M3taphysical

Correct me if I'm wrong (say, if NASA engineers are moving to a different project rather than possibly downsizing somewhat), but doesn't NASA's current situation imply the space industry should expert a huge increase in well-educated, experienced rocket engineers and "space experts" who will soon be looking for new job openings in which to apply their expertise? Will this affect the space-faring corporations significantly, perhaps making their ambitions more realistic with NASA-experienced engineers and scientists behind them?

Now onto something that's a personal curiosity: how does compensation, to your knowledge, compare between the government-funded NASA and private space-faring corporations?

It's something I'm a bit unclear about: NASA employs the best and the brightest, but as a government agency, can it really pay them what they deserve considering the intense schooling and training they've taken to get there? Is the compensation at NASA offset by the prestige, a la Google, wherein the pay is lower but the perks and glory make up for it? How do corporations hope to entice NASA engineers and scientists when so much of their capital is already being allocated into setup costs? And what do you know about/expect in terms of working for a private space venture? Any stories from past co-workers?

So many interesting things in this thread! And feel free not to answer this line of questioning if it's too personal.