NASA's in a 'weird period' right now, acting chief Janet Petro says

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  — These are strange times for NASA, according to the agency's acting chief.

During the brief tenure of acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro, the agency has laid off employees, slashed budgets, ended key programs, and removed all mentions of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility from its websites.

If this stretch has seemed odd to you, you're not alone; Petro herself characterized it as a "weird period" during a fireside address today (April 8) at the Space Foundation's 40th annual Space Symposium here in Colorado Springs.

So weird, in fact, that Petro added that she thinks she is the person at NASA who is most eager to see billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman confirmed as NASA administrator. Isaacman is slated to have his first confirmation hearing tomorrow (April 9).

Related: Who is Janet Petro, Trump's pick for acting NASA administrator?

"I think I am the one most looking forward to that I know across the agency," Petro said today.

The acting administrator opened her fireside chat with Space Foundation CEO Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle (Ret.) by recounting how she came to find out she was given the position of acting administrator after former NASA chief Bill Nelson stepped down in January 2025. Petro was so surprised by the news after hearing it first from her chief of staff that she thought it was a prank.

"I thought he was punking me. I thought it was a joke," Petro told Space Symposium attendees today.

The acting NASA chief elaborated on how she views her role in this "weird" time at the agency, stating that she has been primarily attempting to keep the agency moving forward on its flagship programs of record like the Artemis moon missions or recent partnerships on private moon landings.

But the confirmation of a new agency administrator will "allow us to move forward even faster with some more specificity, if you will," Petro said.

"So along with that, I would say, I like to say I'm sort of preparing to wait for Jared, just making sure that everything is on track," she added.