JSC News Release Log 1990/90-015
Johnson Space Center
(713) 483-5111
Release No: 90-015
Johnson Space Center Contributes $973 Million to Houston Area Economy in FY89
NASA's Johnson Space Center contributed approximately $973 million to the Houston area economy in Fiscal Year (FY) 1989 ending Sept. 30. This is an increase of $400 million over the previous year. JSC received $1.9 billion, or about 17 percent of the $11 billion appropriated for the agency's FY89 total.
The center's expenditures locally included $157 million in federal salaries, $3 million in air travel, and $812 million in goods and services from over 1100 local businesses, averaging $3.7 million for each working day.
The major portion of JSC's budget, $1.6 billion, went for Research and Development (R&D) and Space Flight Control and Data Communications. Research and Program Management (R&PM), covering everything from salaries, gas and electric utility bills, and mowing the grass, took $301 million. Facility construction accounted for the remaining $14 million.
Utility costs for the center for FY89 were $1.6 million for gas, $7.4 million for electricity, $6.8 million for phone and electronic) communications, and $300,000 for the purchase of surface water and sewage treatment.
Since moving to Houston in 1962, total SC funding from NASA equals $37.3 billion in actual dollars through Sept. 30, 1989. That total includes $3.9 billion for R&PM, $33 billion for R&D, and $351 million for construction of facilities overall in the past 28 years.
JSC spent $1.10 billion in FY89 with both Texas firms and out-of-state companies that pay salaries to employees in their Texas operations. That places Texas third behind California ($2.7 billion) and Florida ($1.2 billion) in states receiving NASA funds for contracts or grants. Maryland ranks fourth ($753 million) and Alabama fifth ($699 million). JSC has paid out $2.6 billion in civil service salaries since 1962.
The center employed 3,773 civil servants in FY89 compared to 3,552 the year before. Peak space industry employment in the JSC area occurred in 1989, with 11,120 aerospace industry and support contractor personnel working on or near the center. The peak year for numbers of federal employees at JSC was 1967, with 5,261 positions.
By the end of FY 89, the average federal salary was $43,450. The average age of JSC employees was 42, with 1,927 of those having earned bachelors degrees, 648 with masters degrees, and 191 have doctorates, law, or medical degrees.
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