NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Plans Layoffs

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory plans to lay off between 5 percent and 8 percent of its work force as a result of fiscal belt-tightening, officials said.

The lab’s director, Charles Elachi, made the announcement Monday during a staff meeting, saying he expected across-the-board cuts.

About 200 employees and 100 contractors will be affected, said spokesman Blaine Baggett. The lab employs about 5,400 workers.

Congress still has to approve the final NASA budget for fiscal year 2006, but JPL officials said they expected a 2 percent to 5 percent cut in the lab’s budget.

JPL’s budget for fiscal year 2005 was $1.6 billion.

JPL, best known for its robotic exploration of the solar system, recently had two projects scrapped to free up money for NASA’s plan to return to the moon by 2018 as part of President Bush’s space exploration vision.

The axed missions included sending a spacecraft to explore Jupiter’s icy moons and an orbiter to gather data about Mars’ atmosphere.