High joblessness in the home of U.S. space flight

Scott Pelley: How long did you work at the space center?

Chris Milner: Eight years.

Scott Pelley: And your wife?

Chris Milner: 29 years.

Scott Pelley: Both laid off?

Chris Milner: Both laid off.

In the spirit of an entrepreneur, Milner planned for the layoffs. Five years ago he launched a landscape business on the side. And then he added a sign shop in this industrial park. Still, there was one thing he didn't plan on.

Chris Milner: Seafood it's gone. There's nothing there. Edwards Exterminating is the only one that's left, it's right around the corner. But basically everything's empty. It's a nightmare.

Chris Milner: Everybody that's been laid off. It's a ripple effect. Businesses closing down, it affects everybody else and it affects me.

The 7,000 layoffs at the space center triggered 7,000 more in the community. Unemployment has been close to 11 percent.

Chris Milner: People are moving away. People are going in up north. Nothing's happening here. I know people that move all the way to Seattle. For a job. Left their house. Left the key in the front door. Here ya go. It's gone.

Milner had 12 employees in the lawn business. Now he has three.

Scott Pelley: You know, you are running these two businesses.

Chris Milner: Yes.

Scott Pelley: How many hours a day are you working?

Chris Milner: Literally?

Scott Pelley: Literally.

Chris Milner: I'm here at 7 a.m. in the morning. And you know, the last couple weeks I've been here until 1-2 o'clock in the morning. My last day off was Christmas.

Scott Pelley: Working 17-hours a day, seven days a week can't be all that good for your health.

Chris Milner: No. My wife's worried. She's scared. She's told me that.

And she's taken out a life insurance policy on him.

Chris Milner: But at the same time, she knows what I gotta do. And the problem is we have a 12-year-old at the house that doesn't understand 'cause he's never had to go without. He's constantly asking for McDonald's. We don't get McDonald's anymore.

This isn't the first hard landing on the space coast. There were big layoffs in 1972 after the last mission to the moon. But here's why today is worse. When we left the moon, NASA was already years into designing the shuttle. And it looked like it would be that way now because President Bush approved a program to follow the shuttle.

Scott Pelley: The new man space program rocket was supposed to be called Constellation.

Group: Uh huh. (affirm)

Scott Pelley: And now you guys call it---

Group: Cancellation.

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[vulture2]

The cause of the problem was Bush's cancellation of Shuttle to propose a completely unaffordable project with no practical value. The CAIB report recommended Shuttle continue to fly until a replacement vehicle was operational, and that the replacement be designed solely to access low earth orbit. The Bush administration repeatedly claimed having no US human launch capability for many years would be "no problem". Obviously "Constellation" is still going full blast although it has been renamed as "SLS/Orion", but it isn't creating jobs in Florida. Apparently Bush supporters bought into the myth that it would.

[bigmike0909]

@vulture2.... Hello, i was the guy (michael carpenter) in this episode, the fact is i was hired for the new program (bush)"Constellation" in 2009 and Obama axed that program in favor of SPACE X. How does a company get hundreds of millions of dollar contract to supply the space station with no proven track record or a proven working model ?? hmmmm sounds alot like "Solynda" he personaly worked to get them 500 millon and in 2 years bankrupt. Me and many others i know had been hired to work on the new program but got layoffs by obama's lies he said here in central florida. I'm just glad i did not buy into his "kool aid" and vote for him. All i want is someone to tell me the truth !! To say to these great space workers that with his administration there will be no one without a job at the space center was a outright lie. All he had to say was he would try to keep eveyone.... but i guess that would not buy enough votes right. Voters want the truth not a promise that cant be upheld.

[poorfarmerswife]

@vulture2...God you're a useful idiot

[RohitJain54]

So what is CBS asking us taxpayers to do? Keep spending $8 billion in tax money every year just to support the community with some incremental contribution to science and technological innovation? I for one am not buying the nostalgic assertion that space travel is going to yield the same kind of dividends that it did in its early days. The times have changed, the challenges to human kind have changed, and there are many other opportunities for investing tax payer dollars for the furtherment of science and technology - we can still use a lot of innovation in the fields of energy and medicine.

