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A PhD student has been slated online after she revealed the real reason why she turned down her ‘dream job’ at NASA.
The Californian’s admission has sparked outrage among people on social media after she shared that she was offered an internship at NASA.
It was set to take place at the space agency’s Human Health and Performance program but 26-year-old Daniela Lucas turned it down.
The program focuses on humans living, working and thriving in space.
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On its page, it read: “Our mission is to lead the global spaceflight community in protecting astronaut health and ensuring human mission performance.”
Taking to TikTok to explain her reasoning, she revealed that she declined it because of ‘the current administration’.
In the clip, she said: “No one tells you how hard it is to reject an offer from your dream internship at NASA because of the current administration.”
Lucas’ video received so much backlash that she has since blocked her account after users were shocked that she would turn down the opportunity.
Reacting to the clip, one user took to X, formerly Twitter, to say: “This is just sad. I mean, it’s good for NASA, obviously, but these young people are letting four years of a president they don’t like limit them so much. It’s heartbreaking. The Democrats have a lot to answer for.”
Another wrote: “She's going to regret that. Opportunities like this don't come around often.”
A third person commented: “If she let politics impact her decision to intern with NASA that much, then it's probably for the best. It means she might bring politics into the workplace.”
A fourth said: “This has to be fake. No way someone is smart enough to land a NASA internship only to turn it down. But if it's real—she sure showed them! Or… not.”
And a fifth user added: “I feel like NASA dodged an asteroid there.”
The bioengineering PhD student at UC San Diego declined the sough after offer, with over 2,000 students applying for an internship with NASA every year.
According to Space Crew, only a fraction of applications are successful.
In fact, NASA has just a 5% acceptance rate for its job listings.
Since making his return to the Oval Office, President Donald Trump announced plans to make major budget cuts that will impact NASA next year.
This includes cutting almost 50% of its science programs.
