Okay, this is strange.
And just a week before the first manned launch off US soil in years. Most peculiar.
I'd have thought it another "inappropriate relationship with underling", except why would he think that "necessary to fulfil our mission"?
Strange days indeed.
Has nothing to do with the Crewed Dragon launch. Timing is coincidental and it won’t affect. Lots of NASA folks can lead a launch readiness review.
As reported by WaPo and NPR and indicated by his resignation letter, Loverro did something against regulations to accelerate the recent procurement of studies and risk reduction activities for three human lunar lander proposals. Whatever Loverro did gave NASA’s Associate Administrator (the highest civil servant in the agency) no choice but to ask for Loverro’s resignation.
Bigger immediate question is whether that procurement gets derailed and those lunar lander studies go back to square one. That would be a shame as it’s taken NASA 16 years just to get to this point since the Vision for Space Exploration directed NASA to return astronauts to the Moon.
Longer-term is who replaces Loverro, and whether they maintain the reorganization, reforms, and leadership team Loverro had put in place over the past half-year to oversee NASA’s human space flight activities. If Bridenstine remains NASA’s Administrator, then someone like Loverro will replace Loverro. If there is change at the top of NASA (like after the election), it’s harder to say.
