BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- The potential for monumental job losses at the Kennedy Space Center brought a Senate hearing to Brevard County Monday while as many as 1,000 people affected by the planned cuts made their stand outside during a protest.

At one time, it was believed as many 6,400 jobs could be lost in the next few years in Central Florida after President Bush announced the space shuttle fleet would be retired in 2010. Monday, new numbers were announced by the head of NASA.

NASA administrator Mike Griffin was forced to come to Port Canaveral and testify before the Senate commerce subcommittee Monday. Griffin testified on the record that he believes they now will see a reduction in jobs of about 3,500, not the 6,400 jobs that Griffin testified to at the last hearing on the shuttle's retirement.

"I continue to believe we are facing an actual reduction of 3,000 to 4,000 jobs at KSC," he said.

Senator Bill Nelson, the chairman of the Senate commerce subcommittee on space, called the hearing to try to bring attention to the inevitable job cuts and what NASA's plans are for the space center and its workforce.

NASA and its contractors employ more than 14,000 people. When it retires the shuttle fleet in 2010, NASA's administrators say all the shuttle jobs will go away. The question is how many of the shuttle jobs will be replaced with other jobs at the space center.

"What we are not able to show is the number of new jobs that will be developed," Griffin said.

At one point earlier this year, Griffin said they could lose more than 6,000, but he says more work has been brought to the space center.

"We're now hearing a cut of considerably less, 3,000 to 4,000. That's news. I can't say it's good news, but it's certainly news that's a step in the right direction," Senator Nelson said.

NASA's administrator did announce that they were trying to move more engineering jobs that would have gone to other NASA centers in Texas and Alabama to the Kennedy Space Center to try and compensate for some of the jobs being lost locally.

Griffin said he's still opposed to extending the life of the shuttle program or even adding an 11th mission, as was just approved by the House of Representatives last week. He said he would need $300 to $400 million to add another mission.

There was a glaring omission from the Senate hearings on the job losses Monday and that's what happens if the shuttle's replacement doesn't stay on schedule. There are already reports of problems with the design and there was no mention of how any delays might affect the workforce at the space center.

Kennedy Space Center means big business along the Space Coast, from the restaurant employees who keep KSC workers fed to dry-cleaners who keep their uniforms clean.

Experts say every lost job at KSC means two and a half lost jobs in Brevard County. So, for 3,500 KSC workers, that's 8,750 civilian workers who could lose their jobs.