NASA's Mars rocket is behind schedule and over budget due to 'Boeing's poor performance,' audit find [View all]

[TexasTowelie]

Years of delays and billions of dollars of cost overruns have marred Boeing’s building of key components of a next-generation rocket that one day is meant to take humans to the moon and Mars, according to a scathing audit released Wednesday by NASA’s Office of the Inspector General.

The report also found that in addition to Boeing’s mistakes, NASA was being overly generous with its evaluations of the company, leading to questionable payments.

Under a NASA contract, Boeing is currently building two core stages for the Space Launch System, a heavy-lift rocket that will carry the Orion spacecraft and astronauts into deep space. Boeing’s contract is the largest in the Space Launch System program, comprising more than 40 percent of the program expenditures

Boeing’s parts will be integrated with other components of the rocket at Kennedy Space Center, before they launch from the Space Coast.

Read more: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/go-for-launch/os-nasa-sls-delay-report-20181010-story.html