The Trump Administration Is Illegally Gutting NASA’s Largest Research Library.

Founded in 1959, the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland is home to NASA’s largest research library.

But late last year, the Trump administration began a shadowy campaign to destroy the library and most of its irreplaceable contents.

This shuttering was part of a larger reorganization plan. In 2025, the Trump administration and its henchmen in DOGE proposed drastic cuts to NASA facilities, including the closure of 13 buildings and more than 100 labs.

Goddard’s archives were then placed on the chopping block. But a groundswell of public response stayed the administration. Activists working to save the library briefly secured provisions for its continued operations, via the FY26 Appropriations Bill. But this week, the administrative hammer came down anyway.

What many people don’t realize is the breathtaking extent of what constitutes ‘space knowledge.’ As planetary scientist Dave Williams told NPR back in January, the Goddard library houses “a database covering all the missions and everything that’s flown back all the way back to Sputnik.” Which institutional intel has proved crucial for designing modern missions.

And according to Delawalla, the Goddard is also the keeper of great stores of earth science data, which means research crucial to climate science is also in peril. Especially the files on yet-to-be-digitized floppy discs.