In an exclusive report, the UK Daily Mail says NASA staffers want President-Elect Donald Trump's co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk to 'clean house', as insiders reveal the agency squandered millions of taxpayer money on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Spending reports from 2020 to 2024 showed NASA awarded grants to universities and consulting firms to support 'environmental justice' and initiatives that 'embrace greater diversity and inclusive practices.'

LMI consulting received over $2 million in 2023 for NASA to 'embark on a venture to incorporate and deeply engrain diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility in the culture and business.'

Another $3 million went to Booze Allen Hamilton in March to support NASA's 'office of diversity and equal opportunity DEI data analytic specialty,' and $ 7 million was announced last month for six 'minority-serving institutions.'

Amid these expenditures, staff have voiced concerns online about budget shortages, citing struggles with 'limited funds' due to 'wasteful spending.' Software engineer Kyle Sorensen told he hopes Musk will 'clean house.'

The Daily Signal also covers the nature of DEI grants and money giveaways NASA has allowed to occur, propelled by the Biden DEI mandate. Millions were also squandered chasing after "environmental justice".

NASA has allocated roughly $10 million to pay out dozens of grants and contracts aimed at advancing some element of environmental justice or DEI since 2020, federal spending records show. The agency is multiple billions of dollars short of the funding required to complete its current missions, has fired hundreds of people working on its Mars missions over budgetary concerns, and may not have enough funding to maintain a multibillion-dollar space telescope, according to multiple Washington Post reports.

"The environmental justice movement focuses on ensuring communities receive equitable protection from natural and human-induced environmental hazards," NASA's webpage on equity and environmental justice reads. "It embodies the principle that all communities should be heard and represented in decision making."

Much of NASA's grant spending went to universities to help them study environmental justice in urban areas as well as other places with high concentrations of racial minorities. For instance, the agency approved $150,000 in funding to Columbia University so it could pair "earth observations and socioeconomic data" and enable students to do environmental justice work in New York City, records show.

Another grant, this time worth $250,000, was paid out to Los Angeles as part of NASA's Predictive Environmental Analytics and Community Engagement for Equity and Environmental Justice (PEACE) program, per federal records. To remedy its observation that "people of color often face higher exposure to air pollutants," NASA's PEACE program paid the city to provide pollution data to its residents in "a way that works across communities and cultural differences and specifically analyzes, engages and responds to needs for environmental justice."

It appears that once Trump takes office and eliminates DEI, root and branch, a a great deal of waste will be eliminated...not only from NASA, but wherever else it has taken hold in the federal government.

Who knows, we may be able to get enough progress in our technology and rockets to do both a crewed moon mission and to send a uncrewed mission to Mars by 2026. Right now, the Artemis III mission is scheduled for September of that year.

But there is going to be a whole lot more efficiency and a great deal less waste to meet the lunar objectives.

Meanwhile, SpaceX is forging ahead on its Mars plans.

SpaceX is planning to send five uncrewed Starships to Mars over the next few years, CEO Elon Musk said on his social media site, X. According to Musk, SpaceX has to wait for the next Earth-Mars launch window before sending the missions. These windows occur when Mars and Earth are lined up in such a way that flights between them take the least amount of energy and time. The next window is in 2026, and should SpaceX miss that deadline, the next launch window is late 2028 into early 2029.

If the uncrewed ships land safely on Mars, Musk anticipates sending crewed missions during the 2028-29 launch window. If the tests don't succeed, the company will try uncrewed missions again in the 2028 launch window, and push the crewed missions back to the launch window after that.

No wonder NASA is hoping Musk can use the DOGE-force to help.