NASA dealing with bogus spacecraft parts

Gannett News Service's Eun Kyung Kim reports from Washington:

NASA officials are dealing with a growing problem of unknowingly buying falsely certified or outright bogus spacecraft parts, the agency's chief said today.

"We find out about it while sitting atop a rocket, or worse, find out about it in space," NASA's acting administrator, Christopher Scolese, told members of the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.

Scolese said after the subcommittee hearing that the issue is "becoming a bigger problem for us." He cited the Kepler, an unmanned probe that will launch tomorrow from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

NASA learned in December that a supplier had falsely certified that titanium for defense aircraft and space vehicles -- including the Kepler -- met government standards, said J.D. Harrington, a NASA spokesman. NASA investigated and determined the titanium did meet its requirements, he said.

"The piece we were specifically concerned with was Kepler's spider hub assembly," Harrington said. "If defective, the mission would be a total loss. After several weeks of material analysis, we found the titanium to be well within the required performance parameters needed for mission success."

Harrington said officials also reviewed the titanium used in the Delta II rocket that will carry the Kepler.

"It, too, received a clean bill of health. This is a closed issue for us," he said.

Scolese said the increasing number of fraudulently tested parts is a problem for the entire aerospace industry. Last November, NASA's Office of Safety and Mission Assurance issued a policy directive to deal with counterfeit parts and potential sources of fraud, along with other issues.

"If it affects the industry, it affects the agency ....(and) all of our missions," Scolese said.