yesterday, the effects of another recent budget were being felt on the Island.

Cutbacks outlined in US President Bill Clinton's budget recently sent to Congress will force the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) tracking station at Cooper's Island to cut its staff by 20 percent, station director Mr. Steve Stompf told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

Mr. Stompf said several dependents of departing US Navy personnel work at the tracking station and he hoped most of the cuts could be made through attrition.

But it was "possible'' some of the jobs held by 11 Bermudians employed at NASA would be affected, he said.

It is still the plan for NASA to remain once the adjacent US Naval Air Station is returned to Bermuda on September 1. Government hopes to negotiate public access to the excellent beaches on Cooper's Island.

In Washington, NASA announced a hiring freeze on Monday and a stop in high-level promotions after it was ordered to cuts its spending by $5 billion by the end of the decade.

In Bermuda, NASA would have to cut its staff to 44 from 67 in the next year, he said.

The tracking station would continue to fill its current role as "range safety support'' for launches from the East coast of the United States, Mr. Stompf said.

But new equipment that was more automated would allow it to do the job with fewer people.

NASA has already downsized considerably in the US, giving veteran employees two opportunities in recent years to take a lump sum for early retirements. In the first buyout, 1,178 employees accepted; in the second, 657 signed up.

The agency went from 25,000 employees a few years ago to 22,412 as of last December 1. At its height, during the Apollo moon programme, NASA had 33,000 on its payroll.