U.S. Rep. Eshoo
By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Rep. Anna Eshoo is sharply criticizing a congressional action that would allow NASA to move its research aircraft from Ames Research Center to Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California.
House and Senate negotiators working on a final version of the Veterans Affairs-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill attached language that prohibits the space agency from consolidating NASA research aircraft from centers east of the Mississippi but leaves Ames aircraft vulnerable to consolidation. The House of Representatives and the Senate approved the overall legislation Sept. 24.
The action came despite a report by NASA's inspector general in August that says moving the aircraft is not justified economically or scientifically, Eshoo said.
Eshoo is continuing her efforts to prevent the shifting of aircraft from Ames and has brought the matter to the attention of White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta.
"NASA has demonstrated that they will not let facts get in their way when it comes to relocating research aircraft," Eshoo said. "NASA's own inspector general has concluded that there is no economic or scientific justification for moving these aircraft as the space agency proposes."
Karen Davis, Sunnyvale's assistant to the city manager, said the city is working with Eshoo's office to get the White House to review the issue.
"The city was extremely disappointed that the conferees chose to single out Ames Research Center for relocating aircraft to Dryden. If the consolidation was not economically viable for the centers collectively, it is not any more economically viable for just Ames," she said.
Eshoo has been vocal in her opposition to NASA aircraft consolidation since September 1995, when she called for an independent investigation into the plan to move research aircraft from NASA Ames and four other research centers in an attempt to save money.
Eshoo's stand against the space agency proposal was reinforced last month when the NASA inspector general concluded that "the proposed consolidation of research and support aircraft at Dryden Flight Research Center is not cost effective nor an efficient use of agency resources."
Nine NASA aircraft are stationed at Ames Research Center and slated for consolidation. The aircraft are used to research ozone depletion, study crop diseases and fight major fires.
The NASA inspector general's final audit report states that the consolidation plan would mean nonrecurring costs of $11.3 million and annual savings of $218,049, resulting in a payback period of 52 years.
But if inflation is factored in, NASA will never recover its financial investment in aircraft consolidation.
NASA has not adequately evaluated the adverse impact that aircraft consolidation would likely have on program research, according to the inspector general's report.
The final audit report also notes that even though the space agency had previously considered alternatives to consolidation at Dryden, NASA has made no attempt to evaluate and weigh those alternatives.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 9, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.