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When Space Experts Say Things Just To Get Quoted

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
October 16, 2019
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When Space Experts Say Things Just To Get Quoted

NASA paid SpaceX for safety review after Musk smoked pot, Politico
“The episode raises a number of questions, said Pete Garrettson, a recently retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and space strategist. “As a taxpayer why would I pay when I don’t have to?” he asked. “If I was Boeing, I also would have said, ‘Why am I being punished without the same compensation?’ But if the aerospace giant wanted NASA to cover the costs of the review, he added, it may have faced uncomfortable questions about why its costs for the Commercial Crew Program are so much higher than SpaceX’s. “If I was at NASA,” Garrettson added, “I’d say, ‘How much was your contract [for the Commercial Crew Program] padded compared to SpaceX?'”
“The idea of NASA ever giving SpaceX preferential treatment over Boeing is simply giggle-inducing to industry insiders,” said Greg Autry, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California who served on the Trump administration’s NASA transition team. “At every step of the way Boeing got more [money] in the [Commercial Crew development] program. Far, far more than $5 million. Even discussing $5 million in this context is silly.”
Keith’s note: This whole story is goofy. The initial investigation was highly questionable to say the least – but when space industry “experts” inject conspiracy mongering and start to conflate Boeing commercial crew costs with a routine workplace drug compliance review at SpaceX you gotta ask yourself if these experts can see the forest through the pot smoke.

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

4 responses to “When Space Experts Say Things Just To Get Quoted”

  1. ThomasLMatula says:
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    Yes, just another bash the billionaire story that journalists like to do to get attention.

  2. VLaszlo says:
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    If more NASA leaders were smoking more pot, we’d probably be a lot closer to a space-faring civilization.

  3. SouthwestExGOP says:
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    First, Pete has specific items that he pushes – he is not a space expert but an advocate of specific solutions. He is a conspiracy advocate.