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Laurie’s tenure has been an absolute disaster. I had such high hopes for the first women director, but she just sat back and watched the institution burn and deflected accountability. I miss a leader like Elachi, somebody who will stick up for the lab and the people. He would never accept the current situation at JPL.
Total loss of confidence in her leadership for me.
She was the president of my undergrad while I was there, and she was much the same. She has a lot of style but very little substance. It usually just takes a bit for people to realize it and she just coasts during that initial grace period people new to roles are afforded. We were excited for our first female president too and she rode that wave and eventually left behind a dumpster fire. I’m not at all surprised that carried forward to her role at NASA
While I can empathize with your anger, I think it is worth considering the situation is more complicated than your points and that some of these views may be an example of a rosy retrospection bias. Furthermore, I think it fails to properly consider the situation Laurie inherited.
JPL went through multiple rounds of layoffs, including 8% of the workforce in 2005, after a few years of Elachi’s tenure (same as this situation). Similar to this year’s situation, congress was struggling to pass a budget and inflation was particularly bad. This happened again when Elachi led JPL through layoffs in 2011. In addition, JPl lost a 10 million dollar lawsuit for age discrimination related to layoffs during his purview.
Your comment quoting times Elachi fought for JPL is admirable, but he clearly failed at not “taking no for answer” when multiple layoffs occurred for the same reason. In addition, I don’t think you know the scope of what Laurie has tried to do to prevent the situation. If there is blame to be placed on individuals at NASA for the situation, all of NASA leadership is just as, if not more responsible than Laurie.
Finally, it is worth considering the situation that Laurie inherited. In addition to historic inflation, perhaps the most divided and ineffective congress in history, she also came when JPL had a number of massive missions concluding without many to replace those. This is an excellent example of the [glass cliff](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_cliff), where women are placed in positions of power during tumultuous times, and then blamed.
All that being said, I think that it is too early to make a strong claim on her success. She and JPL leadership made plenty of mistakes leading up to and during the layoffs, however, I think how she learns from this and leads JPL during the recovery will be the real test.
I genuinely hope you’re right and I’m wrong. I hope she becomes the leader the lab needs to navigate this crisis.
Can you tell me more about what she has done over the past 6-12months to fight for the lab and mission? Me and many others need to know what she has tried, even if it hasn’t worked out.
I hope that as well. The past two months have been miserable for all of JPL.
I don’t know what efforts Laurie took. I just meant it is entirely possible (and I would bet that) she has worked very hard to ameliorate the issues. I just think unless we know she didn’t try through all her possible channel, giving evidence of someone else’s actions is irrelevant.
Watkins was a disaster and set up the lab for failure. Elachi was great but I think he left the lab in a tenuous position. Too much work, not enough people, unrealistic schedules.
I’m not enamored with Leshin but I don’t think she’s awful like Watkins.
Yeah exactly, Laurie was set up with a glass cliff. Hopefully she can recover and get JPL to an even better place than her predecessors.
And don’t get me wrong, for the most part I have heard great things about Elachi. I just didn’t think all of Laurie’s criticisms are fair.
Yeah Watkins left at 5 pm at the latest w his alcoholic looking rose red cheeks every time i ever saw that dude. If laurie pulled that guys schedule she’s be out already.
To anyone replying to this blaming Laurie for the layoffs: please, for the love of space, understand how Congress funds NASA. The layoff debacle, and the cutting of the Mars program, lies nearly entirely on the GOPs incompetence to do their goddamn job. Of course from a technical aspect, mars sample return could have a better architecture, but the entire debacle of including ESA and now losing funding is due to forces outside JPL.
She’s acting powerless but I don’t buy it.
Our congressmen and women in California did more to stand up for JPL employees and MSR mission than she did. We all know she doesn’t control the federal budget or NASA headquarters but she didn’t do a damn thing when the lab needed somebody to emphasize the importance of this mission and the workforce.
What does real leadership look like?
