Top House Committee Republicans Press NASA for Answers on SLS, Orion, CCtCAP
The chairmen of the House Science, Space and Technology (SS&T) committee and its Space Subcommittee sent a letter to NASA yesterday (October 21) asking the agency to respond to previous inquiries from the committee regarding the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion, the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCAP) contracts and other matters to which NASA has not yet replied.
In yesterday’s letter, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Steve Palazzo (R-MS) repeated their requests for updated information on NASA’s plans for launching SLS and Orion. Their original letter on August 27 stemmed from NASA’s announcement that day that it was committing to a November 2018 launch readiness date for SLS, almost a year longer than expected. That letter requested a response by September 10, 2014, but the committee said it still has not received answers to its questions.
As for CCtCAP, yesterday’s letter notes that Space Subcommittee staff “reached out” to NASA the day the CCtCAP decision was announced, requesting a briefing and the source selection statement. The letter explains that the committee understood it could not have such a briefing until after NASA briefed the offerors, but those briefings are now completed. Although Sierra Nevada Corporation is protesting the awards to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the committee’s letter notes that the statute governing the bid protest process does not authorize “the withholding of any document or information from Congress or an executive agency.” In addition, the committee states that NASA is proceeding with the contracts despite the protest and details of the source selection document were released to the press. “We assume the Administration will submit a budget proposal to Congress in the next few months that will include funding for the CCtCAP program,” the letter continues, and Congress’s “ability to evaluate this budget request may be challenged by NASA’s uncooperative position.”
The letter also presses NASA to provide previously requested data on NASA’s treatment of potential termination liability obligations across the agency.
This letter asks for a NASA response by October 28, 2014.
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