NASA predicted it would cut nearly half as many jobs at Kennedy Space Center as it estimated six months ago, according to a report Wednesday that
still forecasts several thousand fewer spaceport workers once the space
shuttles stop flying.
KSC could shed as many as 4,500 positions by 2011, a year
after the shuttles are scheduled to be retired. However, the NASA launch center
would then pick up an additional 1,000 jobs in the following two years as the
space agency transitions to the Constellation
project that is envisioned to replace the shuttle program, the agency said
in its report to Congress.
NASA predicted in an earlier version of the report, released
this spring, that the shuttle
program would slash about 6,400 jobs by 2012.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who has pushed NASA to offset job losses by bringing in
research projects and other types of work, said the latest version of the
job-impact report offered mixed news.
"This is better than losing 6,400 jobs, but it's still
a cut that's going to hurt," the Orlando Democrat said.
U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, an Orlando Republican, praised
NASA's effort to "mitigate the difficult transition under way at
KSC."
"It is critical that we find ways to make sure this
talented work force, a national asset, is maintained and fully engaged as we
move rapidly forward with Constellation and look to expand commercial
activities at the Cape," he said.
The discrepancy in the KSC work force estimate between
NASA's first report, back in March, to its current forecast is because the
agency has a better idea of what kind of transition jobs it can offer shuttle
workers, said NASA spokesman Michael Curie. The agency also was aided by
Constellation-based contracts for projects that were recently awarded. Evolving
details about existing and future work have helped refine the estimates in the
half-year since the first version of the report.
"Because some of the contracts (for Constellation) have
been let, we now know where some people are going to go," Curie said.
"Whereas previously, we knew they were leaving the shuttle program, but
didn't have a real definite idea of where they may be going or how many people
would be needed for the new things."
The figures aren't a complete surprise. During a Senate
field hearing at KSC in June, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said the agency's
job losses at KSC ultimately would be about "three to four thousand"
once all the details were finalized. It appears that prediction is reflected in
the new report to Congress.
Curie noted that the current estimates still do not include
future work for the Ares V rockets and the Altair landers "so we expect
the situation to get better." For example, work on the lunar lander, moon
outpost equipment and research and development could be based at Kennedy, too,
creating more jobs than currently envisioned. The report also does not take
into account political debate about extending the space shuttle program by one
mission — or possibly several years.
NASA will deliver its next work force estimate to Congress some
time next spring. The agency is under a Congressional order to update the
estimates every six months — with breakdowns for each of NASA's field centers
across the country.
U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, an Oviedo Republican whose district
includes KSC, said he was relieved the original job-loss estimates were
"dramatically higher" than now seem to be anticipated.
Like Florida's two senators, he said the report stresses the
fact that "the biggest opportunity is in collateral aerospace — private
and nonprofit and commercial ventures, whether it's in space tourism, research
or other activities located at Kennedy Space Center."
The report does not include developments outside NASA,
including potential growth in the commercial launch sector from new companies
such as SpaceX or efforts by local and state officials to land space tourism
projects for facilities at either KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
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