NASA official: No threat to Wallops facility in Virginia

CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. (AP) - A NASA official says there’s no threat of closure for the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

The Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland, reported Friday that concerns have grown over the facility’s future. NASA recently launched a study to increase “efficiencies” between Wallops and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Jay Pittman is the assistant director for strategy and integration at Goddard. Pittman said at a luncheon in Chincoteague on Wednesday that there’s no threat of Wallops closing. He spoke at the quarterly meeting of the Wallops Island Regional Alliance, a nonprofit that’s focused on protecting the facility.

NASA’s study regarding efficiencies has sparked concerns over possible job losses and economic catastrophe across the region. About 1,200 people work at the facility.