WASHINGTON - U.S. congressional investigators are
scrutinizing NASA's decision to give Zero Gravity Corp. (Zero-G) a shot at
conducting the type of weightless flights for researchers and astronauts the
space agency traditionally has conducted aboard its own aircraft.
According
to a congressional staffer involved in the investigation, lawmakers are
questioning Zero-G's commitment to
NASA, and sources familiar with the matter said the committee is skeptical
that commercial flights are cheaper than NASA continuing to use its own plane.
Zero-G, which has flown around 5,000 private
citizens aboard a specially equipped Boeing 727 aircraft since launching
its parabolic flight service in 2004, signed NASA as a customer in January
following an open competition in which the Las Vegas-based company was the sole
bidder.
Although
NASA could buy up to 80 flights from Zero-G this year, the agency is only
committed to buying a single week's worth of flights for around $300,000. The
maximum potential value of the so-called indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity
contract is $25.4 million, assuming NASA exercises its option to extend the
deal to five years.
The House Science and Technology
investigations and oversight subcommittee opened an investigation of the Zero-G
deal in April after Democratic staffers traveled to Houston's Johnson Space
Center for a briefing on the agency's parabolic flight program.
Johnson
operates the C-9 transport aircraft that NASA acquired from the U.S. Navy in
2003 and spent nearly two years and several million dollars modifying. The
twin-engine jet will continue the parabolic research and training flights the
agency has conducted for more than 50 years while it determines whether Zero-G
can provide the service.
NASA
announced in 2007 it was looking for alternatives to operating its
own parabolic aircraft. Although as many as three companies responded to
the request for information NASA released prior to the formal solicitation, Zero-G
was the only company to submit a bid.
Now that
the contract has been awarded, Congress is zeroing in for a closer look.
Rep. Brad
Miller (D-N.C.), chairman of the investigations and oversight subcommittee,
sent two letters to NASA Administrator Mike Griffin April 15 requesting
materials related to the Zero-G deal.
Miller's
first letter, according to sources familiar with the document, included
multiple allegations disputed by Zero-G, among them that the company conducted
a weightless flight for the makers of the "Girls Gone Wild" video series.
Zero-G has
long denied any association with what the makers of "Girls Gone Wild: Ultimate
Rush," trumpeted as "the world's first naked flight in zero gravity" when the
video was released in 2006. Mantra Films, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based
producer of the "Girls Gone Wild" series, said the featured flight was
conducted from Moscow and not by Zero-G.
"Zero Gravity Corp. can fly you in
Vegas or Florida. We chose to go to Moscow because they would allow the nudity
we needed while Zero Gravity would not," Eric S. Deutsch, senior vice president
of production for Mantra, wrote in a May 1 e-mail to SPACE.com.
The false
allegation about Zero-G's participation in the "Girls Gone Wild" flight
prompted a retraction of Miller's letter the same day it was sent. Miller
immediately sent a second letter without the "Girls Gone Wild" reference, said
Dan Pearson, majority staff director for the investigations and oversight subcommittee.
"We didn't
want to be unfair to the company," Pearson said. The letter also questions whether
paying Zero-G for parabolic flights is a better deal for NASA than flying the C-9, according to sources.
NASA
officials provided two CDs with e-mails and documents pertaining to the
parabolic flight services procurement April 30, said Pearson, adding that the
investigations and oversight staff had examined about half of the information
by May 2.
"The
documents reviewed by the committee to date raise questions about the
commitment of Zero-G to carrying NASA's work forward," he said.
The
subcommittee staff expects to complete its review the week of May 4. The
investigation could lead to a staff report and release of the documents or a
congressional hearing, depending on the findings, Pearson said.
In a May 1 statement, Zero-G Chief
Executive Officer Peter
Diamandis said Zero-G is investing $1 million to modify its 727 to conduct NASA flights this summer.
Diamandis
said he was confident congressional investigators would come to understand that
the procurement was on the up and up and that flying with Zero-G is a good deal
for NASA.
"Given the scrupulous professionalism
shown by all NASA staff throughout the long and deliberate procurement process,
we are confident that the committee will find that NASA has acted carefully and
cost-effectively, and in a manner that will ultimately save U.S. taxpayers'
money and provide them high scientific value and also economic and educational
benefits," Diamandis said in the statement.
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