--- title: Layoffs and Hardship for Space-Shuttle Workers | TIME description: The end of the space shuttle means layoffs and other economic distress for Florida’s Space Coast canonical: https://time.com/video/3QRyOoqM/ og:title: Layoffs and Hardship for Space-Shuttle Workers og:description: The end of the space shuttle means layoffs and other economic distress for Florida’s Space Coast og:url: https://time.com/video/3QRyOoqM/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/3QRyOoqM/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Layoffs and Hardship for Space-Shuttle Workers twitter:description: The end of the space shuttle means layoffs and other economic distress for Florida’s Space Coast twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/3QRyOoqM/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Layoffs and Hardship for Space-Shuttle Workers > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Layoffs and Hardship for Space-Shuttle Workers [Watch (HLS stream): Layoffs and Hardship for Space-Shuttle Workers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3QRyOoqM.m3u8) (5:44)  _Published 2011-07-20. The end of the space shuttle means layoffs and other economic distress for Florida’s Space Coast_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:15 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Space Shuttle Endeavour Flies Over Hollywood](/video/VOva030r/) ### Space Shuttle Endeavour Flies Over Hollywood [Space Shuttle Enterprise Flyby](/video/GwHMWI8G/) ### Space Shuttle Enterprise Flyby [30 Years of Space Shuttle: What Now?](/video/laksu0IT/) ### 30 Years of Space Shuttle: What Now? --- ## Transcript Okay, the entrance is here. It's probably gonna be more like a funeral. When you know, how much time, effort, and sweat equity that you have put, in, America's best. Yeah, let's, let's go to part frequence four To see, it fly, for the last time, my daughter asked me, she said, daddy you gonna cry. I said, I don't see how I couldn't. Lotta eyes watching this one. Like thousands of people today, Robert Jordan has come here to see the final launch of the space shuttle program. Two, one, zero and liftoff. There we go! There we go. [ UNKNOWN ] [ NOISE ] But for Robert, this launch is not just a milestone. [ NOISE ] I wanna cry. [ LAUGH ] It's personal. Robert is one of the estimated 5, 400 space workers losing their jobs as NASA closes down the space shuttle program. Dan, my favorite engineer for sure. Hi, how you doing? You were our favorite management. [ SOUND ] thank you, that's very kind of you. Robert was laid off in January, after 31 years as a top engineer on the space shuttle. But he landed on his feet, and he was able to buy a local engineering business. I just looked on [ UNKNOWN ], said hey. 31 years of, space exploration for me, I was part of a historical time, no one else can say they were there from the beginning, and, did what I did, I just thought that, this was gonna be a challenge but I'm up for the challenge. But, this is not only about challenges, for one laid off worker. It's about what comes next for a town, known for the last 50 years. As Space City. We're sort of a company town. I think we were probably just a little to dependent on NASA jobs. I think we were probably around eleven percent on unemployment right now. The layoffs impacted the entire space coast as this part of Floridas called. The Mayor says Titusville has suffered far worse. We're certainly not talking about the same kind of catastrophic event that the end of Apollo was. Its, it's just a whole different scenario. [ SOUND ] Oh we have a liftoff. By the time NASA ended the Apollo moon missions in 1973, it had cut nearly 11, 000 jobs. Back then Brovard County had a much smaller population. And Titusville was hit severely. [ SOUND ] And it's not just local. The end of the shuttle affects Houston and New Orleans as well. And it's not just jobs, it's launched tourism. It's the biggest day in Titasville. Anytime we have a launch, you look for Titasville to at least quadruple the population. The final liftoff of Atlantis. [ CROSSTALK ] According to the space coast tourism office the average launch has injected 4 to 6 million dollars into the local economy. And this one Brought in 15 to 20 million. But now that's all over with. It's my job as, as the mayor to be Titusville's number 1 cheerleader. I, I, I mean, I tell people all the time, we're the only city on the planet that has two airports, two golf courses two halls of fame, a space museum. And the mayor's pitch goes on. A vintage aircraft museum. And on. Yet, for local residents, like contractor Tom Easly, it's falling on deaf ears. The housing market being where it's at and everything else. I don't, I don't see it turned around in ten years here, I haven't seen a rabbit and I haven't seen a hat, and until somebody pulls that rabbit out of that hat, I don't see any miracles coming. You're gonna bring, economic growth, you'll, you'll take care of us. Nobody is banking on miracles. Father we pray that You would give us vision. But these area pastors are using prayer and donations to ease the economic pain. We heard our great mayor or Titusville say that the space [ UNKNOWN ] did not make Titusville but Titusville made the space You can't Just be naive and say, well, it's okay, God's gonna fix it, you know? Because there's a certain amount of personal responsibility, and things that people have to do. Thank you, [ UNKNOWN ]. With that in mind, the group organized a charity for laid off space workers, aptly named the Joseph Fund. Joseph is the biblical prophet who warned Egypt to prepare for hard times. They really don't have any idea how to even apply for assistance. They don't, they're not on food stamps. They don't have all the typical, you know, venues for help that other people have. One of the things that, that you go through is the initial shock and panic, like what do I do now? Rick Garbiso got help from the fund. He was laid off six months ago and he's still looking for work. I'm kind of stunned that. They would allow all the skill, these years, these decades of skills and technologies to just go away. [ NOISE ] Atlantis now 15 miles in altitude, already 16 miles downrange from the Kennedy Space Center. That's it man. As for Robert Jordan. He's saying his goodbyes. [ UNKNOWN ] Take care. Bye bye. All right, bye bye. [ INAUDIBLE ] But he doesn't appear to be looking back. I believe that I gave my best to the American space program, and it is just time to move on. [ SOUND ] Atlantis traveling almost 2600 miles an hour, 21 miles in altitude, 24 miles down range. 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