NASA has abruptly closed its chief-scientist office, along with 2 other offices, firing 23 employees. The 10 March action leaves the agency without a way of feeding independent science advice to its topmost leadership, at a time when it is talking about sending astronauts to the Moon and developing plans to go onwards to Mars.

NASA announced Tuesday the dismissal of its chief scientist and others to comply with orders from President Donald Trump, marking the latest in a series of administration actions undermining climate

NASA has cut its office of the chief scientist and its Office of Science, Policy, and Strategy, among other entities, the agency said in an internal email that Axios has viewed. Why it matters: Eliminating these offices comes ahead of potentially deep cuts to the agency's science programs.