More on the Economic Effects of
the Space Shuttle Disaster

What are people saying about the economic effects of the space shuttle disaster at this point?

According to South Florida's Sun-Sentinel: "Despite President Bush's pledge that "our journey into space will go on," residents of the Space Coast are worried that their economy stands to suffer from the space shuttle Columbia disaster." The NASA space center is Florida's fourth-largest tourist attraction -- attracting 1.8 million visitors a year, which makes it an integral part of Florida's economy. Florida's space sector is a $4.2 billion industry that employs 25,000 workers.

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "The impact on aerospace-related businesses and on local economies that depend on them will be determined by how long the investigation lasts, said A. Thomas Hollingsworth, dean of the School of Management at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne."

Finally, from the New York Times: "Analysts who follow the business of building and launching rockets and satellites anticipate that the loss of the space shuttle could eventually help rather than hurt the industry."

One thing for is for sure. The major private contractors to NASA's space shuttle program will be watching closely in light of the fact that 92 percent of NASA's budget for the shuttle program flows to them.