NASA鈥檚 inspector general Robert Cobb was criticised in a public hearing yesterday for allegedly being too close to the agency鈥檚 top managers, and not providing an independent check on the agency. North Carolina congressman Brad Miller called on him to resign, but Cobb denies any wrongdoing.
Inspector generals are assigned to provide independent oversight of US government departments and agencies such as NASA, with the power to investigate issues like misuse of money or poor safety standards, and report their findings to congress.
Cobb faced harsh criticism in report released on 30 March 2007 by the President鈥檚 Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE), which said his actions had given the appearance that he lacked independence from NASA management 鈥� lunching and golfing with then NASA chief Sean O鈥橩eefe, as well as sending him drafts of some audits for his comments before releasing a final version.
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Steps taken
On Thursday, Cobb faced a congressional hearing over the allegations. The discussion focused on allegations that Cobb refused to authorise an investigation into the launch of space shuttle Endeavour on 5 June 2002, which went ahead despite indications of a potential safety problem by US Air Force safety officials.
One of two 鈥渞ange safety devices鈥� on the shuttle, which can be used to destroy it if it goes out of control and heads towards a populated area, was malfunctioning. Launch criteria require both devices to be working, but an air force officer overruled safety officials under his command and told NASA that the launch could go ahead.
Kevin Carson, a former official with the NASA inspector general鈥檚 office in charge of safety audits at the time, told the hearing that Cobb refused to allow him to investigate the matter.
Cobb replied that the issue of concern to NASA was that information on the malfunction was not communicated to NASA launch officials, and that the agency had taken steps to make sure this would not happen again. 鈥淭hose issues were examined and we believe they were addressed,鈥� he said.
Calls to resign
Carson also said Cobb was not independent of NASA management. 鈥淢r. Cobb showed that he lacked independence from agency officials and was willing to go to any length not to issue audit reports that would embarrass the agency,鈥� he said.
Florida senator Bill Nelson, chair of the senate subcommittee, criticised Cobb鈥檚 handling of the range-safety malfunction issue. 鈥淒espite the critical safety implications for NASA and the public, Mr Cobb blocked a NASA Office of the Inspector General investigation,鈥� he said.
Nelson said the contents of the PCIE report had previously led him to call for Cobb to be removed from office, adding: 鈥淢y position has not changed.鈥� Brad Miller, chair of the house subcommittee, called on Cobb to resign. 鈥淢r. Cobb you must leave to preserve what is left of the integrity of your office,鈥� he said.
But Cobb said the PCIE鈥檚 assertions were 鈥渦tterly devoid of merit. There鈥檚 been any number of instances when my view of matters differed from the administrator or his senior staff. There is no work in our office that has been compromised鈥�.
