Not surprisingly, the reaction in local media at NASA’s field centers to the proposed FY07 budget fell into two camps. If your center is involved with shuttle, ISS, or the exploration program, you were, if not happy, then at least satisfied. Aeronautics and space science? Not so much.
First, the happy campers:
- NASA’s decision to shift science and exploration funds to support the shuttle is good news for the Kennedy Space Center, Florida Today reports. There is a downside: science cuts will halt work for “dozens of people” at KSC doing research on plant growth for long-duration missions. Still, Orlando’s WESH-TV calls KSC “a big winner” in the budget battle.
- MSFC director Dave King said this was “a good budget for Marshall,” the Huntsville Times notes. While science programs at the center will be cut 10 percent, “this is a very stable budget. We are happy about that,” he said.
- The slate of remaining shuttle flights will be enough to keep the workforce at the Michoud Assembly Facility busy “for several more years,” the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The center is also keeping an eye on NASA’s ability to accelerate the development of the CEV, something NASA seemed to put somewhat less an emphasis on in yesterday’s budget briefing. “A faster timeline for developing the vehicles would lessen the chance of layoffs at the plant once shuttle fuel tank production ends,” the article states.
- The budget also serves the Johnson Space Center well, according to KHOU-TV in Houston. But like Michoud, JSC is looking at the timeline for the CEV with some concern “We’d like to accelerate that four-year gap if possible,” said JSC director Michael Coats. “But an awful lot depends on the budget we got or don’t get.”
And now those feeling some pain:
- The San Jose Mercury News notes that NASA Ames is taking it on the chin in several ways: cuts in aeronautics, the review of the SOFIA project (managed at Ames), and a planned 40-percent cut in NASA’s Astrobiology Institute, a virtual entity run at the center. However, the San Francisco Chronicle notes that as many as 300 jobs are being transferred to Ames from other field centers, including KSC, JSC, and MSFC.
- Delays in the SIM and TPF missions will hurt JPL, the AP reports. However, there are no plans to lay off additional employees at the center, which let go of 300 employees last year.
- Langley is facing a $50-million cut in its aeronautics work, the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot and Hampton Roads Daily Press. But center director Lesa Roe is looking on the bright side: “It’s much higher than what we expected this time last year for ’07.”
- The same attitude is in place at the Dryden Flight Research Center, the Los Angeles Daily News reports, despite aeronautics cuts. No job cuts are foreseen.
- NASA Glenn is looking at the loss of up to 300 jobs by the end of 2007, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Glenn is trying to snag some work associated with the CEV.
