Christopher Scolese Nominated to be the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office “Mr. Scolese currently serves as the Director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Previously, he served as the associate administrator at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., and as NASA’s chief engineer. Mr. Scolese is the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, the NASA Distinguished Leadership Medal, the Goddard Outstanding Leadership Medal, two NASA Outstanding Leadership […]

NASA’s plan to build new rocket in tight budget times? “Run ’till apprehended”, Huntsville Times “How is NASA approaching the challenge of building a multibillion-rocket in the tightest Washington budget environment in years? “We run till apprehended,” one top manager said in Huntsville Tuesday morning. Dumbacher’s comment was a joking ice-breaker, but his humor and that of others Tuesday morning was a way for top NASA administrators to acknowledge they’re […]

Keith’s 1 July update: According to NASA SMD: this is what SMD paid for the reception: “Planetary Program costs: $37.5K, which included the NASM facility rental, rental for chairs/stage/tables/etc, a/v, music, lighting and rigging, delivery, taxes.” That’s $37,500 that could have been spent on science. Instead, Ed Weiler spends it on a party. Keith’s 30 June update: According to the AAS: “AAS handled the reception, the costs of which were […]

Keith’s 19 May note: Industry sources report that Northrop Grumman will begin to layoff personnel working on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) next month for budgetary and scheduling reasons. JWST was originally supposed to have been launched in 2007. This launch date has officially slipped to no earlier than 2017-2018. According to sources, NASA Associate Administrator Chris Scolese told a group of aerospace executives this week that running JWST […]

NASA’s Overbudget Mars Rover in Need of Another Cash Infusion “NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission needs an $82 million cash infusion to maintain its late November launch date after development of the $2.47 billion rover exhausted program funding reserves last year, according to agency officials. …. “Our problem right now is MSL,” Green told members of the NASA Advisory Council’s planetary sciences subcommittee during a public meeting here Jan. […]

NASA Administrator Bolden Statement On The Webb Telescope “However, I am disappointed we have not maintained the level of cost control we strive to achieve — something the American taxpayer deserves in all of our projects.” Keith’s note: “Disappointed”? That’s the depth of your response to this? There was just a rather significant election a few days ago – one wherein the current Administration’s approach to many things was repudiated. […]

Keith’s note: The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project started under NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Associate Administrator Ed Weiler. Virtually all of its chronic and unabated cost increases and schedule slips have occured under Weiler’s watch either at NASA HQ or at NASA GSFC. When former SMD AA Alan Stern tried to bring the escalating costs of programs such as JWST and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) under control, in […]

Telescope Is Behind Schedule and Over Budget, Panel Says, NY Times “The report raised fear that other projects would be hurt. “This is NASA’s Hurricane Katrina,” said Alan P. Boss, who leads the subcommittee that advises NASA’s astrophysics program. The telescope, he said, “will leave nothing but devastation in the astrophysics division budget.” James Webb Telescope Project Project Reviewed and Reorganized In Wake of Massive Cost Overruns, Popsci “JWST already […]

NASA’s new space telescope costs shoot the moon, AP “We were missing a certain fraction of what was going on,” NASA associate administrator Chris Scolese said in a late Wednesday afternoon teleconference. … The fault “lies with us, no question about it,” Scolese said. … The Webb telescope is already late. When first announced more than a dozen years ago, it was supposed to launch in 2007. That was eventually […]

Bolden Overhauls NASA Organization, Space News “NASA field center directors and mission directorate chiefs will report directly to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden under organizational changes Bolden announced Feb. 23 in a memo to senior agency officials. The heads of NASA’s 10 regional field centers and four headquarters-based mission directorates currently report to NASA Associate Administrator Chris Scolese, the agency’s third-highest-ranking official. That reporting structure was put in place by Bolden’s […]