Article:

Shuttle Workers Face Big Layoffs as NASA Fleet Retires

by Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer

Date: 22 July 2011 Time: 06:00 AM ET

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Atlantis' crew stands before the orbiter following a successful landing on July 21, 2011. CREDIT: NASA TV View full size image

Now that NASA's space shuttles are grounded for good, many of the jobs that kept the iconic program going will pass into history as well.
Today (July 22), NASA is expected to begin issuing layoff notices to about 3,200 contractors, agency officials have said.
The shuttle program ended Thursday when the shuttle Atlantis and its crew of four astronauts landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, capping a 13-day delivery flight to the International Space Station. The mission was NASA's 135th shuttle flight and the last hurrah of the 30-year space plane program.

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Mike Leinbach, NASA's shuttle launch director, said in a post-landing briefing yesterday that emotions ran high on the runway when he and others welcomed Atlantis and its crew home for the last time.
"There were good emotions that we brought the crew home safely, and the mission's complete. Certainly sadness that it's over, and people will be moving on. Hate to see them leave, but that's a reality," Leinbach said. "I saw grown men and grown women crying today. Tears of joy, to be sure, just human emotions came out on the runway today. You couldn't suppress them." [Photos: NASA's Last Space Shuttle Landing in History]
The Atlantis astronauts, too, repeatedly told the shuttle workers how much they appreciated the years of dedication and hard work. The spaceflyers made statements on the shuttle runway, then again before a vast crowd as Atlantis was towed back to its hangar for the last time.
"Thanks for all you've done for us," mission specialist Rex Walheim said. "It' s been an amazing adventure."


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