With the job losses associated with the space shuttle's impending retirement beginning to mount, space has become a hot-button issue in election campaigns in districts surrounding NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida Today reports. As the story points out, the shuttle's retirement has been planned for a long time, but the reality is hitting home now. It's not just the 8,000 jobs directly associated with the shuttle program; it's also the ripple effect of the loss of those jobs to the region's economy in the form of reduced real estate values and the loss of retail businesses.
"Christopher Muro, a political science professor at Brevard Community College, said candidates running for office locally need to be prepared with answers when voters ask them about the space program. At the same time, Muro said, they should not make promises they can't keep about saving space-related jobs targeted for elimination."
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