What's Going on at NASA?

The news about the NASA Administrator is not good.  I have read of at least three investigations looking into Administrator Charles Bolden's actions in the past few months.  The latest story in the New York Times relates to an inquiry from the Hill regarding the treatment of Jeffrey M. Hanley, who was NASA's head of the moon program.  It seems Senators Rockefeller and Hutchinson have little faith in Administrator Bolden and believe Mr. Hanley may have been mistreated because he is not yet ready to give up on a moon mission, even if it is a smaller version of what was originally planned.

The increasing Hill oversight of the NASA program shows growing distrust between the White House and Congress regarding the direction of the space program.  The same article discusses a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review for the Congress regarding NASA's efforts to find alternatives to the moon plan, and the GAO is still reviewing allegations that NASA is interfering with Constellation contractors.

Another Wall Street Journal article noted Administrator Bolden is having trouble controlling the employees of his own Agency.  While Administrator Bolden has attempted to direct funding away from the old moon program and its contractors, more than $160 million was released to one moon program contractor and another $80 million promised to another moon program contractor.  All told, as much as $630 million in additional funding may be directed at contractors who are no longer needed in the eyes of the White House.  Make you wonder who is really in change over at NASA.

Another Chance for Atlantis

Soon after my last posting I read in the papers that NASA may use the Atlantis Shuttle one more time.  The Atlantis could fly one more time in June 2011, giving the shuttle program extended life.  This will be welcome news for thousands of Kennedy Space Center employees who will stay on the job a little longer.  Of course, nothing at NASA is cheap, and it could cost between $100-200 million per month to keep the program up and running.  It is also expected that private companies may be able to pick up some of the space cargo slack as soon as next year, so the extra mission may prove to be a nice bridge.