Of course, I sympathize with the loss of jobs. But we live in a captialistic society that has its advantages and disadvantages. The invisible hand, as Adam Smith said, leads to these unfortunate consequences. That is why, we all have to save, keep diversifying our skills, aniticpate, and ensure that our future will be solid no matter what. I would think that folks knew this coming. I do realize that a bad economy is the most unfortunate time for something like this to happen. Anyway, if we wanted jobs for life and assurances that the goverment or someone would provide a guaranteed job for life, then we should be living in Russia or China. Though I have heard that people there don't have any such gurantees either.

Looks like CBS carries on its liberal tradition. Let us vote for socialism - guaranteed job for life, public health care system that guarantees health care for life, with no responsibilities imposed on the individual citizen, and all this for free - we should just print money to do all of this.

[dg56]

Your understanding of politics and capitalism is that of a child. The fact is the space program has been privatized.

[cm1701]

For any that missed it- here is the NASA official response to this broadcast. (Hopefully URLS can be added here)

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=40458

In any case, Let's try and focus on the issue at hand- what is really happening with the Space Program (Budget $18.5 billion)- Is it really being "gutted" or is this simply another painful pause- as was the period from '75-'81 after Apollo. By the way, it was a republican (Nixon) who scaled down the Space program back then. No one was interested in Space enough to fund more grand plans.

Interestingly, that was also a time when were withdrawing from an expensive, unpopular war, half a world away.

Before throwing stones members of each party should check to see if their house is made of glass.

Additionally anyone concerned about the 2009 750 Billion Stimulus should keep in mind that there were huge tax cuts included- just as there were tax cuts the year before when the recession was just hitting economists' radar screens.

Anyone with any ability to read a chart will see the Red ink started with W in 2002 and beyond- and was exacerbated by that mis-adventure in Iraq.

Finally, why are some in the GOP upset with the idea of buying from a private sector company (Space X)- aren't we supposed to be privatizing things?

Frankly, I WANT to shake up the big boys (Boeing, Lockheed, etc) and the cozy relationship they've each had with the Houston and Kennedy.

Time for an upstart to do things better.

What hurts the most is the dislocation of the workers- but, sadly this has happened all over the us during any base closing, steel mill closing, mine closing, etc.

What is most maddening is the poor prep that 60 minutes did for this piece. Way too many comments, most of which are poking holes in the reporting. For example- the shuttered "mall"?been closed since the '70s- The Shuttle restaurant? Another more costumer focused place is doing very well just down the road.

As I said in a previous post- Next time, Mr Pelley (and producers) please try a bit harder to provide a bit of context.

[mustangs321]

Ok. I live on the Space Coast and I am in high school and just about every person in my high school has a parent(s) that work for NASA or one of there contractors. I remember going to friends houses and they said they were home alone because there parents were working late at NASA busting their behinds. I remember when Obummer promised that no one will lose there jobs, well couple years later, 7000 promises were broken and the newest project, Constellation, was cancelled. Now some of my friends have moved away, their parents looking for work somewhere, some of my friends are about to move, and well being here kind of sucks. Brevard County is slowly but surely turning into a ghost town and people are kind of pissed since we AMERICANS cannot send our own into space for at least another 5 years. Instead we are pouring money into Russia who's rockets don't exactly have the best track record. I'm not sure about you but sending our Astronauts to foreign soil does not sound good to me. So for people that are bashing the Space Coast for wasting money, Obama said cutting the Constellations program would save $500 million, well sorry to burst your bubble but 1) that's not even a drop in the bucket compared to the $15.6 TRILLION that we are in debt and 2) We are paying millions to the Russians to send up our Astronauts so I'm figuring that the money we are paying the Russians is eventually going to topple the $500 million that Obama said we would save. So there's the money issue so if anybody doesn't believe get a phone book for this area and call any number and I'm pretty sure they will just recite exactly what I'm saying.

[WayneSW]

Take a look at the numbers. Obamalamadingdong said he'd save $500 million by trashing Constellation, then threw away almost 2000 times that amount, close to $1 trillion, on an utterly failed "stimulus package". But, for Obangi, that was nothing, just taxpayer money. Just remem,ber folks, that's hopenchange for you.

