NASA’s giant $425 million flop

THEY raced to build a massive testing tower for a space program. But there was a rather important problem, which has left us wondering what on Earth were they thinking.

NASA’s giant $425 million flop

THEY raced into action to create a huge testing tower for a space program.

And six months ago, NASA finished the massive construction effort of the A-3 Test Stand at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, costing a whopping $425 million.

But there was one big problem: the program it was built for had actually been cancelled four years ago, the Washington Post reports.

What else can you buy for $425 million?

The tower was meant to test out a rocket engine in a chamber that mimicked the vacuum of space. The hope was that it would ignite and propel a spacecraft towards the moon.

Or at least, that was the goal. Until the whole moon plan ground to a halt, leaving no use for the rocket anytime soon.

Or the testing tower, which now sits empty and unused.

What’s more, it’s costing NASA an extra $850,000 each year just to maintain the abandoned structure. Ouch.

Work on the testing tower.

So why on Earth did they keep building the tower even after the plan was binned?

An amendment made by Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi allowed him to keep the funding alive for the defunct program.

Wicker has defended the decision, telling the Mississippi site Sun Herald today: “Congress agreed that it was not in the best interests of taxpayers, in Mississippi or elsewhere, to allow the site to sit incomplete, abandoned, and neglected, quickly falling into a state of disrepair.”

Instead, he blamed US President Barack Obama for “abandoning America’s manned space program”.

It won’t be in action anytime soon.

news.com.au has contacted NASA for comment.

World’s most expensive scaffolding.