The retirement of NASA's shuttles could prompt thousands more job losses than once expected because of a national recession and concerns about ongoing changes to the new moon program.
An unreleased local government study is expected to estimate a net loss of as many as 6,000 to 7,000 jobs after 2010 at Kennedy Space Center, said Lisa Rice, president of the Brevard Workforce Development Board Inc.
Two earlier versions of the same study, completed in 2007 and 2008, indicated that the area would lose about 3,500 space jobs in the transition from the shuttle to a replacement fleet of rockets and spaceships.
NASA's latest public estimate placed job losses between 3,000 and 4,000.
The local work force agency's studies are based in part on data provided by NASA and its contractors, as well as independent economic analyses.
A series of varying economic and policy changes are conspiring to make a worrisome situation even more troubling, Rice said.
You can read the rest of the story from this morning's newspaper by clicking here.
Space news and analysis from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral 
1 comment:
Yet another reason why we have to keep the shuttles flying. Now that we're not even certain about Ares and Constelation or anything after the shuttle, we could be even in more trouble and even more dependant on Russia if the shuttle program dies next year.
President Bush announced the retirement of the shuttle with a clear replacement in the wings. That is now not the case. You don't quit a job when you don't have a new one lined up. We cannot cancel the shuttle unless we know for sure what will replace it. In the very least, those laid off workers need some kind of vision for what they could be hired back for if they chose to persue the opportunity to work on the next operational vehicle. To stay the course when the road ahead is fluid at best is incredibly irresponsible.
Post a Comment