NASA has two astronauts Mike Hopkins and Karen Nyberg at ISS. The space agency says that it will not be leaving their astronauts without supports because of a US Shutdown.

Hey, wait a minute. What is US Shutdown? Well, US budget ends every September 30th. The new budget for the next year is usually passed by the Democrats and the Republicans (two different political parties at the senate). This year the both parties have disagreed over a healthcare bill. Now that the budget for the new year is not approved, the US government has no money sanctioned to them. Hence the shutdown. Most of the services will shutdown and only the necessary services like firefighting or emergency services will be up and running.

NASA’s 18,000 employees will be staying at home until the government reaches an agreement. However, President Obama assures that the mission control will remain open to support the astronauts serving on the space station.

The last two shutdowns were 17 years ago, under the Clinton administration. Hope the situation resolves quickly.