1 October 2013

Update: Government Shutdown Felt All The Way To Mars- Curiosity In Hibernation?

Posted by Dan Satterfield

curisclosedNow that the Federal Government has shut down, here are some of the effects in the science community.

1. Curiosity on Mars is being put into hibernation mode. (Update: Am told Curiosity is still doing science… for now…)
(Update Wed. 2 AM: Because JPL acts as a contractor Curiosity is still being operated as of now. See HERE.)

2. Almost all (97%) of NASA will shut down with the exception of Mission Control workers in Houston.

3. NSF grant payments for vital science research in ALL fields will stop, which will have a growing affect with time.

4. NWS forecasters will be working and upper air/satellite and surface obs will continue. The people doing it will not get paid though.

5. The CDC in Atlanta will stop monitoring the spread of the flu. Most CDC lab research will stop.