[TheAceOfHearts]

I find this article very frustrating. What do they even mean by "key members of the civilian workforce"? I wish they'd include examples of what kind of people aren't working. Since I have absolutely no connection to this industry, I have no way of understanding the impact of a government shutdown on the space industry. Why is it considered reasonable or unreasonable that they halt certain space-related activities due to a government shutdown?

[chrisseaton]

> Why is it considered reasonable or unreasonable that they halt certain space-related activities due to a government shutdown?

I don't think anyone's opinion on whether it's reasonable or not really matters for this article. The fact is that they have no budget from which to pay people who operate all the things at the space centre, so they aren't working. I don't think it's any more complicated than that is it? What more could they say?

[walshemj]

I would imagine the launch requires the participation of civil servants from NASA who I assume all the range safety people work for and I assume they use the coast guard to keep boats away from the danger zone two.

[gnode]

The static fire would have to go very wrong to encounter boats.

[mikeash]

Part of the job of the launch facility is to keep people safe even when things go very wrong, which happens fairly often with rockets.

[nosequel]

If no on is getting paid, they aren't going into work, simple as that. This can be anyone. Fire personnel, security, gate guards, flight-line / launch pad techs & engineers, anyone. Most civilian companies barely function if the office manager is out of the building. The launch pad is private property with a ton of personnel, they can't just launch without the workers.

[Jtsummers]

It's a mixed bag. Some jobs are deemed essential or exempted and so those individuals have to work. But not all are. Most of NASA, for instance, is shutdown as their work isn't considered critical or exempted.

Exempted: Usually a result of the way it's funded. Some government work is funded by the budget, directly. Others essentially pay for themselves (the government workers acting in essence as contractors or a business, they receive payments from others besides the Congress to do work). Most of those have funding that would last 2-6 weeks. They get to stay open.

None of these people were going to get paid during the shutdown, but they were still expected to work. Their paychecks after the shutdown would pay them. Essentially they're guaranteed the pay, but the pay date would slip.

Although now it's a moot point as it looks like the shutdown is ending.

[protomyth]

> If no on is getting paid, they aren't going into work, simple as that.

Well, my buddy in the weather service isn't getting paid, but he is required to go into work.

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/furlough...

[dragonwriter]

There's lots of shutdown primers in major media sites right now; here's one decent one: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2018/jan/19/...

[dayaz36]

Seriously...the entire article had as much substance as the title. Didn't even mention when the launch was supposed to be.

[greglindahl]

That's actually not known. It's expected to be 2 weeks after a successful static fire, and no one knows how many more tries a static fire will need.

[fern12]

For NASA, almost all excepted employees are those involved in protection of life or property, as defined in this 1981 OMB memo:

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/furlough...

Sorry, I know it's not that detailed.