NASA's in a 'weird period' right now, acting chief Janet Petro says
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — These are strange times for NASA, according to the agency's acting chief.
During the brief tenure of acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro, the agency has laid off employees, slashed budgets, ended key programs, and removed all mentions of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility from its websites.
If this stretch has seemed odd to you, you're not alone; Petro herself characterized it as a "weird period" during a fireside address today (April 8) at the Space Foundation's 40th annual Space Symposium here in Colorado Springs.
So weird, in fact, that Petro added that she thinks she is the person at NASA who is most eager to see billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman confirmed as NASA administrator. Isaacman is slated to have his first confirmation hearing tomorrow (April 9).
Related: Who is Janet Petro, Trump's pick for acting NASA administrator?
"I think I am the one most looking forward to that I know across the agency," Petro said today.
The acting administrator opened her fireside chat with Space Foundation CEO Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle (Ret.) by recounting how she came to find out she was given the position of acting administrator after former NASA chief Bill Nelson stepped down in January 2025. Petro was so surprised by the news after hearing it first from her chief of staff that she thought it was a prank.
"I thought he was punking me. I thought it was a joke," Petro told Space Symposium attendees today.
Related stories:
— NASA cutting programs, workforce to comply with Trump order
— Trump orders interim NASA chief to end DEI initiatives
— Who is Jared Isaacman, Trump's pick for NASA chief?
The acting NASA chief elaborated on how she views her role in this "weird" time at the agency, stating that she has been primarily attempting to keep the agency moving forward on its flagship programs of record like the Artemis moon missions or recent partnerships on private moon landings.
But the confirmation of a new agency administrator will "allow us to move forward even faster with some more specificity, if you will," Petro said.
"So along with that, I would say, I like to say I'm sort of preparing to wait for Jared, just making sure that everything is on track," she added.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
30 minutes ago
- Fox News
Hunt for Father Accused of Killing Three Daughters
Hunt for Father Accused of Killing Three Daughters, Sean 'Diddy' Combs is asking for a mistrial, President Trump appeared at a Ultimate Fighting Championship match in New Jersey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Corporate Cash Levels Are Starting to Fall
(Bloomberg) -- The latest earnings period brought what might be an early warning sign about credit quality for high-grade US companies. Next Stop: Rancho Cucamonga! Where Public Transit Systems Are Bouncing Back Around the World ICE Moves to DNA-Test Families Targeted for Deportation with New Contract US Housing Agency Vulnerable to Fraud After DOGE Cuts, Documents Warn Trump Said He Fired the National Portrait Gallery Director. She's Still There. Cash levels at blue-chip companies are shrinking, when excluding results from the most-cash-rich corporations. Among members of the S&P 500 that have posted results, cash levels for the latest quarter fell nearly 1% compared with the last three months of 2024. That's according to a Bloomberg News analysis that focuses on non-financial companies with less than $30 billion of cash. The group's cash holdings, now at $1.14 trillion, have broadly been declining since the third quarter of 2023, when they peaked at $1.21 trillion. While companies are still generally performing well, shrinking cash levels can be a sign of business slowing and profits falling. That's a particular concern now as escalating trade wars potentially boost the cost of foreign inputs, weigh on profits, and increase inflation. Bond prices for many US companies leave little room for error. Spreads, or risk premiums, on US high-grade corporate debt averaged just 0.85 percentage point on Friday, the tightest level since March. The average level for the last two decades is closer to 1.5 percentage point. 'It's actually a dangerous position to be in,' said Michael Contopoulos, deputy chief investment officer at Richard Bernstein Advisors. 'If you bring down cash balances and you find yourself having to deal with higher inflation and higher volatility, your debt is going to get punished.' For the biggest cash generators, the story is different. Giants from Meta Platforms Inc. to Microsoft Corp. and Nvidia Corp. generally posted strong earnings this quarter. The top 12 biggest holders of cash saw their holdings rise about 1.4%, to around $756.7 billion. The dozen companies, which also include companies outside of the technology industry like Johnson & Johnson, each have more than $30 billion of cash and marketable securities on their books, and hold in total about 40% of the S&P 500's cash. The biggest companies can distort averages, and by some measures many high-grade companies aren't looking great. Leverage levels, for example, have been better about 80% of the time over the last two decades, a UBS Group AG analysis found. But by other measures companies are still performing well. Investment-grade firms are holding more cash as a share of their assets than they have on average over the past decade, according to data from S&P that analyzed North American companies. It's likely the behavior that has contributed to the declines in cash — such as boosting share buybacks — has reversed this quarter as companies prepare for a slowdown, Bank of America credit strategist Yuri Seliger said. That's why some money managers are stopping short of saying that it's time to prepare for the worst. 'You still want to be positioned in companies that have the ability to weather a range of scenarios, but at the same time, I don't think you want to price your entire portfolio to the worst possible outcome,' said Maulik Bhansali, senior portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments. If any credit weakness were to hit, it would likely start with smaller companies, and in leveraged finance or even private credit, said Matthew Mish, UBS' head of credit strategy. A close look does show some signs of weakness, at least in the smaller firms. Corporate profits for domestic, non-financial companies declined by about 3% in the first quarter compared to the previous period, Bureau of Economic Analysis data shows. 'The large liquid megacaps have certainly outperformed,' Mish said. 