Space

NASA Lost $94 Million in Office Equipment, Not in Space, But to Employees

"It was lost in space" says an employee

By Lucian Dorneanu, Science Editor

26th of July 2007, 09:04 GMT

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Atlnatis undocks from the ISS, probably after resupplyin astronauts with laptops and printers, that will inevitably be lost in space.

You would think that NASA, one of the best guarded government agencies in the world, would a have a security so tight, that not even a fly could pass by undetected. It may be true for flies, but it sure isn't for office equipment, that miraculously gets lost, year after year.

Could a black hole explain the $94 million in

office items lost over the past decade? A congressional report concludes that there were more earthly factors involved. Actually, the reports says NASA is looking the other way as employees give computers to spouses or claim missing laptops are lost in space.

"These problems are deeply rooted in an agency culture that does not demand accountability," the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Wednesday. "NASA's failure to keep track of these items leaves them vulnerable to theft and misuse."

The agency noticed that and... they relaxed its controls instead of tightening them, "making $10,000 the minimum value for trackable items, instead of $5,000, and removing millions of dollars in items from oversight," according to the GAO report.

Some of employees' explanations are just brilliant, as if they were composed by a five year old. One of them explains the fate of a missing laptop, worth $4,265. "This computer, although assigned to me, was being used on board the international space station. I was informed that it was tossed overboard to be burned up in the atmosphere when it failed.''

So it's true, NASA does lose things in space, probably one of the astronauts had borrowed it from the employee to play some Solitaire when on watch on the International Space Station.

Another explanation is more honest, arguing another employee's stringent need for a desktop computer and laser printer: "My wife needed a computer at home to perform her work as a real estate broker, so I checked one out from the surplus stock available,'' the employee said.

Neither employee was disciplined. That's it, I'm applying for a position at NASA! Let's see...I could use a laptop, a printer and yeah, a space shuttle!

TAGS:

NASA | space | equipment | astronauts

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