<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER  No. 2018 -- 5/21/2009 >>>>>

NASA will soon be outsourcing its entire manned space program to Russia.
The space shuttle is being decommissioned until a new manned space vehicle
can be made to get U.S. astronauts into orbit. In the meantime the U.S.
will be totally dependent on hitching rides on the Russian Soyuz space
capsule to get to the space station. The soonest the U.S. can fly into
space without the help of the Russians would be 2014.

NASA shies away from calling what they are doing outsourcing and judging
from the majority of news articles, NASA isn't saying much about this at
all. Russia calls the outsourcing deal a form of tourism for American
astronauts. Regardless of what bureaucrats call it the U.S. will have to
pay $51 million to the Russians for a round trip to the space station. The
$51 million probably doesn't include the price of luggage! The price us up
from $21 million per flight that Russia charged in 2006.

$51 million is a big chunk of change that may look like price gouging --
especially since that hefty price tag is only for one seat aboard the
Soyuz. Russia claims that it has to charge so much because of inflation.
Russia is correct about worldwide inflation but what they didn't say is
that the inflation is caused by a falling U.S. dollar that is losing value
because of our massive trade imbalances, which is caused in part by the
insatiable desire in the U.S. to outsource everything including spaceflight
to foreign countries,

According to Wikipedia the price of a single shuttle launch is $60 million,
so using the Russian Soyuz is no bargain. The shuttle can carry up to 6
people, which would cost $306 million if the Soyuz was used to do the same
thing. It took me a little digging to find out that the space shuttle can
carry ten times the cargo an unmanned Russian Progress can handle -- 5,000
for the Progress versus 50,000 lb (22 700 kg). If the Soyuz carries it
maximum of three people the cargo is much less than the Progress because it
uses basically the same rocket. So, in order to outsource the space shuttle
to Russia we will pay far more money for a totally inferior product. In the
meantime our money will support the Russian space program and the jobs of
Russian scientists and engineers. What kind of deal is that?

Thousands of rocket scientists have already lost their jobs as NASA
prepares to outsource the space shuttle program to Russia, and 900 more
Americans will soon lose their jobs as the manufacturing facilities for the
space shuttle are closed down. It is not known how many of those
contractors will eliminate their H-1B workers, but there are plenty to
choose from. Look at this spreadsheet of Shuttle contractors that use H-1Bs
from Dr. Gene Nelson:

http://www.jobdestruction.info/ShameH1B/Library/BrainSavers/Shuttle_Contract
ors_DoL.PDF

Keep in mind that it was just five years ago that NASA was complaining
about a shortage of engineers!

In 2004 NASA and other government agencies orchestrated a huge propaganda
campaign to con gullible high school students into majoring in engineering
and science so that they could work at NASA. As Pete Cerny, deputy
technical director for ASMDA's ground-based missile defense system
explained, they were planting, "the seed that there is some very
interesting work in engineering and science here in town - opportunities
they [smart high school students] ought to consider,"  NASA officials said
that they were concerned there won't be enough "young talent coming through
the ranks to replace retiring scientists and technicians".

The high school students who listened to NASA's 2004 plea for more
engineers should be graduating soon -- perhaps this year. Many of them will
proudly march to NASA with their new engineering and aerospace diplomas in
order to apply for all of those lucrative jobs they were promised -- but
they will be greeted by closed doors and hostile HR personnel.

It would be a very good newspaper story to follow up on these young college
grads to see how they and their parents feel about being stiffed by NASA.
If by chance one of those grads sees this newsletter, please email me with
your experiences.



REFERENCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_program#Costs
Space Shuttle program


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz-FG
Soyuz-FG


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_(spacecraft)
Progress (spacecraft)

http://www.spacetoday.org/SpcStns/SoyuzTransport.html
Soyuz Transports Cosmonauts and Astronauts


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090513/sc_nm/us_space_russia_usa
Russia to charge NASA $51 million per space flight


http://www.russiatoday.ru/Top_News/2009-05-14/Inflation_beefs_up_price_tag_f
or_ISS_trips.html
Inflation beefs up price tag for ISS trips


http://blog.al.com/space-news/2009/05/nasa_will_slash_900_space_shut.html
NASA will slash 900 space shuttle jobs in Florida by September


http://tvnz.co.nz/technology-news/russia-charge-more-per-space-flight-274066
7
Russia to charge more per space flight


http://www.tennvalleycorridor.org/news/digest_detail.html?digest_date=2004
-10-11
Program Looks To Find More Rocket Scientists

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

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090513/sc_nm/us_space_russia_usa

Russia to charge NASA $51 million per space flight
By Conor Sweeney Conor Sweeney Wed May 13, 10:27 am ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia will charge U.S. astronauts $51 million per
return trip to the International Space Station (ISS) from 2012 and will
resume selling seats to space tourists, Russian news agencies reported on
Wednesday.

