NASA's spending is under scrutiny; Obama transition team wants to know about money management

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Most nights it's possible to look skyward with a pair of cheap binoculars and see a $100,000 mistake circling the Earth. The glowing object -- an orbiting NASA tool bag -- was lost last month by an astronaut during a routine spacewalk. The canvas-and-acrylic caddy contained two grease guns, a scraper, a trash bag and some wipes, hardly cutting-edge technology. So why did it cost $100,000?

NASA officials said they had no answer to that question -- beyond the fact that, as spokesman Allard Beutel put it, "space flight is expensive." That expense is drawing serious scrutiny from the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama.

Of 74 questions submitted to the agency by Obama's NASA transition team, more than half asked about basic spending issues, including cost overruns. It's clear that NASA's long-standing inability to manage its money has attracted the team's attention.

For nearly two decades, NASA and its out-of-this-world projects have made a "high-risk" list compiled by government auditors because of cost overruns totaling millions -- sometimes billions -- of dollars. The designation applies to programs that are "impeding effective government and costing the government billions of dollars each year," according to the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency....

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nasa19-2008dec19,0,4709587,full.story

[firedupdem]

1. That's why that guy was all pissy last week about Obama...

Somebody doesn't want to explain where all the money is going or has gone...hmmmm

[aquart]

2. IIRC, didn't they run the Mars Lander with an off-the-shelf Motorola modem?

<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Mars+Lander+Motorola+modem&btnG=Search>

Just went down to a local store and bought the thing.

[lapfog_1]

3. I don't know for sure, but it wouldn't surprised me.

BTW, the "test environment" for the two Mars rovers was right outside my office when I worked at NASA. I even got to go over and drive one around the test area (by remote control) for a while. It was really cool.

Under Al Gore and Dan Goldin, Nasa was all about "re-inventing Government" and "faster, better, cheaper".

My project had a government issue credit card, and we used it frequently to buy things at Fry's Electronics and other bay area electronics companies. For a *LOT* less money than buying it from a government contract or even GSA schedule. And we could get it right away rather than waiting weeks or months. And it if didn't work, we could take it back and buy something else or get a refund. Returning something from contract was simply not worth the person hours it took to make it happen.

I loved it!

But I left just before the Bushies came in and took over. I think they scrapped all of those programs. Didn't enrich their buddies at Lockheed-Martin and the other big contractors.

[aquart]

10. One of my customers worked at JPL and he told me that.

[comtec]

4. Under Clinton NASA was efficient and cost effective, and GOT THINGS DONE!

Under *, it's been a complete mess!
How many shuttles have we lost under *? HOW many did we loose under clinton? and *1 ? Hmmmm I'm seeing a pattern.

[byeya]

5. Move NASA operations

If NASA is to survive in this era of making fiscal right out of republiKKKan fiscal wrongs, then as many NASA functions as possible should be moved to states that pay more taxes into the federal government then they receive back. I read that Alabama gets $1.71 back for every $1 they send to DC while New Jersey gets the least back. Since welfare states like Alabama invariably vote for republiKKKans, then Obama needs to move as many NASA operations as possible to states that have been paying more than their share.

[SlingBlade]

7. Great idea

And one I've often thought of myself.

These freeloader states have been consistantly RePuke since the
civil rights era.


Someone in the democratic leadership needs to take a hard but calculated
look at this and other huge govenment projects such as this.Another one
may be military bases.

And dont think for a moment that the Re-Pukes woulnt do this

[pipoman]

6. I have long believed that NASA's budget is

more about .gov R&D for both public and private sector than it is about space exploration. It is difficult to quantify the amount of technological progress has been directly related to NASA R&D which may have never been made without the agency. I also wonder how the costs of things like the tool bag are determined and if it includes R&D expenses in the final tally.

[Vinca]

8. Ever since Columbia disintegrated entering the atmosphere,

the missions seem to amount to getting to the space station in one piece, checking the craft to have some comfort the crew will make it home safely, fixing any flaws and coming back to earth. Maybe taxpayers would appreciate NASA more if they elaborated on why we should be footing the bill for $100,000 tool bags.

[Ian David]

9. When you put a young-Earth creationist Global Warming denier in charge of NASA...

... you can pretty much expect stupid things to happen on their watch.