Let The Layoffs Begin
Lockheed weighs layoffs, other cuts for Orion program”, Denver Post
“Lockheed Martin officials have begun looking throughout the Orion crew-capsule program for savings that can be used to cover possible contract termination costs. Those savings could include layoffs of some of the 600 to 650 Lockheed employees in Colorado who are working on the NASA spacecraft.”
Save the space program, HBJ readers say, Houston Business Journal
“Houstonians are protective of the region’s NASA jobs, according to responses to the latest BusinessPulse survey. Houston Business Journal asked readers if it was a waste of time to save the human space flight program, and 73 percent responded “no – we need space exploration/save jobs.”
Work starts on jobs plan, Florida Today
“U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development John Fernandez visited Central Florida Thursday as part of his efforts to develop a plan to invest $40 million to help soon-to-be-jobless space workers by bringing in industries that can put them back to work.”
Last of space shuttle segments leaves Utah, Desert News
“Even as the space shuttle program is winding down, ATK is building the five-segment first stage of the “next-generation” rocket, the Ares 1, and has all five segments in the test stand for a ground test planned in September. Due to the phasing out of the space shuttle program, ATK announced a fourth round of layoffs involving 247 workers last week. Since last April, a total of 1,500 workers have been let go.”
Bishop asks NASA: Will changes be safer for astronauts?, Standard-Examiner
“In a U.S. House hearing on Capitol Hill, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, held a photo of an unidentified Utah worker who lost his job last week at ATK, one of the contractors for the Constellation program. “I hope I can tell him he lost his job because the government was going to save money or come up with a program that was safer for astronauts … not because we are choosing winners or losers in the free market,” said Bishop at a hearing of the House Committee on Science and Technology.”
