NASA Says Fraudulent Supplier Caused It to Lose Two Climate Satellites, Wasting Over $700 Million - NASA’s Glory upper stack being prepared for attachment to a Taurus XL rocket’s stage 0 at Vandenberg Air Force Base.jpg

https://gizmodo.com/nasa-says-fraudu...cli-1834464044

NASA has found its loss of two 92-foot Taurus rockets—as well as the
climate-monitoring satellites they were carrying—in 2009 and 2011 was due to a
supplier that falsified test data about frangible joints that were supposed to
split and release the rockets’ fairings, according to Quartz.

According to a NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) report released on April 30,
agency engineers have determined that Oregon aluminum extrusion manufacturer
Sapa Profiles, Inc. (ISP) had doctored failed test results, swapped out
measurements from acceptably-made batches, or altered the conditions of testing
to ensure a favorable result. They then shipped out the poorly-made parts to
clients, one of which was Orbital Sciences (now Northrop Grumman Innovation
Systems), the manufacturer of Taurus rockets. As a result, NASA determined, the
clamshell-style nosecones of the rockets carrying the Orbiting Carbon
Observatory and Glory satellites failed to fall off on command due to SPI’s
faulty frangible joints surviving explosive charges.

Both Taurus rockets then plummeted to their doom in the ocean, with NASA LSP
writing in their report that the “combined cost of both mission failures was in
excess of $700,000,000.”

“NASA relies on the integrity of our industry throughout the supply chain,” NASA
director for Launch Services Jim Norman said in a separate statement. “While we
do perform our own testing, NASA is not able to retest every single component.
That is why we require and pay for certain components to be tested and certified
by the supplier. When testing results are altered and certifications are
provided falsely, missions fail.”

NASA referred its findings to the NASA Office Inspector General and the
Department of Justice, who determined that SPI was motivated by a desire to
conceal its shoddy workmanship and incentivized staff to help cover their tracks
by offering production-based bonuses.

According to a Department of Justice press release on April 23, SPI’s parent
company Norsk Hydro ASA has agreed to a deal in which it would pay out $46
million to NASA, the Department of Defense, and other entities to “resolve
criminal charges and civil claims relating to a 19-year fraud scheme that
included falsifying thousands of certifications for aluminum extrusions provided
to hundreds of customers.”

NASA’s statement also said that SPI and Norsk Hydro ASA have both been suspended
from government contracting (the former company since 2015), and NASA has
proposed both companies receive government-wide disbarment. Quartz speculated
that the release of the report may have been motivated by the company’s
continued denial it was at fault.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory never went into service, but a replacement made
it to space in 2014 and another successor is scheduled to launch in May. Glory
did not receive a replacement.

Correction 5/3/19: A previous version of this article stated that Orbital
Sciences was rebranded as Orbital ATK but it was actually rebranded as Northrop
Grumman Innovation Systems in 2018. We regret the error.



more at https://qz.com/1610055/fraud-cost-nasa-700-million/



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