In an audit released today, the NASA Office of Inspector General reports that the space agency followed the law in deciding to place retired space shuttle orbiters at facilities in Florida, Virginia, New York and California and found no evidence of political influence on the decision-making process.
In summary, we found that NASA’s decisions regarding Orbiter placement were the result of an Agency-created process that emphasized above all other considerations locating the Orbiters in places where the most people would have the opportunity to view them….
We found no evidence that the Team’s recommendation or the Administrator’s decision were tainted by political influence or any other improper consideration….We also found that NASA’s process was consistent with applicable Federal law.