A government shutdown could get you killed by an asteroid

October 1, 2013 marked NASA’s 55th birthday. Unfortunately, nobody was out celebrating since 97% of its staff was unable to work as a result of the government shutdown.

If you’ve tried visiting the space agency’s website during the shutdown you will encounter the following message.

Visit NASA.gov during the shutdown. This is the message you will see.

Among the 97% of employees not working (leaving less than 600 employees active) are those responsible for keeping an eye out for asteroids.

The Near-Earth Object Program Office was established in 1998 to detect, track, and characterize potentially hazardous asteroids and comets that could approach Earth.

NASA took to Twitter early Tuesday morning to let the public know there will be no updates until the government shutdown concludes.

And the asteroid watch division tweeted the same notification.

Feeling safe now that nobody is looking out for asteroids?

On the bright side

Don’t worry about the six astronauts living on the International Space Station (ISS) though. According to NASA’s plan for shutdown (which cannot be viewed during the shutdown) all operations related to the ISS will remain open.

“To protect the life of the crew, as well as the assets themselves, we would continue to support planned operations of the ISS during any planned funding hiatus,” NASA states in its plan.

Before they were forced to go home without pay, NASA released a graphic honoring its accomplishments over the past 55 years and revealing what the future of space holds.

Image via NASA

Until this is all over, keep an eye out for asteroids because NASA isn’t.