Florida Gov. Jeb Bush lauded the move, saying that it "symbolizes the continuing partnership between Florida and the space industry."

"The strategic relocation of the shuttle modifications to Florida is a testament to our economic strength," Bush said. "We are proud that NASA has chosen to expand its presence in the Sunshine State."

There was little praise, however, coming out of California.

U.S. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, a California Republican whose district includes the Palmdale area, said the move marked "a sad day" for his community but added that he understood NASA's need to save money.

Noting that "a savings of $30 million was simply too much to pass up" during difficult financial times, McKeon added that he still opposed the decision.

"I believe the decision to be shortsighted and possibly harmful to the program in the long-term," McKeon said, adding that NASA stood to "lose the institutional memory of an experienced work force that cannot be replaced by training."

"I fear that the damage done by this one step will be penny-wise but pound-foolish."

NASA periodically sidelines one of its four orbiters for structural inspections and modifications, leaving its three other ships to carry out shuttle missions in the meantime.

With the exception of one shuttle overhaul done at KSC in 1992, that work always has been done at a Boeing Co. plant in Palmdale and typically takes between 12 and 18 months.

NASA officials, however, announced last year that the shuttle program was facing an anticipated budget shortfall of $800 million over the next five years.

That situation prompted managers to consider moving the shuttle overhaul work to Florida to save money, and then last August, NASA gave its shuttle prime contractor -- United Space Alliance -- a go-ahead to hire new workers at KSC.

The idea was to train additional workers in case a decision ultimately was made to move the work to Florida. NASA also agreed to reimburse the company for money spent if the work remained in California, so the move came as no huge surprise.

The location of the work, meanwhile, has been a longstanding political football.

NASA contemplated transferring the work to Florida around 1992. But members of the California congressional delegation threatened to vote against the agency's space station project, and the work remained in California.

Three years later, NASA's own Inspector General conducted an investigation that showed the agency could save $30 million per shuttle overhaul by moving the work to Florida. But the agency once again decided to continue conducting inspections and modifications in Palmdale.

At the time, NASA was flying six to eight shuttle missions per year, and officials said that the agency didn't want to tie up one of only three available shuttle hangars at KSC with orbiter modification work.

The picture now, however, has changed dramatically.

With a projected cost overrun of $5 billion, NASA's International Space Station program essentially has been put on probation by the Bush Administration, and as a result, the annual shuttle flight rate is expected to drop to four or five missions from 2003 through 2006.

NASA officials, consequently, determined that the Florida work force could handle routine launch preparations as well as orbiter modification work, Counts said.

Also a major factor: A new cost assessment that once again showed that NASA could save $30 million per shuttle overhaul by doing the modification work at KSC.

Conducted at Johnson Space Center in Houston, the new study indicated NASA could save money on lower labor, energy and other operational costs in Florida. In addition, it typically costs NASA about $2 million to ferry a shuttle orbiter to California and back to Florida atop a modified 747 jumbo jet.

The cost of NASA's last overhaul -- one carried out on shuttle Columbia -- was about $70 million. Some 400 workers were involved in that work at the Palmdale plant.

Next up: sistership Discovery, which last flew on a mission to the space station last August.

The overhaul will involve thorough inspections of Discovery's airframe and electrical wiring as well as modifications to the ship's various systems. The big-ticket item: Installing an advanced cockpit, work that NASA had considered scrapping due to its projected shuttle budget shortfall.

NASA's fleet leader with 30 flights to date, Discovery is expected to return to the fleet in early 2004.

The future of the Palmdale facility, meanwhile, might not be as bleak as it appears.

The work force at the plant -- which is the only shuttle manufacturing facility in the world -- is expected to drop to 110 from the current payroll of 350, but Boeing officials said the company will try to place affected workers within other corporate divisions.

Furthermore, the company said it has no plans to shut down the factory.

Space shuttle components still are being manufactured at the plant, a shuttle parts warehouse still will be maintained and technicians there also work on ground support equipment for the company's Delta 4 rocket program.

What's more, company officials think that there's still a chance that either future shuttle work -- or work on any spaceship the agency builds to replace the shuttle -- could end up being done in Palmdale.

"The facility is not going to close. It's too important for the long-term work on the shuttle -- not just orbiter major modification but futuristic upgrades. We want to hedge our bets and keep it open," said Boeing spokesman Glenn Golightly.

"I can't predict the future very well, but we think Palmdale is an important place for us, and it still has a future role to play in the shuttle program," he added. "We think it's still the best place to do any kind of orbiter work."