Selling Crap to NASA

By Keith Cowing on March 31, 2009 12:25 PM

Prosecutor: Faulty part could have destroyed shuttle, Houston Chronicle

"A Friendswood man pleaded guilty Monday to selling NASA a space shuttle part that prosecutors allege could have endangered astronauts' lives. Richard J. Harmon, 60, the former owner of Cornerstone Machining Inc. in Alvin, pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge of fraud involving a space vehicle part. U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes scheduled Harmon's sentencing for June when he could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine."

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Pillownaut | March 31, 2009 1:29 PM | Reply

"tried call someone to explain the error one evening but didn’t reach any one." ??? Because calling back the next day was totally out of the question? I'm no witch-hunter, and I can believe that everyone scrambled to cover their own mistakes, as he says... but it's sad to see evidence of such aloof attitudes toward human life. They should all buld that shuttle like THEY are the ones who will be flying on it!

Flash Gorden | March 31, 2009 2:17 PM | Reply

Just to show how slow the Judical is, This is quite an old story.
How much Crap has CxP purchased ??? and who is facing charges in Court???
prosecutors allege could have endangered astronauts' lives.

such as it is, The SSP program at least watched what they purchase after STS107...

Relphie | March 31, 2009 3:06 PM | Reply

Counterfeit parts is a big issue and HQ sees presentations on it quite often at least in SMD. Kepler just had a major issue being sold materials through a convicted counterfeiter.

It's an issue that keeps getting worse

Galen | March 31, 2009 4:58 PM | Reply

ALL NASA contracts go to the lowest bidder...
You get what you pay for... or 'Good enough or Gov. work'
Caveat Emptor!

Moonlady | March 31, 2009 5:54 PM | Reply

@Flash:
"How much Crap has CxP purchased ???"

Seems like excellent questions for OIG.

Wonder if they track CxP govt vs. contractor purchases?

How do they track CxP work farmed out from one center to another center?

Ron Carlson | March 31, 2009 6:52 PM | Reply

"Harmon said he tried call someone to explain the error one evening but didn’t reach any one."

Why didn't Harmon try again the next day and the next . . .?

I would guess that some of the contractors for ESA, RSA, JAXA, ISRO, CNSA, etc, are just as crooked as some American contractors.

Flash Gorden | April 1, 2009 7:43 AM | Reply

@MoonLady
Seems like excellent questions for OIG.

Well I hope not.
It appears CxP is conducting Tests and do not look at the data or understand the results for some reason.

Given the current LOE and near term goals, it would seem to me to be a OCE process, if the only thing Mikey did was the notion of Technical Authority, (TA). The TA thinking did get morphed into the sameold BS with CxP

It appears all centers still have Material Science Labs,(which is a a happy thought) however the current CxP Management does not know what this is for or maybe they do understand and choose to ignore.

this is not a NEW issue, it can be managed with care and understanding from the NASA / Contractor Workforce. Ares 1x is not flying people which is why it is more likely to fail because a high level of vigilence is not present imho

Give the History of SSP, the high level of vigilence waxes and wanes with funding levels. case in point STS107, and ISS goals. I do not think this was the case for Challanger, however the issue is very much the same.

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Selling Crap to NASA

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