NASA hasn't been totally grounded by the government shutdown.

The partial shutdown — which is the nation's longest ever, at 24 days and counting — has of course had a serious impact on the space agency. More than 95 percent of NASA employees have been furloughed, and development work on most future space missions has been slowed or suspended. 

Indeed, some NASA workers gathered outside the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston today (Jan. 15) to protest the shutdown and its deleterious effects on their lives and the nation's space program. 

But some "excepted" employees remain at work, keeping NASA people and operational spacecraft safe. For example, life aboard the International Space Station (ISS) continues much as it did pre-shutdown, with astronauts conducting a range of scientific experiments and public-outreach work.