Some of the several thousand former NASA contractors being put out of work by the termination of the space shuttle program are finding a soft landing in Houston's vast energy sector.

After a couple of lean years, local energy companies are hiring again — and many like what they see in the large and highly skilled pool of jettisoned space workers.

Among companies that have hired or are recruiting former NASA contractors are major oil producers, oil field services providers, chemical makers and firms that build large-scale energy projects.

They've snapped up engineers and other technical experts that are once again in high demand as high oil prices and improving economic conditions worldwide give the industry a boost, even as other sectors take longer to rebound.

But it's unclear how many of the laid-off workers have been hired so far, and how many jobs will be waiting for hundreds of others that will be let go after the space shuttle Atlantis lands for the last time on Thursday.

There are also questions about how easily work experience on the nation's space program will transfer to the oil field or chemical plant. Aerospace engineers, for instance, may know how to get a crew safely to the International Space Station but very little about how oil and gas reservoirs behave.

Several local energy companies said, given the caliber of most former NASA contractors, they are willing to take the chance.

"You can always find room for people with these skill sets," said Teresa Wong, spokeswoman for oil field services giant Baker Hughes, which so far has hired two former NASA workers and continues recruiting from among their ranks.

The shuttle program is shutting down after 30 years and 135 flights, taking thousands of jobs with it. At Johnson Space Center in Houston, about 2,000 contractors have been let go since late last fall and another 2,000 will be cut by September, said Rachel Kraft, a JSC spokeswoman. Additional job losses are taking place in Florida and Alabama.

Even if energy companies are interested, the job search is tough.

Keely Hartsfield, a quality assurance engineer with more than 20 years experience who lost her job at Johnson Space Center on Oct. 1, said the downsizing was a blow.

"I've never been laid off in my life," Hartsfield said as she combed through online job listings at the Aerospace Transition Center, a small storefront in a strip mall in Clear Lake that helps former contractors find work.

She believes there is more opportunity for employment in Houston than in many other large cities, but said the search has been more difficult than she expected.

Jettisoning the jargon

David Quiñonez, a senior systems engineer who was let go 19 weeks ago, agrees.

"The work we do is transferable. I just don't know if industry sees it like that," he said. Quiñonez, 39, is seeking work in the energy sector, which he believes is more stable than aerospace.

The Aerospace Transition Center has been working to revise the resumes of candidates like Quiñonez to highlight broad skills over shuttle-specific projects and jargon. It holds workshops to teach interviewing skills and provides tips on using social media sites like Facebook for networking. And it hosts job fairs, including a virtual one taking place this week and next online.

Veronica Reyes, the center's director, said the facility has helped set up more than 300 interviews so far, but did not know how many have led to jobs. She said energy companies have been among the more active recruiters.

A few examples:

Dow Chemical hired 19 former NASA workers, mostly engineers and technicians, at its massive manufacturing complex in Freeport, said Undrea Kennedy, human resources manager at the facility. Recruiting will continue as the site adds up to 150 new positions this year, she said.

Engineering and construction colossus Bechtel Corp. of San Francisco is recruiting for its oil, gas and chemicals unit in Houston, and expects to pursue more ex-NASA workers as it adds another 135 local positions over the next three months, company spokeswoman Michelle Allen said.

Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge has hired one former NASA contractor, interviewed many more and expects to make offers soon to a few candidates, said Marcie Freiley, recruiting lead in the company's Houston office.

A future offshore?

BP said it is reviewing resumes from several hundred former NASA candidates and setting up interviews, mostly in technical fields like engineering.

Halliburton Co., one of the world's largest oil field services firms, said it also is recruiting former NASA workers.

As those efforts continue, a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers from Texas offered another idea Tuesday for putting ex-NASA contractors back to work: They urged Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, to retrain the workers to do safety inspections of offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

brett.clanton@chron.com