NASA built a $349 million tower only to shut it down before it was ever used
The Washington Post reports that NASA finished a $349 million construction project in Mississippi this summer — but after the tower was built, it was immediately shut down.
In NASA terms, the project, officially called the A-3 test stand, was "mothballed" — a.k.a., closed permanently, without ever being used. The reason for its demise? As the Post puts it, the tower was "useless." NASA will now spend $700,000 a year to maintain the tower in disuse.
The tower was intended to test the rocket engines for NASA's Constellation program, which President Obama announced he wanted to cancel in 2010. But NASA still finished the construction, which eventually cost $349 million in all. According to the Post, the project represents NASA's failure as a "big bureaucracy" with a fading mission, and the tower is NASA's "monument to its own institutional drift."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
NASA originally estimated that the tower would cost $119 million, and it would be completed in 2010. But even when the estimate increased to $163 million, and then $185 million, NASA didn't cancel the project. Read more about the failure of the A-3 test stand over at The Washington Post.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
Why is Tesla stumbling?
In the Spotlight More competition, confusion about the future and a giant pay package for Elon Musk
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
How Taylor Swift changed copyright negotiations in music
under the radar The success of Taylor's Version rerecordings has put new pressure on record labels
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Job scams are increasingly common. Here's what to look out for.
The Explainer You should never pay for an application or give out your personal info before being hired
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published