On Feb 20, 3:39�pm, Brian Thorn wrote:
On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:34:17 -0800, Pat Flannery
wrote:

Brian Thorn wrote:
Shouldn't somebody from NASA have gotten on the phone with them and told
them to freeze work on it when Orion got canceled?

They're forbidden to do so by law, courtesy Congress, which has to
approve any cancellation of Constellation work. So far, they haven't
passed the President's budget request, so NASA must keep going as
before.

I don't mean to tell them to cancel the whole thing, just not to spend
any more money on it till the budget gets the thumbs-up or down.

No. Contract law means NASA can't withhold payment just because they
don't want it anymore. They'd have to show cause, i.e., OSC (or
LockMart, whoever is prime) failing to perform, and even then OSC
would be able to challenge the decision, which could take weeks or
months. OSC has already done a lot of work preparing facilities and
hiring people to do the work NASA contracted them to do, so they need
the money NASA committed to them to meet their own obligations. That's
why there is so much money in the FY11 request to terminate
Constellation contracts.

Yes, this is a complete fiasco. I do hope Congress realizes that and
orders Orion (baselined on EELV) to continue as a backup to the
commercial offerings. At least waste a little less of that taxpayer
moolah.

Right now it looks like they are trying to rip off the taxpayers by
running up bills on a thing that is supposed to be dead.
Doesn't it fall under Bolden's purview to tell them to wait a bit?

Congress (specifically Sen. Shelby) has already yelled at him for
letting KSC (try to) cancel an Ares facilities work contract.

Brian

It was a PREVENTABLE FIASCO

NASA should of gone with existing expendables right after columbia and
by now we would be flying. No booster needed, just need a capsule and
service module.

but greedy nasa demanded a too large capsule so existing expendables
couldnt be used, so they would have more pork to pass out, well
taxpayers money but really pork.

Ares came back to bite them, since it was a bad design and most here
knew that from the day it was announced.

So nasa will be forced to get out of the launch business A
altoghether necessary step.

NASA should consider itself lucky the ISS budget wasnt zeroed too.

NASA is no longer capable of running anything but passing out pork