Ames hopes to secure $700 million Ames hopes to secure $700 million (February 11, 2005)

But loss of 300 jobs is expected

By Julie O'Shea

At a time when President Bush is talking about cutting the nation's budget, NASA Ames Research Center Director G. Scott Hubbard said he hopes to secure at least $700 million for operations at Moffett Field in the upcoming fiscal year.

Although Hubbard remains optimistic about getting the funds, he warned Monday that the president's new vision for the federal space agency means Ames will ultimately have to reshape its workforce, and an estimated 300 people will be asked to take early retirement or buyout deals. NASA currently employs about 3,000 at its Moffett facility.

The space administration's $16.45 billion budget proposal for 2006, a 2.5 percent hike from last year, presents "a great challenge and a great opportunity at the same time," Hubbard said.

Last January, Bush told NASA he wants to put more money into space exploration with a goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2020.

"This is the budget necessary and the resources necessary to carry this out," NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said during a press briefing Monday.

"We are transforming NASA," O'Keefe added. "This will be an ongoing process."

While this is an ambitious plan, it comes at the expense of other projects, such as Ames' helicopter research and other studies. And Hubbard said the research facility will have to realign its staff to better fit this vision.

Hubbard said it is never easy to hand out pink slips and estimated a "couple hundred" at Ames may lose their jobs with the 2006 budget, up from a "few dozen" the previous year. However, the Ames Research Park, scheduled to be complete by 2014, will create about 7,000 new jobs at Moffett Field. Many of these positions will be filled by university scholars and researchers.

For now, Ames will have to work with what's available. And presently, what's at stake is $1.5 billion from the federal government.

This money is up for grabs, and space centers around the country, including Ames, will compete for the funds through a selection process.

Hubbard said officials at Moffett Field are busily working on the center's request for money, which they will submit to NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. The submissions are ranked and the funds are eventually distributed based on the rankings.

"The landscape has changed completely," Hubbard said. "We are having to restructure ourselves to be more and more like a Silicon Valley company."

Hubbard said he wants at least 10 percent of the $1.5 billion pie, which would contribute to Ames' proposed $700 million budget.

Some of the programs currently funded at Ames include the study of life in the universe, complex computing systems, robotics and air traffic management systems.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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