Houston- We Have a Problem: NASA Shuttle Contractor Announces Layoffs As 'Obama's 'Recovery Summer' Kicks Off

And here I was thinking it was the Republicans who were anti-science.

The primary contractor for the Space Shuttle, Houston TX based United Space Alliance, announced that they could be cutting up to 15% of its workforce by October 1 of this year.

The cuts were not unexpected with the shuttle program's end looming as early as February.

The Houston-based company employs approximately 8,100 employees at its Florida, Texas and Alabama sites, including nearly 3,000 in the Houston area. The cuts will reduce from 300 to 400 positions from the Houston office.

There are two more Space Shuttle launches scheduled- the last one is supposed to be taking pace in February 2011. After that, NASA will get down to the nitty-gritty of it's new mission; outreach to Muslim nations.

No, really.