Austria on NASA Report: "Process Lacked Accountablity, Transparency"

Press Release

Today a report from the NASA Inspector General revealed selection errors in the process to determine locations for the retired space shuttles. The report was requested by Senator Brown, Congressman Austria and other members of the Ohio delegation in April in an effort to understand the logic behind the site selection process.

Today's report showed a significant calculating error in the chart that ranked the sites based on various criteria. If calculated correctly, the National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF) would have tied the Intrepid and the Kennedy Center Complex in the report that was originally presented to members of the Recommendation Team and was used in determining the shuttle sites.

"This report highlights the unfortunate fact that the shuttle decision was made in error, with a lack of accountability and transparency throughout the process," Congressman Austria said. "It should not have taken members of Congress requesting an investigation to figure this out."

In responding to the error, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden insisted that the error would not have changed the final outcome, and said that the decision was also based on the Museum's inability to commit to raising the $28.8 million required to reimburse NASA for a shuttle, and also the importance of "international access" to the shuttle locations.

"NASA seemed to be changing the rules during this selection process. They are now putting a stronger emphasis on international tourism over American families and that is wrong. Approximately 60 percent of the U.S. population is within a day's drive of the NMUSAF and having a shuttle in Dayton would have allowed American families throughout the Midwest to visit. Unfortunately, NASA has decided to take our national treasures and make them tourist attractions in large cities, rather than preserving the flight of the shuttles by placing one of them right here in the birthplace of aviation. NMUSAF clearly met all the criteria, and had the committed funding necessary to move and house a shuttle in a facility that is second-to-none."

Prior to NASA's April 12 announcement, Congressman Austria met with General Bolden twice, spoke with him during a committee hearing and hand-delivered multiple letters from himself and members of the community expressing their desires to bring a shuttle to Dayton. Austria also invited the Administrator to tour the facility before making a final decision.

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