NASA needs to use the Russian Soyuz capsule because its own Space Shuttle
will be retired next year after nearly 3 decades in service and a
replacement is not due until 2014 at the earliest.

Russia's own plans for a new spacecraft are running behind schedule, with
the planned unveiling of a mock-up now delayed by a year to 2010, Interfax
quoted Anatoly Perminov head of Russian space agency Roskosmos as saying.

"We've agreed with our American partners the sum of $51m, starting in
2012," Perminov was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.

He did not specify how much astronauts will be charged between 2010 and
2012, but in 2006 Russia charged the United States $21.8 million per return
flight to the ISS. Since then the price for of a space tourist ticket to
the ISS has climbed to $35 million from $20 million.

Roskosmos earlier said that U.S. billionaire Charles Simonyi's March flight
to the ISS would be the last by a space tourist as a doubling of the space
station crew to six would leave no room for amateurs.

But as Kazakhstan has canceled its plans to send a trained cosmonaut into
space this September, the Soyuz now has one free seat, Perminov was quoted
as saying. He said the tourist would not be the last.

"This form of tourism will continue," Perminov was quoted by Itar-Tass as
saying.

NASA and all other partners will be solely dependent on Russia for crew
transport after the shuttle ceases operations.

NASA plans to replace the shuttles with Apollo-style capsules that in
addition to traveling to the space station will be able to fly astronauts
to the moon's surface.

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

http://www.russiatoday.ru/Top_News/2009-05-14/Inflation_beefs_up_price_tag_f
or_ISS_trips.html

Inflation beefs up price tag for ISS trips

14 May, 2009, 17:07

Starting 2012, NASA will pay $51 million for each astronaut delivered to
the International Space Station via Russian spacecraft.

The price was amended due to inflation, as Aleksey Krasnov, head of the
human space-flight program of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, told
journalists on Wednesday. He didn’t mention the current price, but said
it is reviewed from time to time to reflect changes in the exchange rate.

NASA will have no manned space capabilities of its own once the Space
Shuttle is retired next year. The replacement Ares I/Orion system is not
expected to be ready at least until 2014, so during the gap the US space
agency will buy trips from Russia to run their mission to the International
Space Station.

Read more

Krasnov said ‘commercial tickets’ to the ISS will also rise in price.
The last space tourist US billionaire Charles Simonyi's paid $30 million to
travel to the ISS in March.

Earlier Roscosmos said that Simonyi’s trip will be the last for a space
tourist, since after the crew of the ISS is doubled the station will have
no room for non-professionals. However this policy may change.

The agency’s head Anatoly Perminov asked Roman Romanenko to assess the
feasibility of permanently keeping three Russian cosmonauts in orbit. "This
is very important, because it’s about big money," ITAR-TASS news agency
quotes him as saying. Romanenko will go to the ISS on the next Soyuz
spacecraft to be launched from Baikonur cosmodrome.

If Russia decides to have only two people onboard, there will be a spot for
private participants with enough cash to spare at least until the Russian
segment of the station is expanded with the MRM-2 module.

One place is vacant even now, after Kazakhstan refused to send its
professional space explorer this September. The names of the candidates to
replace him are to be revealed after May 25. At the moment, people from
four countries have applied for the flight.

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

http://blog.al.com/space-news/2009/05/nasa_will_slash_900_space_shut.html

NASA will slash 900 space shuttle jobs in Florida by September
Posted by sspires May 01, 2009 06:25AM

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- About 900 space shuttle workers in Florida are facing
layoffs between now and September as the shuttle program slides into its
final phase of flight, with eight shuttle flights remaining on NASA's
mission manifest over the next 13 months.
NASANASA will start laying off workers at Kennedy Space Center today.

No shuttle layoffs have been reported in Huntsville. Most of that work has
been moved to the planned shuttle replacement - the Ares I.

