“This is frankly the worst of NASA and I don't like it,” Worden wrote in an e-mail to Garver quoted in the IG report. He continued that theme in an interview Feb. 13.

“Some people accuse me of being the newest of new space,” he says. “Others accuse me of being the oldest of old space. We're trying to figure out how to do the really cool stuff NASA has to do in science, in technology and in human exploration, in the most efficient, affordable and effective manner.”

Tap here in the tablet edition of AW&ST to read our account of an uproar over space technology transfer to China in the late 1990s, or go to AviationWeek.com/techtransfer