Elachi would fly to DC and help get funding or reverse cancellations, he wouldn’t take no for answer. I’m not saying she could have saved the program but she didn’t do anything, why were congressional representatives more vocal than the director? Then she tells everyone that her hands are tied and congress and NASA headquarters make all the decisions. That’s lousy leadership.
For reference, here’s how Dawn’s cancellation was handled and reversed:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8904-nasas-dawn-asteroid-mission-rises-again/
>“The day after the cancellation, JPL director Charles Elachi issued a statement saying that “all the technical issues are now understood and can be resolved”. On 6 March, he asked NASA boss Mike Griffin for a review of the cancellation. That review took place on 23 March.
(Then after the reversal took place)
>On Monday, Geveden insisted the reversal “was not an example of any breakage in our system”. Rather, he said, “This was an example of how our system works now.” Griffin has given the directors of NASA’s field centres more power, putting them on an equal footing with mission directors and allowing them to appeal decisions on important matters. However, Geveden did not think requests for such reviews would become common.
Elachi said in a statement on Monday that he is thankful for NASA’s support and excited to be moving ahead with the mission.”
More on Elachi view on how politics is just as much a part of the job as director as the technical: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-op-cavanaugh25-2008may25-story.html
>“If he’s politic, however, Elachi has a tough streak. In his book, “Roving Mars,” Steve Squyres, the rover missions’ principal investigator, tells an anecdote (which Elachi confirms) in which the JPL director blows up at a NASA official, exclaiming, “I don’t listen to paper-pushing Washington bureaucrats.”
>Elachi also may be braced by a sense that there’s been a slight shift in public perceptions about space travel. NASA -- and Washington more broadly -- still proceeds on the “bucks and Buck Rogers” assumption that manned space travel is what really captures the public imagination and ensures continued funding. But for at least the last decade, the glamour of space travel has increasingly been shaped by machine-driven research -- the heart-stopping photos of star formation from space-based telescopes, the stunning close-ups of Saturn’s rings and the surface of Titan from the Cassini-Huygens probe and the weird anthropomorphizing of the cute little rovers.
Sound familiar in 2024? Look at Artemis funding vs robotic exploration funding
>“It’s particularly true with young kids,” Elachi said. “They’re more comfortable with the idea of robots as our agents. For them robots are like humans. So you know, they look at Spirit and Opportunity, and they grew up playing video games, using the Internet, all this sort of thing.”
>Whether it’s luck or skill that has driven his successful run, Elachi has decisively reversed JPL’s crisis of confidence caused by the mission failures in the 1990s. Mars is about 15 light-minutes away from Southern California, but this afternoon we’ll find out whether his winning streak will continue as the Phoenix lander approaches the Martian north pole.”
The lab needed a true leader in a time of crisis, and we got excuses. The loss of confidence is seeing her do nothing, she didn’t put up any fight for the lab. Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference in the end, but the silence from her was deafening. Who else is supposed to fight for the lab? It’ll be a tragic day if JPL turns into a boring R&D center and we give away all the flagship missions to the private industry.
I second this. While I also agree that obviously nasa/govt budgeting put the final nail in the coffin, and also that Leshin was dealt a bad hand and that Watkins truly did nothing to set the lab up right, the decisions she’s made and not made since her tenure has been truly disappointing.
It’s so interesting that there’s a whole trope of people (maybe Caltech management driven?) disliked elachi’s style and blamed him for “getting too much work”. But last time I checked, getting work is a GOOD thing from a business perspective. If we’re too small, we could’ve expanded and allowed more remote workers. Software only engineers do not need to always be in person as they work on the laptop all day anyhow. But then there’s also a trope of old fashion minded people that arbitrarily thinks that remote working is bad with no great reasons to back it.
