spacetoday.net: NASA lowers KSC job loss estimates

Posted: Wed, Jun 25, 2008, 7:13 AM ET (1113 GMT)
The number of jobs at the Kennedy Space Center that will be lost once the shuttle is retired will be less than originally feared, agency officials said Monday. In a Senate field hearing at Cape Canaveral on Monday, NASA administrator Mike Griffin said that the agency now estimated that there would be a net loss of 3,000 and 4,000 jobs at KSC after the shuttle is retired in 2010. That estimate is less than previous predictions of 6,400 jobs because of plans by NASA to establish additional engineering work at the center, as well as work on the Ares 5 launch vehicle and Altair lunar lander that will take place at the center. Local and state officials, as well as members of Congress from the region, have expressed concern about the effect of the post-shuttle layoffs on the regional economy.