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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday May 20 2020, @05:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the headed-out-the-door dept.

NASA's human spaceflight chief just resigned, and the timing couldn't be worse:

On Tuesday, NASA announced that its chief of human spaceflight had resigned from the space agency. The timing of Doug Loverro's departure is terrible, with NASA's first launch of humans in nearly nine years due to occur in just eight days.

[...] "Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Doug Loverro has resigned from his position effective Monday, May 18," the statement said. "Loverro hit the ground running this year and has made significant progress in his time at NASA. His leadership of HEO has moved us closer to accomplishing our goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024. Loverro has dedicated more than four decades of his life in service to our country, and we thank him for his service and contributions to the agency."

Loverro's resignation set off a firestorm of speculation after it was announced. He was due to chair a Flight Readiness Review meeting on Thursday to officially clear SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft for the first flight of humans to the International Space Station. The final go or no-go decision for that mission was to be his. That launch is presently scheduled for May 27.

However, his departure does not seem to be directly related to his work on Crew Dragon. Rather it seems to stem from the recent process during which NASA selected three bids—led by Blue Origin, Dynetics, and SpaceX—from among five bidders. In an email to the human exploration staff at NASA on Tuesday, Loverro admitted that he made a mistake earlier this year.

"Our mission is certainly not easy, nor for the faint of heart, and risk-taking is part of the job description," Loverro wrote. "The risks we take, whether technical, political, or personal, all have potential consequences if we judge them incorrectly. I took such a risk earlier in the year because I judged it necessary to fulfill our mission. Now, over the balance of time, it is clear that I made a mistake in that choice for which I alone must bear the consequences. And therefore, it is with a very, very heavy heart that I write to you today to let you know that I have resigned from NASA effective May 18th, 2020."


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2020, @06:52PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2020, @06:52PM (#997054)

    What, do you believe, is the question of the century?

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2020, @07:01PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2020, @07:01PM (#997058)

    Well, unless something went wrong on launch day the question of his hypothetical resignation on that day seems pretty mild.

    The real question for this century is "Will rich assholes ever be held accountable for their crimes?" Humanity desperately needs a true justice system, in pretty much every country being rich is a free pass for crimes until the evidence piles up high enough for public outrage to outweigh the bribes.

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2020, @11:13PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2020, @11:13PM (#997138)

      Will rich assholes ever be held accountable for their crimes?

      No.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 21 2020, @12:44AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 21 2020, @12:44AM (#997170)

        It has happened many times, and we have steadily progressed as a species towards holding the powerful accountable. Mostly in bloody revolutions, but there has been a steady increase in judicial punishment. I think it'll happen eventually.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 21 2020, @02:52AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 21 2020, @02:52AM (#997213)

      That, I, pray tell, believe, is the question of the century.

    • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday May 21 2020, @08:55PM

      by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Thursday May 21 2020, @08:55PM (#997583) Homepage Journal

      Will rich assholes ever be held accountable for their crimes?

      It's difficult but not impossible.

      Try reading Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow.

      -- hendrik