Congressmen Seek Answers About Falcon 9 Problems
Falcon 9 second stage engine burn.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Mike Coffman PR) — Today, U.S. Representative Mike Coffman (R-CO), along with Representative Cory Gardner (R-CO), sent a letter to the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) expressing strong concerns over anomalies that have occurred on taxpayer-funded space launch vehicles, and the lack of public disclosure or transparency of these anomalies. The letter expresses concern over an epidemic of anomalies that have occurred during SpaceX launches or launch attempts, and communicates frustrations with NASA’s refusal to provide insight into those mishaps.
[Editor’s Note: The letter is also signed by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL).]
“In the interest of full disclosure and accountability, we request that NASA publicly release all anomalies and mishap information, un-redacted, so that Congress can gain a better understanding of what has occurred and ensure full transparency. Because the development of the vehicles and capsule in question were funded by NASA dollars, we request that you provide Congress with the information you have on the various aspects of risk and reliability from these programs, including contractual, management, technical, manufacturing, cost, schedule and safety”, wrote Coffman and Gardner.
According to recent news reports, SpaceX launch attempts have resulted in wide ranging problems, including multiple helium leaks, loss of capsule control, multiple thruster issues, avionics issues, capsule contamination issues, and three consecutive seawater intrusions on ISS Cargo Resupply (CRS) missions. SpaceX contracted or planned 24 Falcon 9 flights for its NASA, DOD and commercial customers through 2013 and flew seven. They list approximately 30 flights for this year and next, yet have only flown three times.
“Because the vehicles in question were funded by American taxpayer dollars, there should be no issue making this report publicly available. This information is critical to Congress’ understanding of these programs and the associated risks,” wrote Coffman and Gardner.
The letter to NASA can be found here.
21 responses to “Congressmen Seek Answers About Falcon 9 Problems”
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Yeah, I can imagine the congressmen reading the unredacted engineering report on said issues, making smart faces… Will there be a full disclosure of the details (technical, financial and political) for the process of selecting the tech consultants who would explain to the congressmen what the report actually says?
Colorado, huh? Who owns these guys? Alabama, I could have expected.
the headquarters of the ULA is in Colorado.
So is SNC’s headquarters. Congress should tread lightly less harassed NASA officials run out of patience with DC when it comes time to winnow the field of Commercial Crew contenders.
Nope. SNC’s HQ is out of Nevada, but the dreamchaser is made in perlmutters district, not Coffmans.
And Coffman wants to kill off perlmutter AND SNC regardless of the damage to Colorado.
So who is in Louisville, CO? Never mind. It’s SpaceDev, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNC.
SNC HQ is in Sparks Nv.
Louisville, CO was the HQ of SpaceDev, which was bought by SNC after Jim Bensen’s death. As such, that is their human space efforts.
Keep in mind that SNC, like many corps, have divisions/buildings all over.
Interestingly, SNC has a major division in Coffman’s area, but he still ignores them.
I’m shocked! Shocked to find that congressman would put the advantage of a large campaign contributor ahead of what’s best for the country. Say it ain’t so.
Not just ULA and L-Mart, but the Chinese gov. as well.
Oops, call me a cynic but… is there anyway these politicos can make a full disclosure of all the faults they have…!
IIRC, the Orion is also being built (at absurdly great expense) by Lockheed in Denver. Not only is the Falcon 9 a competitor to the ULA rockets, Dragon is a competitor of the Orion.
NOW, you get it.
BUT, Coffman is also on the take from Chinese gov. As such, the Chinese would rather see SLS, Atlas, and Delta, than F9 and FH.
Lockheed space and ULA are both located in Coffman’s district.
Coffman has been one of those that I oppose since he pushes the SLS, works to kill off new private space, while sending billions to Putin.
Wow, this could be an Onion article.
I paid for an Apple product, so I want Apple to publicly disclose every technical problem they’ve ever had in detail (like that will ever happen…). The government is used to being a client, when to SpaceX their more of a consumer. They buy the product and utilize it, and the details of the product are of no concern to the consumer, only that it meets their needs. I understand their potential concerns, but it’s clear that they’re only complaining about this to prop up ULA.
Isn’t the corruption getting just a tad bit blatant or…
No more than normal.
I just love my congressman.
Hopefully, Coffman will be voted out, but I doubt it.
As bad as he is, I just wish that he was not on the take from the Chinese gov.
And yes, a guy taking money from a company that is owned by top Chinese ppl, is owned by them.
When they ask the same about the F-35 (which is *entirely* government funded, and has no commercial users), I *might* take them seriously…
LOL.
Good point.
I doubt that Coffman will back that idea.
The initial link to the paper posted was a URL on LM hosted site. It has been relocated to another server since then.