Doug Loverro, new Chief of Human Spaceflight, resigns from NASA

[ecarfan]

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

I do not understand why Loverro resigned, and now of all times, just before DM-2.

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."

Eric Berger speculates “...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.”

But the actual reason is a mystery, at least to me.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Oh wow. We all thought that not picking Boeing and picking SpaceX was a ballsy move. Apparently it was too much. That's my guess anyways. But which politician was the hatchet man?

 

[Cosmacelf]

Oh wow. We all thought that not picking Boeing and picking SpaceX was a ballsy move. Apparently it was too much. That's my guess anyways. But which politician was the hatchet man?

The thing is, Brindenstine had to sign off on the firing and Brindenstine reports to Trump. So what kind of pressure was applied that caused Trump to cave?

The other theory is that one of the awards was to Blue Origin, Bezos' company. Trump famously hates Bezos because of Bezos' ownership of the Washington Post which posts about five critical articles on Trump per day or something.

While I enjoy dumping on Boeing, it seems to make more sense from an actual mechanism point of view to blame Trump for getting upset about the Blue Origin award.

 

[Nikxice]

After reading several articles this evening I found this from The Washington Post.
"Two people with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel matter said his resignation was spurred when Loverro broke a rule during NASA’s recent procurement of a spacecraft capable of landing humans on the moon."

Maybe the credit for scooping an interview with Loverro actually goes to Bezos. As of this evening I believe The Washington Post is the only media he's spoken to. Quoting Loverro in the Post,
"It had nothing to do with commercial crew,” he said. “It had to do with moving fast on Artemis, and I don’t want to characterize it in any more detail than that."

While these statements still leave many questions, it does help confirm that his resignation has nothing to do with DM-2. At least Loverro is done being stressed out wearing that odd Artemis countdown reminder pin on his lapel.

 

[Cosmacelf]

After reading several articles this evening I found this from The Washington Post.
"Two people with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel matter said his resignation was spurred when Loverro broke a rule during NASA’s recent procurement of a spacecraft capable of landing humans on the moon."

Maybe the credit for scooping an interview with Loverro actually goes to Bezos. As of this evening I believe The Washington Post is the only media he's spoken to. Quoting Loverro in the Post,
"It had nothing to do with commercial crew,” he said. “It had to do with moving fast on Artemis, and I don’t want to characterize it in any more detail than that."

While these statements still leave many questions, it does help confirm that his resignation has nothing to do with DM-2. At least Loverro is done being stressed out wearing that odd Artemis countdown reminder pin on his lapel.

Now I’m even more confused.

 

[Cosmacelf]

But still, “moving fast” and “breaking a rule” would seem to point to Boeing as the culprit. Boeing was the only party that could get hurt from a rule being broken, right? So, what, the NASA swamp, looking for cushy retirement jobs from Boeing pushed him out?

 

[ecarfan]

Quoting Loverro in the Post,
"It had nothing to do with commercial crew,” he said. “It had to do with moving fast on Artemis, and I don’t want to characterize it in any more detail than that."

Well that narrows it down.

We know that the current administration wants to “move fast” on Artemis and get Americans on the Moon by 2024.

What I don’t know is, did Loverro make a decision that slowed down Artemis (not “move fast” enough) and thereby angered a certain somebody at the top, or did he make a decision to “move fast” that, for example, left out a certain Old Space company that then complained to their Senate allies resulting in pressure on him to resign?

I suspect the former. I don’t think that Boeing could exert enough pressure on Bridenstine to fire Loverro. But obviously I could be wrong.

 

[AZRI11]

Well that narrows it down.

We know that the current administration wants to “move fast” on Artemis and get Americans on the Moon by 2024.

What I don’t know is, did Loverro make a decision that slowed down Artemis (not “move fast” enough) and thereby angered a certain somebody at the top, or did he make a decision to “move fast” that, for example, left out a certain Old Space company that then complained to their Senate allies resulting in pressure on him to resign?

I suspect the former. I don’t think that Boeing could exert enough pressure on Bridenstine to fire Loverro. But obviously I could be wrong.

