releases: https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=7c9c5d64-d278-4768-8103-41babcfff4e0
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=7c9c5d64-d278-4768-8103-41babcfff4e0 | Your Tax Dollars...Down the Drain: Over-Budget Project for an Already Cancelled Program | 2014-12-30 | 2014 | 2014-12 | Republican | House | OH | Rob Portman | P000449 | www.portman.senate.gov | legacy | Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) today released the latest example in a monthly series highlighting Washington’s wasteful spending during a time of record debt: It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it's wasteful to spend money building a facility that will never be used. It does take Washington to fund the construction anyway. The Washington Post recently reported that, last June, NASA marked completion of a $350 million tower (“A-3”) built to test a cutting-edge rocket engine (“J-2X”) that would help send astronauts to the International Space Station, the moon, and even Mars. As part of President George W. Bush’s Constellation program in 2004, the J-2X engine would power the Ares I and Ares V rockets that would transport astronauts and cargo separately to their destinations. Since the engine would be ignited only after the rockets were already in space, A-3 was made to withstand the blast of a rocket engine and create a vacuum inside similar to the conditions in space. The project was originally projected to cost $119 million and be finished by 2010. But in 2010, A-3 was well over-budget and behind schedule. After President Obama proposed abandoning the Constellation program, Congress ended funding for the Ares rockets and the J-2X engine – yet inexplicably reauthorized the final $100 million to complete A-3 despite no longer developing rockets that could use it. This pushed the final cost to $349 million, or nearly triple the original estimate. And even after this additional spending, the A-3 vacuum is still not operational for testing, and would require as long as three more years of work to finish if NASA ever decides to use the tower for its original purpose. “This egregious example of spending shows that Washington continues to operate in its own vacuum, diverting $100 million additional taxpayer dollars into an over-budget project that had already been cancelled,” said Portman. “During a time of already limited resources, this is exactly the type of spending that must be eliminated in order to become responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.” As of now, the door is locked and the area shut down. A NASA tour guide tells visitors that the tower is "just hanging out right now." NASA has no existing rockets or plans for the future to develop a rocket that would need the tower to test. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |