Congressman claims JSC employees support shutdown

While the Johnson Space Center (JSC) had the most employees excepted from furlough of any NASA center, most NASA employees there still have been furloughed: about 95%, according to a memo detailing NASA’s shutdown plans issued in late September. Nonetheless, the congressman whose district includes the center claims that most JSC employees that have contacted […]

Shutdown effects percolate through the space community

As the federal government shutdown enters its second week, the focus of the space-related impacts of the lapse in appropriations has been on NASA, who was forced to furlough about 97 percent of its employees and, temporarily, suspended preparations for the time-sensitive launch of the MAVEN Mars orbiter. Those furloughs have forced NASA to maintain […]

Shutdown scenes from a spaceflight symposium

Despite the federal government shutdown, the US Naval Institute proceeded with a history symposium titled “Past, Present, and Future of Human Space Flight” at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, on Thursday. “The conference IS NOT AFFECTED by the government shut down,” the conference website stated, but that was only partially accurate. The shutdown […]

Conflicting claims about China, NASA, and cooperation

Does NASA want to find ways to cooperate more with China in space, despite current legislative restrictions? Or is NASA using those restrictions to blunt the free flow of information among scientists? Both, depending on what you read.

On Monday, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported that NASA administrator Charles Bolden met with […]

Senator raises concern shutdown will delay MAVEN (update: it’s saved)

One of the most widely-noted impacts of the government shutdown on NASA has been that the vast majority of its employees—about 97 percent—are furloughed. Despite some reports claiming that NASA is the hardest-hit federal agency, at least one has furloughed a larger percentage of its workforce: 99 percent of the NSF’s employees are furloughed, according […]

And so it begins

The good news was that President Obama mentioned NASA in a speech. The bad news: the speech was about the impending federal government shutdown and its effects on various agencies. “NASA will shut down almost entirely,” he said in a speech late Monday afternoon, after noting that many essential government functions will continue, “but Mission […]