Claims by the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, that NASA plans to shift work on human spaceflight activities away from the NASA Glenn Research Center sparked a war of words between supporters of GOP candidate Mitt Romney and officials from the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, SpacePolitics.com reports.
Former NASA administrator Michael Griffin, a Romney adviser, provided a quote to the Cuyahoga GOP stating that it was “deeply troubling” that “the Obama administration is seriously considering moving Human Space flight work out of Glenn. To eliminate Glenn’s role in human spaceflight is to call into question its very participation in NASA’s future.” When questioned, the party provided what it said was an “internal NASA document” showing plans for elimination of 244 full-time positions at Glenn.
In a written response to the Republican claim, NASA press secretary Lauren B. Worley said: “NASA is not transferring human spaceflight research and development activities from the Glenn Research Center.” NASA noted that Glenn had lost 214 positions during the four years Griffin served as administrator.
