---
title: "Gov Shutdown Means 95 Percent of NASA Employees Aren’t At Work"
description: "The ongoing government shutdown means that 95 percent of NASA's workforce is home on furlough during New Horizons' historic flyby."
date: "2018-12-29"
modified: "2018-12-29"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/gov-shutdown-95-percent-nasa"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "congress"
  - "NASA"
  - "new horizons"
  - "shutdown"
---

# Gov Shutdown Means 95 Percent of NASA Employees Aren’t At Work

![The ongoing government shutdown means that 95 percent of NASA's workforce is home on furlough during New Horizons' historic flyby.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/gov-shutdown-95-percent-nasa.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Get Furlough

When NASA's New Horizons spacecraft [soars by the space rock Ultima Thule](<https://futurism.com/new-horizons-visit-ultima-thule-most-distant-object>) on New Years Eve, it will be the most distant object humankind has ever explored.

Though you'll be able to stream the historic flyby on the YouTube channel of Johns Hopkins Univerisity's Applied Physics Laboratory, the event — which is [arguably the most awe-inspiring item](<https://www.inverse.com/article/52102-how-can-i-watch-the-new-horizons-flyby-of-ultima-thule>) of space news all year — won't be available on NASA TV, which typically offers extensive commentary and access to subject matter experts regarding the space agency's projects. The reason: the ongoing government shutdown means that 95 percent of NASA's workforce is [home on furlough](<https://www.space.com/42823-nasa-government-shutdown-plan-2018.html>).

## "Act of Ineptitude"

NASA employees are disgusted by the legislative dysfunction that's keeping all but the most mission-critical workers home during the historic flyby, [according to the](<https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/nation-world/space/article/NASA-other-federal-workers-not-as-supportive-of-13491632.php>) *Houston Chronicle* — and their ire is reportedly focused on politicians who have allowed the science agency's work to grind to a halt.

"We have not heard from a single member who supports the president's inaction," said the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, a union that represents federal workers, in a statement quoted by the paper. "Most view this as an act of ineptitude."

## Heat Death

The *Chronicle* also pointed to [a post](<http://www.planetary.org/blogs/casey-dreier/2018/1222-happy-holidays-nasa-is-shut-down.html>) by Casey Dreier, a senior space policy adviser to the nonprofit scientific advocacy organization The Planetary Society, that chastised leaders for failing the nation's scientific workers — and worried that the political brinkmanship of a shutdown could lead talented workers away from government work entirely, altering the dynamics of space exploration.

"I fear that we will see more and more NASA employees ask themselves why they put up with such needless disruptions and leave for jobs the private sector," Dreier wrote. "We know that NASA can get back to work, but how long will the best and the brightest want to work at an agency that continues to get callously tossed into political churn?"

**READ MORE:** [NASA, other federal workers not as supportive of government shutdown as Trump claims, union rep says](<https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/nation-world/space/article/NASA-other-federal-workers-not-as-supportive-of-13491632.php>) \[*Houston Chronicle*\]

***More on government shutdowns and space travel:** [Government Shutdown Hampers SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Testing](<https://futurism.com/government-shutdown-hampers-spacexs-falcon-heavy-testing>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)