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NASAs January Announcement
on Hubble Shocks Nation

NASA Administrator Sean OKeefe shocked the Goddard work force, the astronomy community and the nation when he announced in January that he would cancel a fourth previously designed manned servicing mission to Hubble. OKeefe based his decision on recommendations from the investigation of the Columbia space shuttle disaster and the risks of manned missions.

OKeefes announcement lit a fuse in the broad and influential community supporting the Hubble. On March 25, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) introduced a resolution in the U.S. Senate to save the Hubble. The resolution, concurrently introduced in the House of Representatives, outlined the scientific achievements of the telescope, calling it "NASAs most scientifically productive mission, accounting for 35 percent of all [the agencys] discoveries in the last 20 years. " The resolution stated, "approximately $200 million worth of instruments have largely been built" for the planned repair flight. It concluded with a recommendation that "NASA appoint an independent panel of expert scientists and engineers to examine all possible options for safely carrying out the planned servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and assess alternate servicing methods"

OKeefe called upon the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a review of options.

In a July 13 interim report, the academy recommended that NASA leave the door open on a manned mission while simultaneously investigating the option of a robotic servicing procedure.

Fearful Workers Relieved
By Announcement

Dion Guthrie, Mike Kurtz and the members of Local 1501 rallied political support for continuing the Hubble mission.

On July 21, Guthrie and Kurtz accompanied Senator Mikulski, Hubble Project Manager Frank Cepollina and Mantech Project Manager Mike Yachmetz on a tour of Goddards Hubble facilities.

On August 9, OKeefe announced a robotic servicing mission to repair the Hubble before 200 cheering engineers, astronomers and technicians. The mission that will cost between $1 billion to $1.6 billion will be developed over three years.

Business Manager Guthrie had worried about the job security of workers at Goddard prior to the August 9 announcement. About 10 Local 1501 members were already on lay-off from Goddard.

An abandonment of the Hubble would have been a deep blow. Local 1501s top bargaining unit position, "engineer 5," carries an hourly rate of $54.95 per hour. Engineering technicians can promote to over $35 per hour. Clean room sanitation workers earn up to $20 per hour.

Members of seven different unions, including the CWA, the Teamsters, the IAM and others are among Goddards 10,000 employees, spread over a 1,121-acre campus of 33 buildings, totaling 3 million square feet.

Guthrie remembers the panic that spread through the facility about 13 years ago when there was talk about closing Goddard and moving its work to California. To fend off the closing threat, Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), whose district includes the space center, initiated the Goddard Alliance, a coalition of political, business and labor organizations. Guthrie is the alliances vice president and the only labor member on the board of directors.

Pressure and Hard Work
Lead to Victory

"This is great," says Guthrie about the robotic repair mission. "It would have been a tragedy to lose Hubbles contribution to science. A robotic mission means a lot more work for our members here at Goddard and also for IBEW members at other NASA facilities." Guthrie continues, "I want to thank Senator Barbara Mikulski for her steadfast leadership in support of the telescope. Without her efforts and the hard work of our IBEW brothers and sisters, the Hubble might not have been saved."

Next Issue: The Mars Rover Mission and other deep space monitoring by IBEW members in Local 543 in San Bernardino, California.

Steve Smith, unit chairman and chief steward, IBEW Local 543 in San Bernardino, California, stands beside the directional receiving antenna for the Mars Rover mission.