NASA workers told they can be sacked for leaking footage from test sites – media

Employees at the Kennedy Space Center were reportedly told they can be sacked for sharing footage from the facilities. The warning came after a leaked video showed a SpaceX Crew Dragon exploding at a test site.

Workers were warned that they could be fired if they publicly share any videos or images from inside the Kennedy Space Center, the Orlando Sentinel reported on Wednesday, citing an internal letter sent to NASA contractors.

Tracy Yates, spokesperson for aerospace company Jacobs, who works with NASA, told the paper that the recent memo was “an internal reminder” of the guidelines the staff must follow. These include “a standard warning” that the certain violations “could result in disciplinary action up to and including termination and removal from employment,” she said.

It happened after footage was leaked online last month, purportedly showing SpaceX’s unmanned Crew Dragon spacecraft exploding during a failed test on the ground.

NASA and SpaceX later admitted that the test resulted in “an anomaly,” but didn’t provide any details of the incident and stopped short of explaining the clouds of smoke billowing over the Kennedy Space Center that day, which were observed by many witnesses.

The Crew Dragon (or Dragon V2) is a reusable capsule for transporting people and cargo to space. NASA awarded the company $2.6 billion for the program.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!