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The Leonard Lopate Show

Underreported: NASA’s Investigations of its Scientists

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are suing NASA over the Bush administration’s attempts to investigate the scientists’ personal lives. Attorney Dan Stormer is representing the scientists.


Comments

  • [1] pamela from nj January 31, 2008 - 12:20PM

    goes back atleast to Hoover - in college, several other students and i discussed how our parents, who worked on apollo 11 and various other projects in the aerospcace industry, had our houses watched by the FBI. they were parked right down the street, a few times a month, we didn't say anything over the phone when calling my dad at work that we couldn't say in public, and we think they had the neighbors watch us by threatening them with the IRS. nothing's changed, and it's a total waste of my taxpayer dollars due to the ignorance and paranoia of an administration that gets a pass from the public based on false, fear driven agendas and misinformation.
  • [2] Bill from Manhattan January 31, 2008 - 01:32PM

    My dad worked at JPL from 80s to late 90s and went through the same background check. The reason is that JPL does military research. I remember going to his office, and the space was shared by MM, Lockheed, etc. There was no separation between Nasa and military research staff.
  • [3] Steve February 02, 2008 - 03:26PM

    A slight correct with respect to "There was no separation between Nasa and military research staff."

    JPL does almost no military research. It is part of Caltech and less than 3% of the employees come in contact with classified work of any kind. What little secret work is being done is confined to access-controlled buildings. Most of us who work here do so exactly because we do not want to work on destruction science.
  • [4] Robert Nelson from Pasadena February 02, 2008 - 06:25PM

    I have worked at JPL for 28 years and I am one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Caltech and NASA over civil rights violations.

    FACT: The classified and non classified work at JPL is entirely separate and distinct. There is no overlap. All the classified research is done behind cypher locks in secure areas. I have never been inside one.

    Sorry Bill, your father must have worked somewhere else but not JPL. Or perhaps you confused the non classified work done on site at JPL by aerospace contractors like LocMart or Boeing. These aerospace contractors do non classified work too


This thread is closed.


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