Bush's Vision for Space Means Big Cuts Elsewhere at NASA

At Least 14 Facilities, Thousands of Jobs Threatened

By Guy Gugliotta
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 16, 2005; Page A21

President Bush's ambitious strategy for space exploration is forcing wrenching changes at NASA, putting thousands of jobs at risk, threatening closure of facilities across the country and sharply altering the way the agency does business.

Last week, NASA Associate Administrator James L. Jennings warned that the agency could lose as many as 2,680 jobs -- 15.3 percent of its 17,475-member full-time workforce -- in the next 18 months. "You have to streamline the organization and size it to the mission you're carrying out," he said. "It's essential to carry out the exploration mission."

The early target is NASA's aeronautics division, which studies such things as airport noise, pilot fatigue and experimental aircraft design. Aeronautics experts from NASA or its precursors have developed innovations including the X-15 "rocket plane" of the 1950s and 1960s, de-icing systems, and the rounded-bottom "supercritical wing" used today by virtually every commercial jetliner to increase speed, improve range and save fuel.

More at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38103-2005Mar15.html