{"id":12585,"date":"2020-03-17T19:22:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T11:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-institutes-mandatory-agency-wide-telework-policy\/"},"modified":"2020-03-17T19:22:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T11:22:53","slug":"nasa-institutes-mandatory-agency-wide-telework-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-institutes-mandatory-agency-wide-telework-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA institutes mandatory agency-wide telework policy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA\/Glenn Benson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All NASA centers and facilities will begin a mandatory telework policy for agency and contractor employees effective immediately, except for \u201cmission-essential\u201d personnel, to combat the threat from the coronavirus pandemic, officials announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement Tuesday that the agency\u2019s leadership decided to elevate all NASA centers to Stage 3 of NASA\u2019s Response Framework.<\/p>\n

\u201cEffective immediately, all employees and contractors will move to mandatory telework until further notice,\u201d Bridenstine said in a written statement. \u201cMission-essential personnel will continue to be granted access onsite. Please contact your supervisor as soon as possible if you have any questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some NASA facilities, such as Ames Research Center in California and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, transitioned to Stage 3 operations and instituted mandatory telework orders for non-essential personnel after employees there tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the director of NASA\u2019s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans introduced mandatory telework for non-essential workers. Robert Champion, Michoud\u2019s director, said in a statement Monday that no workers at Michoud have tested positive for the viral disease, but he ordered the change because more than 100 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the local area.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to the facility will be restricted to mission-essential personnel only, as defined in the response framework and by your company leadership,\u201d Champion said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Michoud is home to production of core stages for NASA\u2019s Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket. Some work on NASA\u2019s Orion crew capsule and Northrop Grumman\u2019s planned OmegA launch vehicle is also based at Michoud.<\/p>\n

Officials at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where many of the agency\u2019s interplanetary robotic missions are built and controlled, announced Monday that only non-essential workers there would be allowed access to the facility.<\/p>\n

NASA Headquarters expanded the Stage 3 status agency-wide Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough a limited amount of (NASA) employees have tested positive for COVID-19, it is imperative that we take this pre-emptive step to thwart further spreading of the virus among the workforce and our communities,\u201d Bridenstine said.<\/p>\n

According to NASA\u2019s Response Framework, the agency defines mission-essential activities as:<\/p>\n