CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Thousands of workers along the Space Coast could lose their jobs when the space shuttle is retired in less than two years.

Video: Senators Discuss KSC Job Cuts

The possibility of massive layoffs has Sens. Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez doing all they can to make it as painless as possible.

Nelson flew on the shuttle, and Martinez calls Central Florida home.

NASA Administrator Dr. Michael Griffin said there's no denying there will be job losses.

"We are, after all, retiring the shuttle, so eventually, there will be no shuttle jobs," Griffin said.

"In America, we change policy by ballots not bullets," Nelson said.

A frustrated Nelson said thousands of jobs will be lost because NASA wasn't given the money it needed to develop a new spacecraft while the shuttle was winding down.

That means there will be a gap between the shuttle and a new rocket, which means layoffs.

"We tried to get $1 billion additional into last year's NASA budget only to have the White House budget office say not yet," Nelson said.

It was a reference to the fact that, during the gap, Russia will do the heavy lifting on servicing the space station. It's also an issue with Martinez.

"Leaving people out of work, giving them the pink slip, while at the same time we're generating jobs in Russia to accomplish the same mission. It's short-sighted. It makes no sense," Martinez said.

Offering a glimmer of hope, NASA did reduce its projections for job losses. Once estimated at 6,400, now they said it may be 3,000 to 4,000.

But even that could have a devastating impact on the area because for every Kennedy Space Center job, it creates 2.5 other jobs, officials said.

A rally was also held outside a Senate hearing on Monday to point out the issues Brevard County will face when the shuttle program retires in 2010.

The crowd was full of workers and space supporters -- local business owners who realize that for each space center job, there are two and a half jobs created in the area.

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