OIG: Problems with GRC's Altitude Combustion Stand Facility

20 Feb 2007 Addendum: Memorandum with Management Comments provided in response to the 2 Nov 2006 Final Memorandum on Observations on the Review and Approval of Glenn Research Center's Relocation of the Altitude Combustion Stand Facility.

"Although events overtook our recommendation, the Agency's failure to comply with its own procedural requirements and ensure the appropriate use of resources remains troubling. ... Perhaps most concerning is the apparent belief that once NASA has built a facility to meet requirements for certain capabilities, that those requirements continue on indefinitely and justify the construction of replacement facilities years later without due consideration of whether there is a continuing need. There is no fiduciary duty to preserve capabilities that are no longer needed. There is a fiduciary duty to keep from investing in unneeded facilities, and this duty provides the underpinning for the requirements that NASA did not follow in constructing the ACS facility."