The audit did him in? NASA OIG on Twitter

 

[Cosmacelf]

Looks like most theories here are wrong (me at least twice), with @AZRI11 hitting the mark. Eric Berger:

So Loverro was under the gun to get humans on the Moon by 2024, he had concerns about most of the bids, and he favored integrated launch. This means Loverro likely favored the design of Boeing's bid for a Human Landing System, which entailed launching an integrated lander on a "commercial" Space Launch System rocket. It seems reasonable to assume that Loverro may have been pushing Boeing to come up with a more competitive bid.
...
When the inspector general found out about this, it likely precipitated Loverro's resignation.

Basically, Loverro probably was talking directly to Boeing asking them to trim their prices and/or make other bid changes so they could be selected as a bidder. And that's a big time rules violation.

From: Here’s why NASA’s chief of human spaceflight resigned—and why it matters

 

[Cosmacelf]

Looks like most theories here are wrong (me at least twice), with @AZRI11 hitting the mark. Eric Berger:


Basically, Loverro probably was talking directly to Boeing asking them to trim their prices and/or make other bid changes so they could be selected as a bidder. And that's a big time rules violation.

From: Here’s why NASA’s chief of human spaceflight resigned—and why it matters

Eric Berger bends over backwards giving Loverro the benefit of the doubt. "His motives were pure.". How pure can you be when you try to give a bidder a leg up?

Moreover, Loverro could also be wrong. He favored an integrated approach, supposedly for schedule reasons. Somehow he thought Boeing's schedule wouldn't slip. Really? Recent history would suggest otherwise.

And cost does matter. Maybe Boeing's price was so high because Boeing's integrated launch is fraught with challenges and not just because Boeing likes to charge a lot of money just for the hell of it.

The more I learn about Loverro's departure, the less I'm worried about it.

 

[ecarfan]

Thanks as always for Eric Berger’s insightful and reasoned analysis. I liked his last paragraph, quote:

“One thing is sure: Jim Bridenstine's already difficult job as the head of NASA has just gotten more difficult. Perhaps he is facing a Kobayashi Maru test?”

Unfortunately, Bridenstine does not appear to have the capability to emulate James T. Kirk.

 

[Nikxice]

So Eric Berger is suggesting that Doug Loverro's comment "I took such a risk" could be interpreted, "I put Boeing in for the fix! ". Perhaps he saw himself as acting like a good soldier. Trying to fulfill his duty, taking the only chance he had to make that 2024 goal. If this story is true, the next person to walk the plank might be the NASA Inspector General responsible for the discovery. Recent history has shown that those IG guys pursuing unfavorable investigations don't last long inside the current administration.

 

[Cosmacelf]

So Eric Berger is suggesting that Doug Loverro's comment "I took such a risk" could be interpreted, "I put Boeing in for the fix! ". Perhaps he saw himself as acting like a good soldier. Trying to fulfill his duty, taking the only chance he had to make that 2024 goal. If this story is true, the next person to walk the plank might be the NASA Inspector General responsible for the discovery. Recent history has shown that those IG guys pursuing unfavorable investigations don't last long inside the current administration.

I don't see why the IG would be in trouble. I mean, at best, this is a technical judgement thing. Would Boeing's bid really have increased chances of getting to the moon in 2024? The company who routinely slip schedules, goes over budget, and, more recently, can't even write software (737-Max and Starliner).

I doubt Trump cares about this. If anything Boeing's high prices are a turn off for him. We shall see.

 

[tivoboy]

Oh man, I was REALLY looking forward to that launch next week.!

 

[Brn2Run]

But it isnt cancelled? Maybe it will be, what do people think?

I didnt know the history in this case, and I thought at first maybe he left because he thought they
had made the wrong choice about picking SpaceX to be the rocket provider..!

Someones gotta give that woman in the senate some answers, thats for sure.

 

[Cosmacelf]

What are you guys talking about? The commercial crew launch for next week has NOT been cancelled.

 

[Brn2Run]

Just speculating.., can it be cancelled?

 

[Grendal]

Just speculating.., can it be cancelled?

It is certainly possible. Very unlikely - easily far less than a 1% possibility. About the only thing I can imagine is for something to be critically wrong with the rocket. This is a historic launch and what caused Doug Loverro to get dismissed/resigned had nothing to do with Commercial Crew and the launch coming up on May 27th.

 

[bxr140]

Someones gotta give that woman in the senate some answers, thats for sure.

"That woman" is, at best, unconsciously insensitive. Please rephrase.

 

[Brn2Run]

Oh sorry.., did not know that is insensitive. Just dont remember her name, but remember her good looks from another thread.