Houston: Space City

In June, workers at the Johnson Space Center were preparing to seek employment assistance. The reason: a proposed retirement of NASA’s shuttles and the cancellation of the moon program. 7,000 jobs were on the chopping block. Even more disturbing than the setback this would represent for America’s space program was the obstacles it would create for thousands of newly unemployed workers. However, the majority of the losses could soon be avoided thanks to a new budget bill passed by a Senate Committee on Thursday, July 15. The bill calls for a 19 billion budget which brings the number of losses down to a projected 15 of the original 7,000somewhere around 1,050.The conflict over the current direction of the space program is due to a difference in destinations: while NASA’s Constellation program is hoping to reach the moon, President Barack Obama wants the focus to be on Mars and commercial spaceflight. Obama hoped that private companies could be tasked to deliver supplies to the International Space Station within the next few years. However, some astronauts and senators don’t feel the private sector is ready for this responsibility yet. Hopefully, this bill will allow for the “best of both worlds”, as it were. At any rate, it would secure Houston’s position as the continuing center of manned space flight.It’s too early to consider this a full victory, as the President still has the opportunity (and probably the power) to prevent the bill from even reaching the full Senate if he so chooses. With the amount of money being discussed here, it’s easy to expect strong feelings on both sides. Keep your eyes and ears open as this story progresses. If things don’t go the way Houston is hoping, we could be looking at a profound historical change in the space program.