"Tomorrow, we have a layoff of about 160 people on the team," shuttle
Program Manager John Shannon told major news organizations Thursday.
"Between tomorrow and the end of September, we will reduce the program by
about 900 people."

Members of Congress have moved to put an additional $2.5 billion into the
fiscal year 2010 budget - now being debated on Capitol Hill - but that
money would pay for two more flights and could slide the retirement date by
about a year. The shuttle program has hardware for about three more
flights.

There are about 15,000 jobs across the nation tied to the shuttle program.
About 1,000 of those are in North Alabama, with Marshall Space Flight
Center having about 350 federal employees working on the shuttle program.

The Florida layoffs "are primarily manufacturing team members," Shannon
said. "We have delivered the last pieces of hardware that those team
members produce and we don't keep them on the roles. And that is in order
to get our budget down to the marks and the assumptions we made early on.
So we will start tomorrow and continue with the workforce reduction we had
outlined."

The shuttle was first launched April 12, 1981. Its final flight is now
planned for May 31, 2010

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

http://tvnz.co.nz/technology-news/russia-charge-more-per-space-flight-274066
7

Russia to charge more per space flight

Published: 11:34PM Friday May 15, 2009

Russia will charge US astronauts US$51 million ($86 million) per return
trip to the International Space Station (ISS) from 2012 and will resume
selling seats to space tourists, Russian news agencies reported.
  
NASA needs to use the Russian Soyuz capsule because its own Space Shuttle
will be retired next year after nearly three decades in service and a
replacement is not due until 2014 at the earliest.
  
Russia's own plans for a new spacecraft are running behind schedule, with
the planned unveiling of a mock-up now delayed by a year to 2010, Interfax
quoted Anatoly Perminov head of Russian space agency Roskosmos as saying.
  
"We've agreed with our American partners the sum of $51m, starting in
2012," Perminov was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.
  
He did not specify how much astronauts will be charged between 2010 and
2012, but in 2006 Russia charged the United States US$21.8 million ($37
million) per return flight to the ISS.

Since then the price for of a space tourist ticket to the ISS has climbed
to US$35 million from US$20 million.
  
Roskosmos earlier said that US billionaire Charles Simonyi's March flight
to the ISS would be the last by a space tourist as a doubling of the space
station crew to six would leave no room for amateurs.
  
But as Kazakhstan has cancelled its plans to send a trained cosmonaut into
space this September, the Soyuz now has one free seat, Perminov was quoted
as saying.

He said the tourist would not be the last.
  
"This form of tourism will continue," Perminov was quoted by Itar-Tass as
saying.
  
NASA and all other partners will be solely dependent on Russia for crew
transport after the shuttle ceases operations.
  
NASA plans to replace the shuttles with Apollo-style capsules that in
addition to travelling to the space station will be able to fly astronauts
to the moon's surface.

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

http://www.tennvalleycorridor.org/news/digest_detail.html?digest_date=2004
-10-11

Program Looks To Find More Rocket Scientists

Ninety students enjoy annual 'Adventures in Engineering' program
Huntsville Times, Rebecca Sallee
September 28, 2004

High school juniors with an interest in engineering spent Wednesday with
their "hands on" government simulators much like their video games at home.

The students also enjoyed a slide/video presentation and lecture from
astronaut Michael Foale during the fourth annual "Adventures in
Engineering" program.

Co-sponsored by the Army Space and Missile Defense Association, the
National Defense Industrial Association and the University of Alabama in
Huntsville, the program's purpose is "to plant the seed that there is some
very interesting work in engineering and science here in town -
opportunities they ought to consider," said Pete Cerny, deputy technical
director for ASMDA's ground-based missile defense system.

Planners of the program work with the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce and
guidance counselors in all public and private high schools in Madison
County (including home-based schools) in selecting participants, Cerny
said..

About 90 students and 12 chaperones took part in Wednesday's whirlwind tour
of UAH, Army Aviation and Missile Command, Strategic Missile Defense
Command, Missile and Space Intelligence Center, Marshall Space Flight
Center and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. The program's aim is to help
stem the brain drain of students leaving the area or choosing fields other
than engineering for their careers.

NASA officials are concerned there won't be enough young talent coming
through the ranks to replace retiring scientists and technicians.

Jeff Huntley, a 16-year-old junior at Madison Academy, could some day fill
one of those empty spots. He is considering a veterinary and medical
engineering career and hopes to attend Auburn University.

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