The Mars Rover, the National Zoo's Panda Cam and the Bureau of Land Management's wild horse and burro adoption program are among the lesser known federal government functions that have been affected by the shutdown.
Here are the basics of what a shutdown means: hundreds of thousands of federal workers face furloughs and many facilities are closed, but the mail and Social Security checks still get sent.
The federal government's reach, however, expands well beyond entitlement checks. Here are eight lesser known programs, services and facilities affected by the shutdown:
Mars Curiosity Rover
Few agencies will be hit harder during the government shutdown than NASA, which will be forced to furlough 97 percent of its employees. On top of that, it will also have to temporarily stop exploring the planet Mars and halt the Curiosity rover's investigation of the planet's surface.
Panda Cam
For the time being, those following every move of the newly born panda cub at the Smithsonian National Zoo have to find a new hobby. The popular panda cam video the zoo streams live on its website was officially shut off Tuesday morning, as the zoo itself had to close down.
Golf courses
If you're anything like President Barack Obama or George W. Bush, you probably enjoy a leisurely round of golf. But if your favorite course is one of the seven that's in or very near a national park, you won't be able to hit the links.
Public fountains
During the government shutdown, residents of the nation's capital won't be able to enjoy the 45 public fountains around the city that are operated by federal agencies.
Presidential libraries
Everyone knows the national parks are closed during the shutdown. But so are the presidential libraries – or at least the portions of them operated by the National Archives and Records Administration. So the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is closed at the moment, but there are parts of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library that remain open.
Wild Horse Adoption Program
You won't be able to adopt a wild horse or burro from the Bureau of Land Management as long as the government is shut down. But the agency will still manage the animals' facilities and take care of them.
Some government agencies, like the Departments of Agriculture and Education, alerted followers this morning that they will not be providing updates or answering questions through their Twitter accounts during the shutdown.
BlackBerrys and iPhones
Furloughed employees must turn off their mobile devices, or risk having them taken away. Federal agencies prohibit furloughed workers from doing any work at home, which means they are not allowed to use their government emails or smart phones during their time off.
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNES9P96eevv_PZqWmt9Xwc7BP81Fw&url=http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/npr228157630-The-Mars-Rover-Thats-Shut-Down,-Too.html
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