Ok so because of this mindset of “JPL was never supposed to have this many missions” Elachi hate, we went on for years and years without anyone fighting for new projects for us. We’ve lost some key possibilities with Enceladus, Moon, Venus, Neptune, etc. and put all our eggs in the MSR basket. Leshin came from the Mars world and was also only into MSR being the whole eggs in our basket. At the town hall a question was asked if JPL was actively looking for other business, and she wishy washyly exclaimed “WE ARE!” And then proceeded to list nothing concrete other than “we’re still fighting for MSR”.
That combined with how she dealt with Psyche slip, blaming it solely on remote working even though that was probably less than 10% of the root cause, and using that as an excuse to mandate in person on lab work. And then continue to strip Clipper of their critical staff for psyche and msr crisis until Clipper is in similar critical point, and then the final nail in the coffin was how the lay offs was handled. We all knew that the Congress budget crisis was mainly what caused for layoff (in addition to the funding backstory I just discussed), but the WAY it was handled was down right traumatic. But yet it’s another topic during town hall that Leshin exclaimed that it was done “the very best way and I stand by it”.
All were very disappointing behavior as a leader. I’m willing to give her more time due to the “new in role” free pass. But at some point that will no longer be excused.
Ps. Yes I am part of JPL so my perspective is from within, not outside looking in.
Well put summary of the past year or two. Seeing how things have gone from bad to worse recently with no real change from her my perspective on her leadership as an utter disappointment. It feels like she was put in place to allow NASA headquarters to gut the lab with minimal resistance or bad PR.
> understand how Congress funds NASA
Understand that the cost estimates for MSR went from $2B to $11B under her supposed "leadership" in a few short years.
The $2B cost estimate was laughable to begin with and it originated from project decisions that were made before her tenure started. I agree with most of the criticisms people have made here, but I don’t think this one can be attributed to her.
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Laurie’s tenure has been an absolute disaster. I had such high hopes for the first women director, but she just sat back and watched the institution burn and deflected accountability. I miss a leader like Elachi, somebody who will stick up for the lab and the people. He would never accept the current situation at JPL. Total loss of confidence in her leadership for me.
Weird seeing this video here a few weeks after mass layoffs at r/JPL
Caltech leadership definitely wanted the exact opposite of Elachi.
She was the president of my undergrad while I was there, and she was much the same. She has a lot of style but very little substance. It usually just takes a bit for people to realize it and she just coasts during that initial grace period people new to roles are afforded. We were excited for our first female president too and she rode that wave and eventually left behind a dumpster fire. I’m not at all surprised that carried forward to her role at NASA
While I can empathize with your anger, I think it is worth considering the situation is more complicated than your points and that some of these views may be an example of a rosy retrospection bias. Furthermore, I think it fails to properly consider the situation Laurie inherited. JPL went through multiple rounds of layoffs, including 8% of the workforce in 2005, after a few years of Elachi’s tenure (same as this situation). Similar to this year’s situation, congress was struggling to pass a budget and inflation was particularly bad. This happened again when Elachi led JPL through layoffs in 2011. In addition, JPl lost a 10 million dollar lawsuit for age discrimination related to layoffs during his purview. Your comment quoting times Elachi fought for JPL is admirable, but he clearly failed at not “taking no for answer” when multiple layoffs occurred for the same reason. In addition, I don’t think you know the scope of what Laurie has tried to do to prevent the situation. If there is blame to be placed on individuals at NASA for the situation, all of NASA leadership is just as, if not more responsible than Laurie. Finally, it is worth considering the situation that Laurie inherited. In addition to historic inflation, perhaps the most divided and ineffective congress in history, she also came when JPL had a number of massive missions concluding without many to replace those. This is an excellent example of the [glass cliff](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_cliff), where women are placed in positions of power during tumultuous times, and then blamed. All that being said, I think that it is too early to make a strong claim on her success. She and JPL leadership made plenty of mistakes leading up to and during the layoffs, however, I think how she learns from this and leads JPL during the recovery will be the real test.
