AirSpaceMag.com

Tile technician Charlie Romeo laments that the job losses may well force workers into “leaving paradise.” Romeo, 50, grew up on the Space Coast and at age eight was making “what I thought were pretty technical drawings of rockets.” A soft-spoken man, Romeo says he likes inspecting, along with about 100 other United Space Alliance tile techs, the 24,000 unique tiles that protect the shuttles during reentry. The shuttle now, he says, “is safer than ever and it is just a shame to be losing this capability.” He pauses, then adds, “There’s a lot of complex emotions going around. We spend more time together here than we do with our families, and deep relationships develop when the goal is so important. There are third generation workers at KSC losing their jobs.” Another pause. “Can we talk about this later?”

David Burnett/Contact Press Images

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Photos from: "Throttle Down" »