
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 2, 1995                   TAG: 9504030098
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HAMPTON                                LENGTH: Medium

NASA WORKERS SAY FAREWELL WITH FEELING

They came to say goodbye to old friends, to raise a toast to decades of accomplishment.

For 272 NASA Langley workers, it was the end of the line. They had taken the agency's cash buyout offer. Friday was their final day of work. And Langley's alumni association threw a come-one, come-all party to celebrate.

The buyout that ended Friday was offered to help reduce the agency's rolls. NASA is on the verge of what could be a massive reorganization, including possible layoffs, officials say.

But the mood at the party was mostly upbeat, if a touch wistful. Most cited their age, their years of service and a desire to keep younger workers from getting laid off as reasons they took the one-time payment of up to $25,000.

``I came in on the day it was named NASA, and I'm leaving on the last day of the Great Buyout of '95,'' said a smiling Allan Hanrahan, 57, a production controller in the fabrication division and a 36-year veteran. ``And I'm leaving with some melancholy. But it's the thing to do, and the time to do it.''

Like many who retired Friday, Hanrahan has never held a job outside the agency.

``I'm very grateful for what I've had. I don't have hard feelings,'' said Andrew Forbes, 58, an administrative specialist and a 30-year veteran. But he admitted that ``with all the things that are going on in the agency, I just don't think it'll be as much fun from here on out.''

``I'm very sad,'' said Bill Anderson, chief of Langley's flight dynamics and control division and one of the 10 members of the senior executive service at Langley to take the buyout. ``But I'm 55, and my time has come.''

All told, 9.8 percent of the center's 2,766 workers took the buyout. Nationwide, about 1,600 workers, nearly 7 percent of the 23,200 who work for NASA, took it.

But workers interviewed said the downsizing of NASA won't have a severe impact on the ability of the agency to practice its science - at least at Langley.

``We have good people who can meet challenges,'' said Nancy Bains, a 30-year veteran mathematician who worked in aircraft structures.

by CNB