NASA's $349 Million Empty Tower

An anonymous reader writes: In a scathing indictment of NASA's bureaucracy, the Washington Post documents a $349 million project to construct a laboratory tower that was closed as soon as it was finished. From the article: "[The tower was] designed to test a new rocket engine in a chamber that mimicked the vacuum of space. ... As soon as the work was done, it shut the tower down. The project was officially 'mothballed' — closed up and left empty — without ever being used. ... The reason for the shutdown: The new tower — called the A-3 test stand — was useless. Just as expected. The rocket program it was designed for had been canceled in 2010. ... The result was that NASA spent four more years building something it didn't need. Now, the agency will spend about $700,000 a year to maintain it in disuse. ... Jerked from one mission to another, NASA lost its sense that any mission was truly urgent. It began to absorb the vices of less-glamorous bureaucracies: Officials tended to let projects run over time and budget. Its congressional overseers tended to view NASA first as a means to deliver pork back home, and second as a means to deliver Americans into space. In Mississippi, NASA built a monument to its own institutional drift."

Comments

Quoted from TFA

[SpzToid]

The reason for the shutdown: The new tower — called the A-3 test stand — was useless. Just as expected. The rocket program it was designed for had been canceled in 2010.

But, at first, cautious NASA bureaucrats didn’t want to stop the construction on their own authority. And then Congress — at the urging of a senator from Mississippi — swooped in and ordered the agency to finish the tower, no matter what.

The result was that NASA spent four more years building something it didn’t need. Now, the agency will spend about $700,000 a year to maintain it in disuse.

Re:Quoted from TFA

[mrchaotica]

After the rocket program had been canceled, it was expected that the tower would be useless when it was completed four years later. Lo and behold, now that it's completed it is indeed useless.

Re:Quoted from TFA

[UnknowingFool]

And you 100% they didn't?

Since then, it’s spent an additional $57 million to keep building it, according to a February 2013 report by the agency’s inspector general, Paul Martin. Testifying before the House space subcommittee in September, Martin highlighted the A-3 as an example of how lawmakers, looking to keep federal dollars flowing to their states, can block efforts to cut unnecessary spending. “The political context in which NASA operates often impedes its efforts to reduce infrastructure,” he said."

This was reported by BusinessWeek almost a year ago.

Re:Quoted from TFA

[Anonymous Coward]

No doubt it was completed due to the sunken cost fallacy.

No, it was completed because (quoted from TFA) "Congress — at the urging of a senator from Mississippi — swooped in and ordered the agency to finish the tower, no matter what."

What's worse is that NASA already had a test stand for testing engines in vacuum, built during the Apollo program in Sandusky Ohio. The question had been whether to upgrade that one to test the new engine, or build a new one, and the original cost estimate for building a new one in MIssisippi was, uh, somewhat lower than the actual cost turned out to be. So now NASA has two unused large engine-test vacuum chambers.

Re:Quoted from TFA

[Geoffrey.landis]

But the converse of that is not saying that they must continue. I would assume that means they may stop, but are not obligated to. I can't imagine that NASA doesn't have enough self-governance to not spend money.

You may not be able to imagine that, but this merely represents a failure in your imagination.

When Congress passes a bill stating that NASA "shall" spend money on project X,this is not optional. They must spend that money.

That was the language in the bill:
“Wicker Three” was an amendment sponsored by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). His amendment said NASA “shall complete construction and activation of the A-3 test stand with a completion goal of September 30, 2013.” That language was included in the bill that passed the committee, then the Senate, then the House. In October 2010, Obama signed it into law.

Re:Quoted from TFA

[sconeu]

And said Senator's ass-hattery was covered here in February.

Re:Quoted from TFA

[jklovanc]

preventing any further action until the senator removes said hold.

Not quite

Holds, like filibusters, can be defeated through a successful cloture motion.

Re:Quoted from TFA

[UnknowingFool]

Yes it was. People who didn't know about are OUTRAGED! They are outraged at NASA two years later for a problem that was fully disclosed and really was not their fault.

Pork, Republican pork, previously documented.

[ankhank]

This was forced on NASA as a pork barrel money grant by the Republican senators, and this isn't news.

Senator Makes NASA Complete $350 Million Testing Tower ...
yro.slashdot.org/.../senator-makes-nasa-complete-350-million-testing-to...
Feb 1, 2014 - Roger F. Wicker (R-MS), who says the testing tower will help maintain the ..... The other senators will likely decide that it's easier to fund his pork ...