NASA’s $349 million monument to its drift, Washington Post “In June, NASA finished work on a huge construction project here in Mississippi: a $349 million laboratory tower, designed to test a new rocket engine in a chamber that mimicked the vacuum of space. Then, NASA did something odd. As soon as the work was done, it shut the tower down. The project was officially “mothballed” — closed up and left […]

GAO: James Webb Space Telescope: Project Facing Increased Schedule Risk with Significant Work Remaining “With just under 4 years until its planned launch in October 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project reports it remains on schedule and budget. Technical challenges with JWST elements and major subsystems, however, have diminished the project’s overall schedule reserve and increased risk. During the past year, delays have occurred on every element and […]

OIG Report: NASA’s Use of Blanket Purchase Agreements “NASA Contracting Officials Using GSA Schedule Agreements Did Not Maximize Competition or Seek Vendor Price Discounts. Our sample included 23 orders obtained using 14 different GSA schedule agreements. We found deficiencies in 12 of these 14 agreements. Specifically, for 9 of the agreements NASA contracting officials established single- rather than multiple-award agreements without preparing written justifications or failed to request price discounts […]

Virgin Galactic Appoints Richard DalBello as Vice President of Business Development and Government Affairs “In this role, Richard will be responsible for managing business development focusing on LauncherOne, the company’s dedicated orbital launch vehicle for small satellites. Richard will be also responsible for managing the company’s interactions with the US government.”

SpaceX expansion could add 300 jobs locally, Waco Tribune “In a report prepared by the city of Waco’s economic development staff, SpaceX is proposing to invest $46.3 million in the site during the next five years. That will consist of about $32.4 million in real property improvements and $13.9 million in personal property improvements. SpaceX will add 300 new jobs by Dec. 31, 2018, with employees receiving benefits and an […]

.@WhiteHouse has invested more than $100 billion in America's space program and advanced #NASA's #JourneyToMars pic.twitter.com/s5m3ECHgOQ — David Weaver (@DavidWeaver) December 10, 2014 @DavidWeaver @WhiteHouse Your chart is inaccurate. See revised pic. Nowhere near the $$ needed #emptypromise #NASA pic.twitter.com/BeYIZ1gtgw — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) December 12, 2014

Spaceport launches online shop to help pay bills, KRQE “The launch of commercial flights to space from Spaceport America was supposed to help the economy here take off. However, after years and years of delays, the Spaceport is trying other things to make money, like starting a new online store.” New Mexico lawmakers concerned about Spaceport America’s future, Mashable “New Mexico, which has invested $218.5 million into the future of […]

GAO Testimony by Cristina Chaplain – Hearing on SLS and Orion “In August 2014, NASA completed the review of the SLS program that sets formal cost and schedule baselines and, in doing so, delayed the first test flight to relieve schedule pressure and allow additional time to address design challenges. However, some of the concerns we raised about the cost estimates, mission requirements, and long-term affordability remain. In addition, our […]

Scimemi is talking about #NASA interest in getting away from LEO as if they are no longer interested — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) December 10, 2014 Sam Scimemi from #NASA just said that he wants to bring casinos and gambling up to the ISS — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) December 10, 2014 More below Scimemi clearly just wants someone else to pay ISS costs so that #NASA does not have to but […]

House Science Committee Hearing: Update on the Space Launch System and Orion (10 December) – Archived webcast – Hearing Charter – GAO Testimony by Cristina Chaplain – Hearing on SLS and Orion – Statement by Steven Palazzo – Hearing on SLS and Orion – Statement of Chairman Lamar Smith – Hearing on SLS and Orion – Testimony of William H. Gerstenmaier – Hearing on SLS and Orion – Subcommittee Reviews […]