I would think the National Security venue of NASA would pick up the slack to some extent. But, if private industry is going to 'be serious' they need to promote their own advances as well.
The USA has just been through a huge economic collapse. Can you tell?
...Also, the company that makes rocket boosters for the soon-to-be-retired space shuttle (click title to entry - thank you) said it laid off hundreds of employees Thursday because of uncertainty over the future of the U.S. space program. ATK Aerospace Systems dismissed 414 engineers, factory workers and other employees at three northern Utah locations, company spokesman George Torres told The Associated Press.
Separately, budget cuts are forcing NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California to lay off 45 people for the next fiscal year.
JPL spokesperson Veronical McGregor told the Pasadena Star-News the layoffs will affect less than two percent of the total work force of about 5,000 employees. JPL is a federally funded research and development center in the San Gabriel Valley.