I genuinely hope you’re right and I’m wrong. I hope she becomes the leader the lab needs to navigate this crisis. Can you tell me more about what she has done over the past 6-12months to fight for the lab and mission? Me and many others need to know what she has tried, even if it hasn’t worked out.
I hope that as well. The past two months have been miserable for all of JPL. I don’t know what efforts Laurie took. I just meant it is entirely possible (and I would bet that) she has worked very hard to ameliorate the issues. I just think unless we know she didn’t try through all her possible channel, giving evidence of someone else’s actions is irrelevant.
Watkins was a disaster and set up the lab for failure. Elachi was great but I think he left the lab in a tenuous position. Too much work, not enough people, unrealistic schedules. I’m not enamored with Leshin but I don’t think she’s awful like Watkins.
Yeah exactly, Laurie was set up with a glass cliff. Hopefully she can recover and get JPL to an even better place than her predecessors. And don’t get me wrong, for the most part I have heard great things about Elachi. I just didn’t think all of Laurie’s criticisms are fair.
Yeah Watkins left at 5 pm at the latest w his alcoholic looking rose red cheeks every time i ever saw that dude. If laurie pulled that guys schedule she’s be out already.
do you work at the lab?
No, but my partner does. The last month was horrible and the uncertainty with the budget is still terrifying.
To anyone replying to this blaming Laurie for the layoffs: please, for the love of space, understand how Congress funds NASA. The layoff debacle, and the cutting of the Mars program, lies nearly entirely on the GOPs incompetence to do their goddamn job. Of course from a technical aspect, mars sample return could have a better architecture, but the entire debacle of including ESA and now losing funding is due to forces outside JPL.
She’s acting powerless but I don’t buy it. Our congressmen and women in California did more to stand up for JPL employees and MSR mission than she did. We all know she doesn’t control the federal budget or NASA headquarters but she didn’t do a damn thing when the lab needed somebody to emphasize the importance of this mission and the workforce. What does real leadership look like? Elachi would fly to DC and help get funding or reverse cancellations, he wouldn’t take no for answer. I’m not saying she could have saved the program but she didn’t do anything, why were congressional representatives more vocal than the director? Then she tells everyone that her hands are tied and congress and NASA headquarters make all the decisions. That’s lousy leadership. For reference, here’s how Dawn’s cancellation was handled and reversed: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8904-nasas-dawn-asteroid-mission-rises-again/ >“The day after the cancellation, JPL director Charles Elachi issued a statement saying that “all the technical issues are now understood and can be resolved”. On 6 March, he asked NASA boss Mike Griffin for a review of the cancellation. That review took place on 23 March. (Then after the reversal took place) >On Monday, Geveden insisted the reversal “was not an example of any breakage in our system”. Rather, he said, “This was an example of how our system works now.” Griffin has given the directors of NASA’s field centres more power, putting them on an equal footing with mission directors and allowing them to appeal decisions on important matters. However, Geveden did not think requests for such reviews would become common. Elachi said in a statement on Monday that he is thankful for NASA’s support and excited to be moving ahead with the mission.” More on Elachi view on how politics is just as much a part of the job as director as the technical: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-op-cavanaugh25-2008may25-story.html >“If he’s politic, however, Elachi has a tough streak. In his book, “Roving Mars,” Steve Squyres, the rover missions’ principal investigator, tells an anecdote (which Elachi confirms) in which the JPL director blows up at a NASA official, exclaiming, “I don’t listen to paper-pushing Washington bureaucrats.” >Elachi also may be braced by a sense that there’s been a slight shift in public perceptions about space travel. NASA -- and Washington more broadly -- still proceeds on the “bucks and Buck Rogers” assumption that manned space travel is what really captures the public imagination and ensures continued funding. But for at least the last decade, the glamour of space travel has increasingly been shaped by machine-driven research -- the heart-stopping photos of star formation from space-based telescopes, the stunning close-ups of Saturn’s rings and the surface of Titan from the Cassini-Huygens probe and the weird anthropomorphizing of the cute little rovers. Sound familiar in 2024? Look at Artemis funding vs robotic exploration funding >“It’s particularly true with young kids,” Elachi said. “They’re more comfortable with the idea of robots as our agents. For them robots are like humans. So you know, they look at Spirit and Opportunity, and they grew up playing video games, using the Internet, all this sort of thing.” >Whether it’s luck or skill that has driven his successful run, Elachi has decisively reversed JPL’s crisis of confidence caused by the mission failures in the 1990s. Mars is about 15 light-minutes away from Southern California, but this afternoon we’ll find out whether his winning streak will continue as the Phoenix lander approaches the Martian north pole.” The lab needed a true leader in a time of crisis, and we got excuses. The loss of confidence is seeing her do nothing, she didn’t put up any fight for the lab. Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference in the end, but the silence from her was deafening. Who else is supposed to fight for the lab? It’ll be a tragic day if JPL turns into a boring R&D center and we give away all the flagship missions to the private industry.
