart of NASA’s science mission, Goddard is being quietly gutted during the government shutdown, even though Congress has not approved the devastating cuts proposed in the President’s 2026 budget request.

Goddard’s labs are being closed, science missions are being canceled, and scientists are being pushed out. Nearly half of the campus is now marked for abandonment. Internal emails obtained by reporters show NASA leadership telling employees to prepare for mission terminations and workforce reductions based on a budget that has not been passed into law.

This is not just bad management. It may be illegal.

A Senate report calls it an “unconstitutional plot” to gut the agency by preemptively enforcing budget cuts that Congress has not approved. NASA employees, contractors, and union leaders have spoken out about suppressed dissent, unsafe conditions, and a crumbling safety culture. More than 4,000 NASA employees have left in just the past few months.

These changes threaten decades of progress and billions in taxpayer investment. They also undermine America’s leadership in Earth and space science at a time when climate data, planetary research, and satellite missions are more critical than ever.

We are calling on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to:

• Reclaim the power of the purse
• Block the closure of any NASA facilities not approved through law
• Restore funding to canceled or suspended science missions
• Protect the agency’s scientific workforce and mission integrity

Sign this petition if you believe that science should not be sacrificed for political gain, and that NASA’s Goddard Center must be protected as a national treasure for innovation, research, and discovery.

Photo Credit: Space.com