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No One is in the Driver's Seat at NASA

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
December 17, 2013
Filed under ,

Keith’s note: In response to one of my queries about JSC’s Valkyrie robot, David Steitz from NASA HQ PAO replied “Keith, as the recipient of numerous NASA “exclusives” over the years, including private budget briefings and policy discussions with previous NASA Administrators, I’m amused by your feigned outrage over our unintentional exclusive to IEEE Spectrum on R5.”
My response: “In watching the video that you allowed IEEE to shoot – including NASA personnel – and the obvious time spent with them – I have to say that nothing I might ever have gotten under any exclusives (I am not going to confirm that) comes remotely close to this. I still have seen no NASA media advisory as to how media can cover this event that NASA is participating in. You are doing a disservice to the media – and the taxpayers who pay for all the toys – in not doing your utmost to make this activity known as widely as your resources could allow you to do. But then again, you just don’t care, do you?”  
NASA JSC does whatever it wants to do – even when NASA HQ tells them not to – and then NASA HQ PAO is forced to tow the party line and not admit the obvious – and hope that you do not notice what is actually going on. Charlie Bolden’s control over NASA is much more tenuous than many people imagine – and it is steadily evaporating at a growing pace. HQ direction to field centers is seen as a “suggestion” these days. As the budget battles heat up next Spring – ISS & Commerical Vs SLS; HSF Vs Planetary – that will become abundantly clear.
No one is in the driver’s seat at NASA. Maybe the girl robot can drive.
NASA JSC Has Developed A Girl Robot in Secret (Revised With NASA Responses), earlier post
P.S. Google just bought Boston Dynamics – NASA’s biggest competitor.

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

20 responses to “No One is in the Driver's Seat at NASA”

  1. savuporo says:
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    >>NASA JSC does whatever it wants to do

    I think JSC building another copy of their GM robot is small potatoes – compared to JPL conveniently “winning” one mars robot after another with their single source prime contractor. Whether anyone asked for it or not.

    • Dr. Brian Chip Birge says:
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      The (to my mind needless) subsurface conflict between manned and robotic space that is always simmering is about to get even uglier than usual.

      • kcowing says:
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        With the stark choices that lie ahead for the next budget I totally agree – and it will be ugly.

        • savuporo says:
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          In case you missed it, that particular robot scored pretty much last with zero points, whereas others exceeded all expectations and completed 87% of the allocated tasks.

    • kcowing says:
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      I don’t disagree. This is an illness that can be found across NASA.

  2. Brian_M2525 says:
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    “No One is in the Driver’s Seat at NASA”
    I think we’ve been watching this for about ten years now. It is not a new situation. Did you just come to this realization?

    What has become apparent to the entire world in the last two years, since Shuttle was terminated, is that without an ongoing program, NASA has no plan, its leaders can define no rationale. Yes, indeed-no one is in the driver’s seat. Amazing with all these brilliant geeks in charge!

    • Dr. Brian Chip Birge says:
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      Shuttle shifted manned spaceflight into ops mode out of exploration. Now we are having pains trying to shift back with less budget, manpower, and direction.

    • Hug Doug ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ says:
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      Since when are any brilliant geeks in Congress?

    • guest says:
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      Bolden has never been in charge because he has never had any real vision for the agency. Mostly it is Gerst making the decisions – and he just wants to re-build old things that employ his friends. The inmates running the asylum on the science side as well. People who get the money are making the decisions to… send themselves more money. This is not what NASA was designed to do. The old guard is at least having a harder time protecting the status quo now that more companies are able to compete and doing more for less. That is how we will make progress.

  3. Dr. Brian Chip Birge says:
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    >>NASA JSC does whatever it wants to do

    If that were true we’d have a base on the moon by now. PAO criticism is definitely warranted however.

  4. John Kavanagh says:
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    Step 1: Commit NASA HQ to a space exploration & development strategy
    Step 2: Subject NASA Centers to a BRAC.

  5. Hondo Lane says:
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    “Maybe the girl robot can drive.” – careful, your sexism might be showing.

    You admit to getting exclusives for your blog, but are outraged that other outlets with far higher exposure get an exclusive? Do you make vinegar with those sour grapes?

    • kcowing says:
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      NASA should not be giving exclusives to ANYONE. The instances PAO is alluding to involved many people – not just me. Now that this story is out PAO refuses to provide any information to the media – or anyone – they have to ask IEEE for permission. Wacky.

  6. Mark says:
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    Come on haters. NASA JSC isn’t releasing a lot of details because they are competing in a very important competition in a day or so. Go look at other DARPA Challenge competitors PAO videos. No one is divulging much.

    • Brian_M2525 says:
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      I don’t think most of us are “haters”. Mainly what we’d like to see is improvements in the system-even NASA management simply abiding by government and civil service regulations would be great. But after many years of the opposite, and the destruction of much of HSF, I think many of us have given up on the current version of NASA.

  7. Gonzo_Skeptic says:
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    Bolden will be powerless to control the Centers as long as they remain the prodigal darlings of their districts’ Congresspersons. As an example, over the past decade, we have seen NASA HQ watch helplessly as NASA GSFC through Senator Mikulski continually gutted other space programs to pay for the exponentially spiraling costs of JWST. Or how SLS was rammed down NASA HQ’s throat as a pork project to keep MSFC alive.

  8. Michael Spencer says:
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    Hmm…I kinda like her…:-)

  9. savuporo says:
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    That competition is live now ( #DARPADRC ) and so far JSC has zero points scored. JPL has 2. The leading team has 18 out of 20 maximum possible.