Doge, controlled by Elon Musk, was given unfettered access to NASA. NASA - which was responsible for awarding Musk's company SPACEX massive contracts.

20 year-old useless pieces of shit like Edward 'Big Balls' Coristine ( A nickname he chooses to go by ) were given GS-15 positions. I worked 10 years at NASA to become GS-15... and in going from GS14 to GS15 I had to interview with senior center management and demonstrate my track record of successful missions and proposals.

Coristine was born in December 2005.[2][3] His father is Charles Coristine, the CEO of LesserEvil.[4] His maternal grandfather, Valery Martynov, was a KGB lieutenant colonel executed in 1987 by the Soviet Union as a double agent. After Martynov's execution, his widow moved with her children—including Coristine's mother Anna—to the United States.[5]

Coristine graduated from Rye Country Day School in 2024.[6] He acquired the nickname "Big Balls" during a math class in his junior year of high school[1][7][8] and added it to his LinkedIn profile.[9] He enrolled at Northeastern University in 2024 as a mechanical engineering and physics major.[6][10] School friends describe him as intelligent and driven, with Elon Musk being his hero.[11][10] Coristine is a registered Republican.[2]

Musk was handing GS15 positions like they were party favors for his Frat-boy entourage...

And when I say they were given unfettered access- I mean it- They were the only employees not required to have their badges visible. They had complete access to the NASA email system- able to search and read any emails archived in the system- which is ALL the emails received or sent- ever. I am sure they read the email where I strongly argued against making use of one of Musk's companies for a project for many technical reasons... as well as his demonstrated willingness to cut off services to people or organizations that had pissed him off.

We were told that if we were approached by someone _saying_ they were from DOGE and they demanded access to your computer and files - no matter how sensitive they were, no matter if the files would give SPACEX or STARLINK a competitive advantage, classified or CUI- it didn't matter, you were to comply with the request and you were NOT allowed to ask to see their badge to verify they were who they claimed to be. You were required to log them in and let them access whatever they wanted - violating all sorts of security rules and ethical considerations.

Additionally, they were going around and walking into people's offices and looking for reasons to fire them- Technically it is a violation to leave your computer logged in and accessible when you are not present- for instance you take 2 minutes to go to the bathroom down the hall, or to talk to a co-worker in the next office over and forget to lock your computer that is technically a violation. Not NEARLY as big a violation as logging unidentified people into your system and giving them access to all your emails and files... but they were walking in to people's offices when they stepped out and seeing if they forgot to lock their computers- and firing them if they had forgotten.

So, a pimple-faced 20 year-old that had been handed a GS-15 position could walk up to a NASA employee that had been working for NASA since before this kid was born, and this kid could simply SAY he was with DOGE (you could not ask for proof, a badge, or even their NAME) demand to see sensitive files relating to a SPACEX contract, and you had to comply. Meanwhile all other NASA employees were required to display their badge at all times, and if it wasn't visible other employees were free to ask to see it to verify you were a NASA employee with access to the area you were in.

THAT is just how fucked-up the situation was- security and ethics rules did not apply to them. Meanwhile, they could- and did- fire people who forgot to lock their computer during a 2 minute bathroom break.

Division heads that simply said in a meeting that the way their employees were being treated was unfair and unethical were removed from their position on the spot.

Every year we were required to take a training course on how a culture of fear and silence in the past has led to some of the agency's greatest disasters, and loss of lives. Yet the yes-men they put in charge at the center were openly making a point of punishing anyone that spoke up...

NASA will not see the people it lost ever return... but its only a matter of time before the tragedies make their come-back.