Lawmaker probes NASA’s conference controversy

NASA is again facing scrutiny from Rep. Frank Wolf, a Virginia Republican who chairs the House of Representatives’ appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA and other science agencies. This time, the lawmaker’s concern involves allegations of over-spending on conferences.

In a 29 August letter to NASA administrator Charles Bolden, Wolf noted his official warning in May about the need for the agency to exercise vigilance over the cost of its conferences. That warning had followed the abuses reported about a general services administration conference in Las Vegas and questions surrounding a Ninth Circuit judicial conference in Hawaii.