NASA moral dilemma

NASA
segX47

Go to company page NASA

segX47
Apr 12, 2019 18 Comments

I work at the NASA Jet propulsion Lab. JPL is technically on a NASA site but is owned by Caltech, so it gets some benefits to being sort of government but also sort of a contractor...

Well, it turns out this works nicely for their business model. They receive 90% of public money for NASA HQ to mitigate the effects of climate change, and then get investments to do R&D to do exactly the opposite. A year ago NASA started receiving money from Chevron oil and gas, $10+ million in investing new technologies for maximizing fracking, cutting Chevron overhead costs, building robots for underground exploration of Earth. We have top JPL engineers, who came here for reasons like studying and mitigating climate change, who instead are using their skills for Chevron.

This is mostly public info but the details aren’t really accessible although I’m not under any NDA. JPL has a mission statement that goes directly against what Chevron is doing to our environment. My team works on the AI for these systems. How do I sleep at night ? Should I reframe this moral dilemma and accept this as the way business goes. Should I try to do more to stop this? I’ve talked to both of my superiors and my coworkers about this. Their explanation is the money will help NASA develop capabilities for our missions.

Because we are sort of a NASA site using NASA resources, I also feel this like using public resources on private businesses... I guess technically it is separate. Maybe I should just quit.

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  • Firstly let me say, the fact that you are willing to make a change purely on your companies mission statement is INSPIRING. I’d say for most of us on Blind (and other fellow defense industry employees), we work on whatever because it’s a job and it pays. I am beyond impressed that you are questioning the morality of this contract from Chevron, and I wish more employees across the world would hold their companies more accountable.

    Now that my praise for you is out of the way, I think you should weigh your options. Can you move groups internally? Do you have any immediate external opportunities? If so, then I would get those aligned, and take your concerns up the chain of command. Are they going to cancel the chevron contract? Highly unlikely unless you scheduled a walk out like they did at Google when Google was about to help the pentagon with video imaging. It’s possible if you have that kind of passion. Will it upset the management? Most definitely. So be prepared to move around. But I’m glad you’re asking the right questions.

    Did I help you? Probably not! Good luck lol
    Apr 12, 2019 2
    • NASA
      segX47

      Go to company page NASA

      segX47
      OP
      Haha I appreciate it. I definitely want this information more accessible across lab.. I think that’s a good first step. Anonymously contacting the chain of command would be good too. Although at some point when an external opportunity arose I wouldn’t mind the backlash of having my name associated against Chevron. I don’t think I can stop it in time. It’s one top JPL management signature away from being a 3 year partnership.
      Apr 12, 2019
    • That’s truly a shame. Theyre gunna spin it as “ohh no these new tools will make extracting oil more ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly and less POLLUTING” when in reality we should be getting off oil all together. Be careful how they twist it
      Apr 12, 2019
  • The world is not always black and white. Even Batman kills in the comics.
    Apr 12, 2019 0
  • Tesla
    shbdbdien

    Go to company page Tesla

    shbdbdien
    You can’t stop climate change cause nobody can figure out why it changes. During the dinosaurs era levels of CO was extremely high.
    Apr 12, 2019 1
  • What you develop will help with exploration in future. I work in a bank IT I sleep alright.
    Apr 12, 2019 0
  • Uber
    aretha

    Go to company page Uber

    aretha
    The larger mission of fostering space exploration is far more important to the species. These conflicts and concerns are valid, but like some have pointed out, if you don't do it, someone else will and the work will go on. You are far too minor a cog to radically change this machinery. What you can control, however, is what YOU do. Transfer to a team where the mission resonates with you, or look outside JPL.
    Mar 10, 2021 0