Three NASA Advisors Resign Amid Conflict

Three NASA advisors who spoke out against budget cuts to the space agency’s science programs turned in their resignations this week, officials said Thursday.

Wesley Huntress, Charles Kennel and Eugene Levy served on the NASA Advisory Council’s science committee. Kennel resigned by choice; Huntress and Levy were asked to leave by NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin.

Levy, provost at Rice University in Houston, said their commitment to a broad science program at NASA “didn’t comport with the kind of advice that the administrator and the chairman of the committee were looking for.” Levy said he understood the budget constraints on NASA, but “we were certainly concerned that a strong commitment to science be maintained.”

When asked whether he thought his outspokenness on the science budget led to his forced resignation, Levy said, “That’s a little unclear for me.”

Kennel and Huntress could not be reached for comment.

NASA Press Secretary Dean Acosta said he didn’t know the particulars of why Huntress and Levy were asked to resign.

“I don’t want to give the impression that these guys were outspoken and that’s why they were asked to leave because that’s not the case at all,” Acosta said. “The administrator is looking for ... members to advise him based on the priority that the agency has and based on what our parameters are.”

NASA has come under fire for limiting growth in its science budget to 1.5% next year and 1% each subsequent year through the end of the decade. The limits should help pay to finish the International Space Station and prepare for sending astronauts back to the moon.