![]() ![]() NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE: Well, I'm looking out of the NPR tent. Can you just paint a word picture for us of what you see from right in front of you all the way out to the shuttle? And Nell, if I'm not mistaken, you've seen quite a few of these launches and now you're waiting for this last one if it happens this morning. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce who began our conversation, is still with us once again, I believe. I want to go back now to Florida, where there is a view. Johnson Space Center's is a little bit like a military base, with checkpoints, so the public can't get in. They'll be employed, just not in the space program anymore. Now, the Texas economy is doing better than most and the energy sector is making money hand over fists these days, so many of these scientists and engineers are being hired there for their expertise. ![]() ![]() Thousands of NASA employees are losing their jobs here, thousands of more outside contracting jobs depend on NASA. GOODWYN: It's going to have a big impact, tens of millions of dollars a year, maybe more than a hundred million, it's hard to know yet. MONTAGNE: You know, but I wonder what, from that end of things, in Houston, how they feel the impact is of the end of the shuttle program, for the community there. Finally, there's some anger at the federal government, at President Obama and some of the higher-ups at NASA that there's not a next plan, you know, the next program, the next vision for American space already in place and ready to go. And there's sadness that this is it, the final mission for shuttle program. Everyone's pretty proud of what's been done here over the last 30 years, proud of themselves, proud of their country. That being said, of course there's plenty of emotion too. They've got a shuttle to launch, a mission to carry out, and then one last time back to Earth safely. I think first and foremost, everyone's down to business. WADE GOODWYN: Well, there's all kinds of feelings here. And Wade, what is the mood there in Houston? Mission Control operates out of there, and it's where the astronauts live and train. That's where the space program is at the Johnson Space Center there. But we also have Wade Goodwyn in Houston. Of course the space shuttle launches from Florida. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |