NASA Eliminates Space Shuttle Program and Slashes Jobs

When NASA's space shuttle program closes in 2010, more than 8,000 contractor jobs could be eliminated, while civil servant jobs most likely will stay the same. This is due to the agency's newest program, Constellation, which won't begin flights until 2015. But Associate Administrator for Space Operations at NASA Bill Gerstenmaier has said,

Other cuts, however, are being made as well. At the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, 80% of the workforce will be cut, from 8,000 workers down to between 1,600 and 2,300. And at the Michoud Assembly Facility, 1,300 workers were cut.

Said Tracy Yates, spokeswoman for the largest space shuttle contractor, United Space Alliance, "It's no secret here that we will be a smaller company once the shuttle missions have been completed."




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