As the government is shutting down effective Oct. 1, NASA will need to cease its operations entirely except for the missions already launched into space. Astronauts out there will not need to worry as they will still receive continuous support.
The decision was a result of the Congress' unsuccessful budget allocation after the U.S government's fiscal year ended Tuesday. Now, federal agencies including NASA have to brace themselves and prepare for cease of operations in the absence of budget allocations.
Plans of NASA shutting down were officially announced on Friday. It detailed how the space agency will be implementing the cease of its operations.
According to NASA’s plans, "The extent of support necessary and the time needed to safely cease project activities will depend on whether any of the activities are of a hazardous nature (e.g., parts of the satellite may need to be cooled)."
The space agency plans to keep all space crafts and satellites which are already in space. Those not yet launched will be discontinued and any existing project will be suspended.
President Obama assured that this will not affect the astronauts who are already active in their space missions. "NASA will shut down almost entirely, but Mission Control will remain open to support the astronauts serving on the space station."
Currently, NASA has several active satellites, space crafts, and missions outside the Earth's atmosphere. The International Space Station presently houses two American astronauts. Mike Hopkins just arrived in space last Sept. 25 for a six-month space travel while Karen Nyberg, who has been there since May, will not be back until May 2014. Both of them are part of the Expedition 37 along with four others of different nationalities.
Other active operational missions are still deployed in Mars—the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers. Other planetary missions are New Horizons launched 2006 to arrive in Pluto by 2016; Juno launched on 2011 to reach Jupiter by 2016; and Voyager-1 launched 1977 to study the outer Solar System. Observatory spacecrafts are also on investigative flights including Spitzer Space and Hubble Space Telescopes, and Solar Dynamic Observatory.
NASA is also having a major furlough. Out of its 18,000 strong base of employees, only 600 or less will be retained to support the space operations already launched.
