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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."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by khallow on Wednesday May 20 2020, @07:57PM (2 children)
For example, there's this crude working hypothesis in the discussion that Loverra was instrumental in turning down a Boeing bid, Boeing in turn applied pressure to the usual suspects who (in overlap with your hypothesis) include Trump, and Trump gets NASA to fire Loverra. And now, the tweets aren't forthcoming because Trump is somehow scared to? Here's the things I find implausible, working from your side backwards:
I think it more likely that Loverra ran afoul of laws on gift taking or bidding. Maybe he accepted something from one of the competitors or did something that tainted the bidding process. You know, felonies. Rather than go to court, they're going to let him resign.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday May 20 2020, @10:41PM
That was my thought: took a 'gift' from someone he shouldn't have and got caught.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Thursday May 21 2020, @02:13AM
Trump has been publicly displeased a lot with Boeing recently between the failure to get their plane working, the cost overruns on SLS, and possible solvency issues. I don't see Trump wanting someone fired for not picking Boeing bids, although I don't know enough to not put it past Bridenstine to be a Boeing shill although he seems far more energetic during joint SpaceX conferences than Boeing ones.
Of course this is all speculation, but maybe he regretted all the spending he authorized over the past who knows how long to Boeing and is leaving to let someone else take the spotlight if SpaceX succeeds (or doesn't). Even if the leaks say it was forced, we have had so many "leaks" up to this point meant to cause issues that I have a hard time believing them. If I had been working on and spending money on a project earnestly for decades only to have some new players swoop in and do it faster, cheaper, and better than what I had it would be extremely embarrassing.
I would rather assume until the facts are known that there isn't malice involved. Of course if the SpaceX mission blows up on the runway or on takeoff or is pushed back, its fair play to assume the two were related.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam