Bolden's Response to Late JWST Instruments: That's News To Me
Keith’s note: When he was asked by Lamar Smith at House Science Committee hearing on NASA’s FY 2014 budget why two James Webb Space Telescope instruments were late, Charlie Bolden then tried to push that off as bad news reports. Bolden went on to say that he has been adamant that he takes full responsibility for the progress of Webb. Smith then read from the recent GAO report “NASA: Assessments of Selected Large-Scale Projects” citing this passage:
“… In addition, only two instruments have been delivered for integration with ISIM and the other two instruments will be delivered at least 11 months late.”
When Smith asked Bolden again about the two late Webb instrments, Bolden’s reponse was: “That’s news to me”
GAO Report on Large-Scale NASA Projects, earlier post
I guess taking full responsibility doesn’t mean actually following the progress of JSWT. I wonder if Bolden takes full responsibility for all of the other NASA programs the same way…
One of two things going on here:
1) JWST underling managers are not keeping Director Bolden up to date with everything that is happening.
2) Director Bolden isn’t asking for or looking at briefing updates of JWST progress.
Director Bolden made it clear he was taking full responsibility for JWST, so either way, he needs to take the blame for any cost over-runs or delays since he took over. His answer of ‘that’s news to me,’ not exactly the one you want to hear from someone in charge of things. At the very least, I think we are owed an ‘I apologize, but I wasn’t aware at this time…I’ll look into it and hold people accountable for it if warranted.’
Or, in a refreshing gust of accountability, he could resign or the President could replace him. Not merely over JWST, but over his fantastically unremarkable performance in general. Unfortunately neither of these outcomes are a political reality.
What a joke. Being held accountable in the government means you accept accountability for soemthing which there is no accountability. Just ask the Boeing CEO if he is following the 787 battery problem. NASA is nothing more than welfare for the upper middle class and its leadership is proof positive that it is alive and well. So it goes.
This NASA administrator, just like the current federal Administration is a joke!
If left entirely up to them, NASA’s human space exploration program, would have been reduced to nothing. Save the fostering of commercial efforts with huge amounts of cash diverted from the NASA budget.
I would not agree that the budget of Commercial Crew is huge, or that it has been “diverted”. It’s a matter of priorities. Under SLS, and a fixed or declining budget, there is no prospect of the total number of Americans in space ever being greater than 3 or 4 within our lifetimes. SLS has no customers except the taxpayers, and the taxpayers want tax cuts.
The key words you neglected to read are, “would have been”. Only the pressure from congress resurrected the ORION CREW VEHICLE! And initiated the SLS HEAVY LIFT LAUNCH VEHICLE. Where do you think the monies currently being invested into these programs, those Billions of dollars, would have gone if left to OBAMA and BOLDEN? Sure some of it may have gone to Science and Exploration Programs but the PRESIDENT wanted to invest heavily in commercial . Thats why he gutted the human exploration program (constellation program)!
I agree Congress has pushed these programs. If you believe they have practical value and any chance of success then your position is reasonable. If you are willing to pay the additional taxes that a BEO program with these vehicles will require, and believe the average taxpayer is willing to pay these additional taxes, then there is some prospect for accomplishing a modest number of manned lunar landings. However SLS/Orion is five or six times the budget of Commercial Crew so would gain little even from completely eliminating CC, and yet SLS/Orion has no budget for anything beyond cislunar flight without lunar landing, and at that for only one or two flights a year, and no customers other than the taxpayers. So the numbers do not add up.
Send the money to Bigelow and Spacecraft to get us off this rock!!!!!!!
I agree that commercial crew and cargo outlays are NOT huge and have NOT been diverted. They are the one saving grace for the future space program and the small amount of dollars spent is a bargain. Unfortunately, NASA human space exploration HAS already been reduced to nothing. Orion is going nowhere anytime soon and is where a huge amount of cash is being wasted. SLS has some prospects though with no payloads even in planning there is no telling where that effort will ever take anyone. These are the result of poor NASA planning and incompetent NASA implementation.
I have to wonder if Lamar Smith actually bothered to read the report, or just asked a staffer to find something to criticize. The majority of the report describes a vast improvement in NASA cost and scheduling of major projects since it took them over from the Bush Administration:
“The performance of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) portfolio of major projects has improved in the areas of cost and schedule growth since GAO’s first assessment in 2009. Average development cost growth and schedule delay for the current portfolio have decreased to about a third of their 2009 levels.”
Even JWST has used less than half its schedule reserve in the current schedule and is thus far from experiencing a launch delay or cost increase because of the delays in delivery of two of the instruments.
Here we go with the “hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil” spin from Bolden. The administrator just wants to hear what he wants and the reality of the whole thing is, he is just doing a piss poor job on handling NASA and its costing the program greatly.
He was hired to do the Administration’s dirty work and get all the blood on his hands, re: workforce reductions and program cuts. I had high hopes for him, as he was on the front lines as a former astronaut. I have learned over his tenure that his selection was a huge mistake, and he continued the moribund, ineffective NASA culture. He needs to go but his replacement will, most likely, be one in the same.