NASA blows off GAO recommendations
Hmm. A recent Space.com story explains that certain forces on Capitol Hill, including the powerful General Accounting Office, want NASA to slow down their decision on picking a builder for the new CEV spacecraft. NASA however has basically blown off the GAO's recommendations, a highly unusual maneuver to say the least. The GAO is highly respected in Washington, and rarely do their recommendations go unheeded, much less get shoved back in their faces. NASA's swift outright rejection of the GAO's recommended timeline is an indication that they are in a real hurry to start work. In fact, a little birdy told me that one of the two bidders (Lockheed Martin is in competition with a Northrop-Boeing consortium) has been told that they will be expected to be putting out production designs within one week of being awarded the contract.
Which begs the question: What's the hurry? Hmm...
Industry sources say the Northrop-Boeing team has the inside track heading into August's decision.
posted by Mike Bara at 6:44 PM
2 Comments:
Interesting. Makes me wonder if there is a future event they are aware of, that may stop or hinder that mission in some way if they don't rapidly move forward. Speculation of course. I welcome your return to LA!
Well, you could argue that they are rushing to get the program to a certain point before a new President comes in. Once programs reach a certain point, they tend to keep going. But I get the sense there is something else behind it.
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