posted 10-16-2019 02:35 PM               

NASA Administrator Selects Douglas Loverro as Next Human Spaceflight Head

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine Wednesday named Douglas Loverro as the agency's new associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. Loverro succeeds former astronaut Kenneth Bowersox, who has been acting associate administrator since July.

"I worked with Doug for many years on the Hill, and he is a respected strategic leader in both civilian and defense programs, overseeing the development and implementation of highly complicated systems," said Bridenstine from NASA Headquarters in Washington. "He is known for his strong, bipartisan work and his experience with large programs will be of great benefit to NASA at this critical time in our final development of human spaceflight systems for both Commercial Crew and Artemis."

For three decades, Loverro was in the Department of Defense and the National Reconnaissance Office developing, managing, and establishing national policy for the full range of national security space activities.

"I have worked with Doug with space related matters for many years. He is highly qualified, competent, and will do a superb job leading NASA's human exploration directorate," said Rep. Mike Rogers, from Alabama's 3rd District.

From 2013 to 2017, Loverro served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. In this role, he was responsible for establishing policy for the United States allies to the benefits of space capabilities and to help guide the department's strategy for addressing space-related issues. He led departmental activities in international space cooperation, assessment of the national security impacts of commercial space activities, and oversaw the establishment of a strategy for addressing growing challenges in space security.

Loverro is the recipient of many prestigious honors, including the Secretary of Defense's Medal for Outstanding Public Service, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Federation of Galaxy Explorers, the Society of Satellite Professional Engineers Stellar Award, and the AFCEA Benjamin Oliver Gold Medal for Engineering among many other civilian and military honors.

Loverro holds a Master's of Science in Physics from the University of New Mexico, a Master's of Political Science from Auburn University, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of West Florida, in addition to his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the United States Air Force Academy. He was a distinguished graduate from the Air Force's Air Command and Staff College and Squadron Officer School, and was the top graduate from the Defense Department's Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Bowersox will return to his previous position as deputy associate administrator.

"I want to thank Ken and the entire NASA team for their commitment since I arrived at NASA. We have made incredible progress. Ken and Doug are respected members of their fields and will continue to lead these great people at the agency," added Bridenstine. "We have a lot of work to accomplish to safely to get humans flying from America again and I believe we have the leadership to get it done."

posted 05-19-2020 03:18 PM               

Message Regarding the Lead of Human Spaceflight

Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Doug Loverro has resigned from his position effective Monday, May 18.

Loverro hit the ground running this year and has made significant progress in his time at NASA. His leadership of HEO has moved us closer to accomplishing our goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024. Loverro has dedicated more than four decades of his life in service to our country, and we thank him for his service and contributions to the agency.

Effective immediately, Ken Bowersox will serve as Acting Associate Administrator for HEO. Bowersox, currently the Deputy Associate Administrator for HEO, is a retired U.S. Naval Aviator with more than two decades of experience at NASA. He is an accomplished astronaut and a veteran of five space shuttle missions and commander on the International Space Station. Bowersox has previously led HEO in a time of transition, and NASA has the right leadership in place to continue making progress on the Artemis and Commercial Crew programs.

Next week will mark the beginning of a new era in human spaceflight with the launch of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station. We have full confidence in the work Kathy Lueders and her entire Commercial Crew team have done to bring us here. This test flight will be a historic and momentous occasion that will see the return of human spaceflight to our country, and the incredible dedication by the men and women of NASA is what has made this mission possible.

posted 05-19-2020 03:36 PM               

From Stephen Clark with Spaceflight Now:

I'm told Steve Jurczyk, NASA's associate administrator and top civil servant career employee, will now chair the Crew Dragon Demo-2 Flight Readiness Review Thursday.

The risks we take, whether technical, political, or personal, all have potential consequences if we judge them incorrectly. I took such a risk earlier in the year because I judged it necessary to fulfill our mission. Now, over the balance of time, it is clear that I made a mistake in that choice for which I alone must bear the consequences.

Timing on this is not good, but I'd be a lot more concerned if it weren't for the fact that Sox [Ken Bowersox] is more than capable of overseeing this important week in human spaceflight. His deep experience at NASA and SpaceX makes him the ideal replacement for Loverro, actually.

posted 08-14-2020 03:25 PM               

Mr. Loverro, who wasn’t part of NASA’s official contracting staff, informed Mr. [Jim] Chilton [senior vice president of Boeing's space and launch division] that the Chicago aerospace giant was about to be eliminated from the competition based on cost and technical evaluations, according to some of the people. Within days, Boeing submitted a revised proposal, they said. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration formally determined the bid changes came too late to be considered, and three other companies won contracts in April totaling nearly $1 billion.

The investigation is in the early stages, according to the people familiar with it, and it isn't known whether the probe will result in a criminal case.

posted 11-17-2020 03:00 PM               

NASA was worried that the corporate giant would protest the contract award, potentially holding it up for months at a time when the space agency was trying to meet a White House mandate to get astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024.

So in February, Doug Loverro, then the head of NASA's human exploration directorate, called Jim Chilton, the senior vice president of Boeing's space and launch division, to explain that the company was going to lose the contract and to inquire whether it would file a challenge, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

That call, which occurred during a period when the agency was to have no contact with any of the bidders, is now the subject of investigations by the NASA inspector general and the Justice Department into the integrity of the procurement, according to multiple people. It also led NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine to force Loverro to abruptly resign in May.

Boeing did not protest the award of the lunar lander contract — which was awarded on April 30 to three bidders for a total of nearly $1 billion: a team led by Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin; the defense contractor Dynetics; and Elon Musk's SpaceX. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

But it did something that NASA officials found just as alarming: After Loverro told Chilton that Boeing would not win the award, the company attempted to revise and resubmit its bid. That last-ditch effort to win one of the contracts was so unusual, given that the time for bids had passed, that members of the NASA committee considering the award feared it may amount to a violation of procurement regulations. They alerted the agency's inspector general, who in turn referred the matter to the Justice Department. The U.S. attorney's office in the District of Columbia has impaneled a grand jury and is investigating, officials said.