[FPSPACE] Carreer decisions and the Shuttle

[Allen Thomson]

The article excerpted below touches a point that came up in a local 
discussion yesterday.

Suppose you were, as many people are, a veteran, skilled, experienced, 
engineer or technician working on the Shuttle.  Suppose you see NASA 
management acting as if the program is snake-bit and one of its major goals 
is to stop flying Shuttles as soon as possible, five years max.  Suppose 
that you have a mortgage to pay, kids to put through college and a 
retirement to fund.

Does this affect your carreer choices, how you approach your current job, 
how many resumes you send out? Are you going to hang around, give it your 
all right up to the last flight?

Likely a fair number will do exactly that, out of dedication and a sense of 
responsiblity.  But what does "a fair number" mean in percentage of the 
workforce?

Does NASA have a strategy to retain people for these five years, or to 
replace those who may decide to bail if they can?


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/16/AR2005071600605.html

Experts: Aging Shuttle Fleet Poses Danger

By JEFF DONN
The Associated Press
Saturday, July 16, 2005; 1:31 PM

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Maybe NASA's managers still view the shuttle as the 
Cadillac of space technology, but they sometimes make it sound as if it were 
a cranky old Ford with a few too many miles on it.

[megasnip]

Kathryn Thornton, a former astronaut who has advised NASA on returning to 
flight, said she worries the agency won't be willing to keep the spacecraft 
in the best flying condition as it approaches retirement. "You have to keep 
the people and expertise around to the last flight," she said.