[tjc1134]

This was one of the most slanted and politically biased piece of journalism that CBS has ever produced. Scott Pelley ought to be ashamed of himself. I thought I was watching Fox News. Is this what 60 Minutes is now going to turn into? Hey Scott, how about the tens of billions of tax dollars spent on the Space programs over the years that could have been used to cure diseases, feed starving Americans,improve Americas educational systems, or revamp America's entire infrastructure-----and create tens of thousands of jobs in the process. But I suppose if you mentioned such alternative views or ideas it would have diluted the sensationalism of your sobbing subjects and soften the political bashing that was obviously a primary objective of this so called report. TJ

[shaynalyn1]

You obviously don't live on the Space Coast. Did the money that Obummer saved go to all those nice, warm and fuzzy things that you mentioned in your post? NO..Come and take a trip to Brevard County. Then you will see just how 'slanted' the story is.

[mikerueb]

Is it just me, or have all of the people in the unemployment stories (this one on Nasa and the long-term unemployment from CT) been old? I have a lot of sympathy for the individuals, but I wonder if the real story is the gap between generations -- I don't know anyone under 30 who is unemployed, and I know very few who are underemployed. Yet I know and see on TV many over 40 who are either un- or under-employed.

Is that the trend? How do we fix that?

[WayneSW]

You don't understand business in America today. When it comes to cutting, generally the highest paid workers (not managers or executives) are the first to go. Those are the ones with seniority and generally making the highest annual salaries. So you throw them away and hire in a youngling for a half or third the salary of the Master. Unfortunately, those trashed late in a career have the toughest time being re-employed, for the reasons noted above and also because of diminished "shelf life".

[mikerueb]

Is it just me, or have all of the people in the unemployment stories (this one on Nasa and the long-term unemployment from CT) been old? I have a lot of sympathy for the individuals, but I wonder if the real story is the gap between generations -- I don't know anyone under 30 who is unemployed, and I know very few who are underemployed. Yet I know and see on TV many over 40 who are either un- or under-employed.

Is that the trend? How do we fix that?

[Flipnmd203]

Wonder how many of the folks in Brevard County were/are ardent supporters of the TEA PARTY?
I have little or no sympathy for these who were probably vocal and active supporters of the TEA PARTY MOVEMENT in 2010. This is another example of how fickle American voters are. One minute ranting, rallying and protesting against "BIG GOVERNMENT," WASTEFUL GOVERNMENT SPENDING and more importantly, demanding cuts in Federal spending and the elimination of Federal programs. Well now, when those spending cuts occur and hit close to home or actually hit one's own pocket book the crocodile tears flow. My advice, stiff upper lip--reinvent yourselves and/or relocate.

[WayneSW]

Hey, the TEA PARTY did not make the decision to cancel the Constellation Program. You know who did? Obamalamadingdong. So stuff your stiff upper lip and blaming the wrong people. Obama cancelled the US space program for one reason only: it is good for this country and puts this country in a leadership position in the world, something that Obama abhors.

[poorfarmerswife]

@Flipnmd203...another "useful idiot" that Lenin defined

[smather2175]

60 Minutes could lay off some of their ancient and decrepit on-air talent, hire younger/cheaper people, and pass the savings on to NASA. Might as well since they can't report all the facts on such an important story. Was it a case of senility, laziness, or Republican heavy handedness?

[smather2175]

I'm extremely disappointed in 60 Minutes coverage of this story. They usually don't do such a sloppy job. NASA has 10 distinct centers, not just the Kennedy Space Center in Brevard county. How about Marshall, Johnson, or White Sands to name a few. They made it sound like the blow dealt to NASA and American space flight was limited to only on localized county in Florida. You also leave out any mention of jobs/companies affected outside of Brevard county. NASA farms out a lot of their manufacturing and supply. Not every thing is engineered or built in Brevard county. There are lots of independent businesses nationally that relied on that work. Do you think they brew all of that rocket fuel down in Daytona Beach?

60 Minutes, PLEASE do a follow up piece and truly explore the impact cancellation of the space program has nationally.

Also, I've read a ton of comments stating that it's no big deal, SpaceX will take up the slack. SpaceX does not employ that many people. SpaceX is a privately owned company with no incentive to remain in America. SpaceX, while I love their mission statement, is not in the same business as the NASA space program. They are not the national pride keeping America in the space race.

[R-is-for-Rocket]

True, little if anything is made in FL. KSC is a re-assemble center for spacecraft and satellites made in CA, TX, CO,NV, VA etc. BTY, White Sands in a sub center that specializes in hypergolic fuels