Comments on: NASA’S Luxury, At Your Expense

Extravagant Awards Ceremonies And Posh Hotels, Funded By Tax Dollars

[adian1-2009]

This is a shameful waste of other people''s money. There must be some way of holding these guys accountable. Where did honesty in federal public servants go? Every day, at every corner, there is something shameful originating in our national government that undermines our trust and confidence in our public services. Corruption abounds everywhere in our national government. But . . . we keep voting for all these corrupted guys! We have what we have bargained for as long as we keep voting for corrupted people in all branches of government. The big problem is that our system is fertile land for breeding that kind of public officers.

[oleander8]

"If you wish to keep the best then such events are part of the compensation." Posted by IMNHO

But these celebrations aren''t about the best employees - they''re about suppliers and contractors.

This is krap - and I''d like to see a 60 Minutes story on it.

[djberson]

I''ve long said NASA is a big waste, of not only $ but fossil fuels as well. HOWEVER, interesting timing for this "news" to break... after air traffic "safety" issues have been exposed.......

[ubrew12]

bobgee_1999 said: "...you go after the one government agency with any sort of noble purpose."

No, NASA is a govt bureaurocracy, and wastes money with the best of them. CBS''s fault is that it thinks that is their fault. Hey, if you or I were in the same position it''d be ''bring on the CanCan''s!''. The problem is a system that rewards slow, methodical work that is ZERO tolerant of failure. As they say in the industry ''the enemy of good enough... is better''. NASA strives for better... and that''s what''s wrong with them. I don''t want NASA to go away, just become an agency charged with handing out numerous contracts to an otherwise ''free'' competitive space market that can determine (not through a crystal ball, but just through dumb luck) what ''good enough'' means. There is no clairvoiance in creating the future, just a bunch of jarheads nosing their way to the future, and one of them happens on the right way. NASA can be a part of that future, but lately seems just to get it its way.

[xraytwonine]

Doesnt matter, there are those who value great human achievements like space exploration and scientific advances; and there are those who wants to just focus on issues here on Earth, where the homeless and the hopeless dwell...

I have been saying this for a long time, and forever more... our problem, it''s not what we do, it''s that we are doing anything at all.

One person''s cause is another person''s trouble, always.


-cynical generation

[bobgee_1999]

Good expose, CBS. Instead of going after an evil administration which is clearly determined to destory our country from within, you go after the one government agency with any sort of noble purpose.

I''m not impressed.

THis is incredible. Why would NASA honor sub-contractors for safety concerns. Shouldn''t safety be built into the contracts? Why are these people be honored for doing something they should be doing in the first place? Who is paying who? NASA is paying them for their work and then honoring them for taking safety into consideration? I am mystified.

[imnho]

Having worked at a NASA center and in the private sector of aerospace such ******** are required to keep people motivated. At NASA you get to work rather long hours without the same compenation as the private sector. If you wish to keep the best then such events are part of the compensation.

[arthurcl1]

Well I worked for Nasa at JPL in Pasadena and it was the best job I ever had. Any way I would rather see our dollars spent with NASA then over in Irag and Afganastan where we are already spending Trillions over at the War but no one wants to talk about that.

[alphaa10-2009]

The chilling aspect of NASA''s attitude is, "OK, so you caught us... so what?"

The NASA news arrives while Bush claims he cannot find the money to help the states provide health insurance for some 9 million American children.

The Bush regime long ago sent out the word to its federal agency appointees-- do what you want, but don''t get caught at it. Fortunately for the taxpaying citizen, many have-- and Kudos to the investigative reporters who uncovered this mess.

All this fits a pattern. To Bush, the federal government is his personal spoils system. Bush will tell Congress one story, but never the whole truth.

Apparently, even Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson doesn''t find anything wrong with such official hypocrisy. To him, NASA money is simply more local pork.

I hope congress gives the NASA "awards" program a full review-- especially after being importuned for more billions to run Bush''s respective disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq.