CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A NASA official said initial estimates of 6,400 jobs cut at Kennedy Space Center when the shuttle program retires were inaccurate and the number may be closer to 3,000.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson kicked off a hearing a Port Canaveral Monday about the retirement of the space shuttle program in 2010.

"We are concerned about losing the skills, the knowledge and the corporate memory of all of these contractor partners," Nelson said.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said the actual job cust may prove to be half of the estimated number.

Griffin said there is a new age dawning at NASA.

"We are changing some of the paradigms about how NASA executes its business," Griffin said.

Sen. Mel Martinez expressed some concern over the ensuing U.S. reliance on Russia for space travel from 2010 to 2015.

The reliance on Russia during the so-called "space gap" and job cuts are the main concerns for NASA, Local 6's Ramin Khalili said.

Rally Held Outside Hearing

Meanwhile, hundreds of Kennedy Space Center contractors rallied outside of Monday's hearing in support of saving jobs in the space program.

"There is a lot of fear and uncertainty of where you stand in your job," KSC worker Cary Eide said. "It is hard on Brevard County when something like this happens."

"I've lived here all my life," shuttle inspector Peggy Richie said. "So, I don't know where else to go."

Nelson and Martinez spoke with the crowd about the situation Monday.

"We are talking about a lot of jobs and a lot of people being unemployed and it is sad," worker Charley Wiggins said.

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