$15M grant announced to help ex-NASA workers find new jobs

by Steve Ragan - Jun 2 2010, 16:45

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced a National Emergency Grant, totaling $15 million USD, to help 3,200 of the 20,000 contract and subcontract workers who could be laid off at the end of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.

The grant will impact workers from major aerospace contractors, including ASRC Aerospace Corp., Boeing, and United Space Alliance. Issued to The Brevard Workforce Development Board Inc., the grant will help people from entry level workers to skilled engineers obtain career assistance, skills training, continuing education, skills assessments, resume assistance and more.

“During nearly three decades of continuous space shuttle flights, these dedicated and talented workers have helped move our nation - and the world as a whole - forward in a broad range of disciplines,” Secretary Solis said in a statement.

“Today, these hard-working Americans need and deserve our support, and I am pleased that this grant will allow them to upgrade their skills further and gain access to work opportunities in high demand industries,” she added.

The end of the Space Shuttle Program is the result of a decision made in 2004 to retire the stalwart fleet by a projected date of November 2010.

Officials in Florida have speculated that more than 7,000 jobs will be lost because of the program's conclusion. The grant, while welcome, would only support less than half of those who could end up jobless. In all, there are up to 20,000 contract and subcontract workers facing potential unemployment.

In some positive-related NASA news, Expedition 23 safely returned to Earth on Tuesday, landing without problem in Kazakhstan.

The International Space Station (ISS) is now occupied by Expedition 24. Three new Expedition 24 flight engineers - NASA astronauts Shannon Walker and Doug Wheelock, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin - will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on June 16 aboard the Soyuz TMA-19.

The space shuttle Discovery’s final mission is planned for September.

Around the Web