'Under the hood, there certainly is a little bit more weakness.' Week In Review Elon Musk is selling $5 billion of debt to help fund his artificial intelligence startup xAI Corp., the latest in a series of fundraising efforts across his business empire as the billionaire pivots away from politics and returns to running his companies. As part of that bond and loan sale, xAI opened its books to investors, showing the company generated about $52 million of gross revenue in the first quarter, and lost $341 million before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. The sale may be complicated by a very public feud between Trump and Musk. Hong Kong developer New World Development Co. is sliding deeper into distress after its recent decision to delay interest payments on some bonds, marking the latest flashpoint in a years-long crisis in China's property market. Hedge fund founder George Weiss filed personal bankruptcy months after a federal judge ruled he's liable for more than $100 million in debt his eponymous firm owes Jefferies Financial Group Inc. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is sounding out investors for an almost $2 billion loan for Trucordia, the latest instance of a Wall Street bank refinancing debt that insurers initially secured from private credit firms. A group of Wall Street banks, led by Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and UBS Group AG, have started pre-marketing more than $1 billion of debt to fund Bain Capital's acquisition of restaurant chain operator Sizzling Platter. Owens & Minor, a distributor of medical supplies, canceled its planned purchase of Rotech Healthcare Holdings, sending its bonds on a wild ride. Notes it sold in April, with a 10% coupon and due 2030, dropped, because they can be redeemed at par and had been trading above face value. Many other securities the company had sold rallied. Banks and private credit funds are competing with each other to provide as much as €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) of debt to insurance broker Diot-Siaci Group. Clearlake Capital-backed Wellness Pet Company snagged fresh financing and completed the first step of a debt deal that involves creditors taking a reduction in the value of the original amount they lent. German autoparts maker ZF Friedrichshafen AG pulled in more than €4.5 billion ($4.6 billion) in orders for a new bond sale, signaling strong investor support for shoring up its finances during a rocky stretch for the sector. Delta Air Lines Inc. sold $2 billion of investment-grade bonds Thursday to help repay a government loan it took out during the pandemic to pay employees. A $2.15 billion leveraged loan has been launched to help fund the planned acquisition of Colonial Enterprises Inc. Bankrupt genetic analysis company 23andMe will hold a second auction for its cache of DNA data with an opening bid of $305 million from a group led by the company's former chief executive officer, Anne Wojcicki. A subsidiary of Sunnova Energy International Inc. filed for bankruptcy in Texas as its parent struggled to convince creditors to give it funding to turn around its business in an out-of-court process. EchoStar Corp., the wireless and pay-TV operator controlled by billionaire Charlie Ergen, has decided to skip interest payments on three bonds after skipping another late last week. On the Move MUFG Securities Americas Inc. has hired two longtime leveraged loan bankers — Adam Hoffman and Roger Gilbert — as it continues to grow that business. Hoffman joins as head of loan trading while Gilbert will serve as head of loan sales. Both previously worked at Macquarie Group Ltd., which shuttered its US debt capital markets arm earlier this year to focus on private credit. Lane42 Investment Partners founder Scott Graves is building out his senior leadership team, hiring former CVC Capital Partners and Oaktree Capital Management employees to add to the asset manager he founded earlier this year. London-based hedge fund Redhedge Asset Management LLP has hired two portfolio managers amid growing US investor interest for European credit. Won Choi joined from Maven Investment Partners to oversee credit opportunities and special situations. Nick Campregher, formerly at ExodusPoint Capital Management, started last month and is focusing on financials. Before moving to the asset management industry, he had spent about a decade at UBS Group AG as a trader and risk manager. --With assistance from Tom Contiliano. Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Wants to Donate His Billions—and Walk Again The SEC Pinned Its Hack on a Few Hapless Day Traders. The Full Story Is Far More Troubling Is Elon Musk's Political Capital Spent? What Does Musk-Trump Split Mean for a 'Big, Beautiful Bill'? Cuts to US Aid Imperil the World's Largest HIV Treatment Program ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Axios
42 minutes ago
- Axios
Trump shrugs off possible reconciliation with Musk
President Trump said he assumes his relationship with Elon Musk has ended and that he has no desire to repair it after the pair publicly fell out last week. "I think it's a shame that he's so depressed and so heartbroken," Trump said of the billionaire in a phone call with NBC News' Kristen Welker. The big picture: Trump's comments also came with a warning to Musk when the president said the Tesla CEO could face "serious consequences" should he fund Democratic candidates in the next election running against Republicans who vote for Trump's "big, beautiful bill." The billionaire, who contributed more than $290 million to Republicans in the 2024 election but has since said he'd cut back on political spending, posted last week that politicians "who betrayed the American people" should be fired in November. Trump declined to elaborate on what the consequences would be for Musk. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a Sunday interview on ABC's "This Week" that it would be a "big mistake" for Musk to go after Republicans who vote for the bill. Driving the news: Trump said he has no plans to speak to the Tesla CEO during the Saturday phone interview with Welker. Asked if he thought his relationship with Musk was over, Trump said he "would assume so." He accused the once-close administration ally of being "disrespectful to the office of the President." Catch up quick: The alliance between Trump and the former chainsaw-wielding face of DOGE exploded last week as Musk continuously campaigned against the massive tax-and-spending package, blasting it as a "disgusting abomination." Speaking to reporters during an Oval Office appearance alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Thursday, Trump said he was "very disappointed" in Musk, who he claimed was very familiar with the inner workings of the legislation. While Trump talked, Musk fired back in real-time on X, claiming in one post that Trump would have lost the election without him. Zoom in: In one post that appears to have been deleted, Musk accused the president of being "in the Epstein files." Trump told NBC that it's "old news."
