Key NASA officials' departure casts more uncertainty over US moon program

By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -NASA is losing four key senior officials close to its flagship moon program, according to people familiar with the changes, adding more uncertainty over the agency's space exploration trajectory as Elon Musk and President Donald Trump play up missions to Mars.

Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator who has been a central voice defending the agency's Artemis moon program, is planning to leave the agency by Saturday, two sources said.

And in Huntsville, Alabama, three key officials at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center - one of the agency's ten field centers and the epicenter of its Artemis moon program - had their retirements announced internally on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the announcement.

Those roles at MSFC - chiefs of procurement, finance and information - were filled in an acting capacity by deputies and other NASA officials, the source said. No replacement for Free was announced, the two sources said.

NASA spokespeople did not return requests for comment.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)