FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 12, 2008 |
Contact:
Erika Masonhall, 202-224-4041
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), along with Congressmen Joe Courtney, Christopher Shays, and Chris Murphy, sent a letter to NASA Administrator Michael Griffin urging him to review the process being used in the NASA Space Suit selection to ensure that it is fair and open.
NASA is re-opening the competition after it was determined that errors were made in the original competition. In order to assure a fair competition, the delegation wants all parties to be able to revise their original proposals. A protest to the original decision was put forward by United Technologies, the parent company of Hamilton Sundstrand, and its partner, ILC Dover.
Below is the full text of the letter.
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September 11, 2008
The Honorable Michael Griffin
Administrator
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC 20546
Dear Administrator Griffin,
We are writing to express concern about the competition for the new Constellation Space Suit System (CSSS) for astronauts aboard the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.
Following the filing of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) protest, NASA recently cancelled its contract with the CSSS supplier it had selected, and announced its intention to take corrective action regarding procurement decisions on the CSSS. In addition, the NASA Inspector General (IG) found several issues of concern during an audit of the acquisition planning on the CSSS procurement.
We urge NASA to fully address the serious concerns raised by the IG and take every step possible to ensure fairness in the CSSS acquisition process. As of Sept. 8, NASA is calling for only a limited final Proposal revision which will put the competition at an imbalance, favoring one competitor over another. We call on NASA to implement a process in which both parties are permitted to revise their proposals.
Again, we strongly urge NASA to review its evaluation process to make certain the process is fair and open. Thank you for addressing these matters.
Sincerely,
Joseph I. Lieberman United States Senator
Joseph Courtney United States Representative
Christopher Shays United States Representative
Christopher S. Murphy United States Representative
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