April 25, 2008

Curious Ares Staff Changes at MSFC

Editor's 25 Apr update: According to June Malone MSFC PAO: "Good morning. Regarding your questions/comments to the Ares Projects Office I can offer the following:

- Any individual employee personnel action which may or may not be in work is not subject to discussion and therefore we cannot comment on any specific allegation other than to reiterate that no actions associated with procurement irregularities are currently or anticipated to be in work.

- As far as any allegations of procurement irregularities regarding this matter, those allegations are false. There are no known procurement irregularity issues relative to Ares. A number of contract awards have been made over the last year regarding the Ares project and we are aware of no irregularities or concerns involving those contracts."

Earlier posts below.


Editor's 23 Apr note: According to MSFC sources, an ESMD Ares launch systems deputy (JP10) has been relieved of their position at MSFC for "procurement irregularities". Several other employees have also been relieved of their positions for the same reason. Stay Tuned.

Editor's 24 Apr update: Teresa VanHooser, Steve Cook's Deputy in the Ares Project Office called a meeting at 3:30 pm today with JP10 employees to address the NASA Watch posting. She told employees that there was no truth to the posting. When a specific employee's name (who has not been at work for a while) was mentioned she did not have a response. I have an inquiry in to VanHooser and Cook. Let's see how (if) they reply.

I stand by my posting.

Rumors of Ares troubles denied, Huntsville Times.

"A report published on the space agency watchdog Internet site NASAWatch.com claim that several management changes were made, employees were fired and that the Ares contracts faced "procurement irregularities."

Editor's 25 Apr update: Steve Cook knows a lot more about this than he seems to be willing to discuss. He has been offered a chance to respond and has yet to do so.

I stand by my post.

Posted by kcowing at April 25, 2008 10:25 AM

COPYRIGHT: Unless otherwise specified, all formatting, imagery, link collections, and HTML coding contained within this website © copyright 1996 - 2008. All Rights Reserved Re-use of graphics, text, or HTML formatting for commercial or private use is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.

Copyright

This website does not have any connection whatsoever with, endorsement by, or authorization from, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration nor does any product or service being offered or made available to the public have the authorization, support, sponsorship, or endorsement of, or the development, use, or manufacture by or on behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.