HOUSTON -- Sources in Washington said that NASA has ordered its major contractors to immediately scale back work on the Constellation project because they are in violation of federal spending rules.
They fear as many as 5,000 jobs in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Texas and Utah may be cut over the next several weeks.
Some of the job losses could impact the Johnson Space Center.
Earlier this year, the president proposed a new direction for the space agency that would end Constellation -- the nation's planned return to the moon -- and rely on private aerospace companies to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station.
At the time, economists predicted as many as 7,000 jobs could be lost in Houston as the space shuttle program was phased out and Constellation winded down.
Another 4,000 indirect jobs at local businesses were predicted to be on the line.
In April, the president revived the crew capsule concept that would have been canceled with the rest of the Constellation.