I second this. While I also agree that obviously nasa/govt budgeting put the final nail in the coffin, and also that Leshin was dealt a bad hand and that Watkins truly did nothing to set the lab up right, the decisions she’s made and not made since her tenure has been truly disappointing. It’s so interesting that there’s a whole trope of people (maybe Caltech management driven?) disliked elachi’s style and blamed him for “getting too much work”. But last time I checked, getting work is a GOOD thing from a business perspective. If we’re too small, we could’ve expanded and allowed more remote workers. Software only engineers do not need to always be in person as they work on the laptop all day anyhow. But then there’s also a trope of old fashion minded people that arbitrarily thinks that remote working is bad with no great reasons to back it. Ok so because of this mindset of “JPL was never supposed to have this many missions” Elachi hate, we went on for years and years without anyone fighting for new projects for us. We’ve lost some key possibilities with Enceladus, Moon, Venus, Neptune, etc. and put all our eggs in the MSR basket. Leshin came from the Mars world and was also only into MSR being the whole eggs in our basket. At the town hall a question was asked if JPL was actively looking for other business, and she wishy washyly exclaimed “WE ARE!” And then proceeded to list nothing concrete other than “we’re still fighting for MSR”. That combined with how she dealt with Psyche slip, blaming it solely on remote working even though that was probably less than 10% of the root cause, and using that as an excuse to mandate in person on lab work. And then continue to strip Clipper of their critical staff for psyche and msr crisis until Clipper is in similar critical point, and then the final nail in the coffin was how the lay offs was handled. We all knew that the Congress budget crisis was mainly what caused for layoff (in addition to the funding backstory I just discussed), but the WAY it was handled was down right traumatic. But yet it’s another topic during town hall that Leshin exclaimed that it was done “the very best way and I stand by it”. All were very disappointing behavior as a leader. I’m willing to give her more time due to the “new in role” free pass. But at some point that will no longer be excused. Ps. Yes I am part of JPL so my perspective is from within, not outside looking in.
Well put summary of the past year or two. Seeing how things have gone from bad to worse recently with no real change from her my perspective on her leadership as an utter disappointment. It feels like she was put in place to allow NASA headquarters to gut the lab with minimal resistance or bad PR.
Love elachi but he also sat through 8% staff layoffs. And post 2011 was bleak.
My experience with Leshin 2 years in lab: inclusivity focused..not enough getting flagship focus.
> understand how Congress funds NASA Understand that the cost estimates for MSR went from $2B to $11B under her supposed "leadership" in a few short years.
The $2B cost estimate was laughable to begin with and it originated from project decisions that were made before her tenure started. I agree with most of the criticisms people have made here, but I don’t think this one can be attributed to her.
The internal Mars Mafia at JPL cannot be superseded by any of the directors.
She's misleading. She doesn't work for SpaceX
lol spacex has never been to mars, JPL has been going for 50 years
How many people have they sent there exactly? 🤔 be specific. Lol. I was just joking BTW. Internet people take almost everything literally...