Due to the lapse in federal government funding, NASA is not updating this website.

Suggested Searches

3 min read

NASA Receives Top Honor of Best Place to Work in Federal Government

The headshot image of Beth Ridgeway

Beth Ridgeway

Apr 06, 2023
Article

NASA is taking home the honor of the Best Place to Work in the Federal Government among large agencies for 11 years in a row, as ranked by the Partnership for Public Service.

The rankings, announced March 29, reflect the agency’s dedication to pursue missions of discovery and exploration, including sending humans farther into space than ever before for the benefit of humanity.

Scientists are getting their first look with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s powerful resolution how the formation of young stars influences the evolution of nearby galaxies. NGC 1365, observed here by Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) is one of a total of 19 galaxies targeted for study by the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby Galaxies (PHANGS) collaboration. In the MIRI observations of NGC 1365, clumps of dust and gas in the interstellar medium has absorbed the light from forming stars and emitted it back out in the infrared, lighting up an intricate network of cavernous bubbles and filamentary shells influenced by young stars releasing energy into the galaxy’s spiral arms. The exquisite resolution from Webb also picks up several extremely bright star clusters not far from the core and newly observed recently formed clusters along the outer edges of the spiral arms. Additionally, the Webb images provide insights into how the orbits of stars and gas vary depending on where they form, and how this results in the population of older clusters outside the inner star-formation ring. NGC 1365 is a double barred spiral galaxy that lies about 56 million light years away from Earth. It’s one of the largest galaxies currently known to astronomers, spanning twice the length of the Milky Way across. MIRI was contributed by ESA and NASA, with the instrument designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in partnership with the University of Arizona.
The Webb telescope’s images of NGC 1433, NGC 7496 & NGC 1365 reveal the galaxies’ networks of gas and dust in extraordinary detail. “In 2022, NASA unfolded the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope, achieved a watershed moment for planetary protection with DART impact, and took a giant leap in our journey back to the Moon and onward to Mars with launch and recovery of the Artemis I flight test. These missions – and every NASA mission – are an achievement made possible by our unrivaled team,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
NASA

The team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center has played a significant role in this achievement, according to Center Director Jody Singer.

“I am proud of all we accomplished at Marshall in 2022, from exploring the universe’s depths through NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer to our critical role in successfully launching the Artemis I test flight – none of this would be possible without our incredibly dedicated and skilled workforce,” Singer said. “I truly believe people are our strength, so it is no surprise NASA was once again named the best place to work in the federal government. Our talented and diverse team at Marshall is poised to do even more this year, starting with developing innovative technologies like the Mars Ascent Vehicle, advanced habitation systems, and Space Nuclear Propulsion that will help take humanity safely and quickly to the Moon, Mars and beyond.” 

The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings are based on responses to the Office of Personnel Management’s annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey from almost 557,778 federal workers and an additional 326,300 employees at 14 agencies that conducted separate surveys at the same time and had a response rate of more than 50%. The Partnership for Public Service began publishing the rankings in 2003.

This year, the Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group, in collaboration with The Washington Post, released an advanced look at a portion of the 2022 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings and data. This special edition featured the rankings of the top 10 agencies in four categories – large, midsize, and small agencies as well their subcomponents.

“In 2022, NASA unfolded the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope, achieved a watershed moment for planetary protection with DART impact, and took a giant leap in our journey back to the Moon and onward to Mars with launch and recovery of the Artemis I flight test. These missions – and every NASA mission – are an achievement made possible by our unrivaled team,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The passion and precision of our workforce makes NASA the best place to work in the federal government. Together, we are poised to accomplish more daring feats with new advancements, more scientific contributions on Earth and in the heavens, and more incredible technological breakthroughs that will help shape the 21st century.”

The complete list of rankings for the Best Places to Work is available online.