National Science Foundation Preparing for Another Government Shutdown

[Judi Lynn]

By Jeff Foust, SpaceNews Writer | February 5, 2019 10:51am ET

WASHINGTON — As the National Science Foundation (NSF) recovers from a five-week partial government shutdown, the agency is already starting preparations for another potential shutdown.

In a conference call with reporters Feb. 1, officials with the NSF, which funds a number of astronomical facilities, said they had been working in the days since the partial government shutdown ended late Jan. 25 to get the agency up and running again, including getting back pay to its more than 1,400 employees.

The NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences, with an annual budget of about $300 million, funds the operations of a number of astronomical observatories, which are usually run by other organizations rather than directly by the NSF. Those observatories, as well as other NSF research facilities, were able to continue operations during the shutdown because the NSF funded them in advance, although some were in danger of curtailing operations or shutting down entirely had the shutdown extended into February. [Government Shutdown May Have Done Long-Term Damage to NASA]

One case was the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which operates several radio telescopes. NRAO officials said at an American Astronomical Society (AAS) conference in early January that they could continue operations of their facilities likely until the middle of February, after which, had funding not been restored, they would have been forced to start closing observatories.

More:
https://www.space.com/43226-nsf-prepares-for-another-government-shutdown.html

A President with a conscience would not be putting anyone in this position. Shameful.