NASA’s head of human spaceflight resigns ahead of historic SpaceX launch

[Elderberry]

The Verge by Loren Grush 5/19/2020

A second associate administrator is out under Trump

The head of NASA’s human exploration program, Doug Loverro, has resigned less than six months after assuming the position within the agency, according to a NASA memo. The drastic change in leadership comes just a week before NASA will launch its first astronauts from the US in nearly a decade, on top of SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon spacecraft.

This is the second time during the Trump administration that this role has been in turmoil. In July 2019, NASA demoted the original person in this position, William Gerstenmaier, who had been serving as the associate administrator for human exploration at NASA for nearly 15 years. Loverro took over the position in December after a long search by NASA, but now his tenure has been cut short.

“Loverro hit the ground running this year and has made significant progress in his time at NASA,” a memo to NASA employees states. “His leadership of [human exploration] has moved us closer to accomplishing our goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024. Loverro has dedicated more than four decades of his life in service to our country, and we thank him for his service and contributions to the agency.”

More: https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/19/21264086/nasa-doug-loverro-associate-administrator-human-spaceflight-resigned-spacex-launch

[Smokin Joe]

Seems odd. What was the 'risk' he speaks of?

[Elderberry]

NASA human spaceflight chief Doug Loverro resigns on eve of historic SpaceX launch

https://www.space.com/nasa-human-spaceflight-chief-doug-loverro-resigns.html

The top HEO job obviously comes with high expectations and a lot of pressure, especially these days. NASA is working to land two astronauts near the moon's south pole in 2024, a tight timeline laid out by the administration of President Donald Trump just last year.

That tight timeline may have played a large role in Loverro's departure. While NASA did not give a reason for Loverro's resignation when announcing it today, sources told The Washington Post's Christian Davenport that the wheels were set in motion when Loverro broke a rule during NASA's procurement of human landing systems for the agency's Artemis lunar-exploration program.

"It had nothing to do with commercial crew," Loverro told Davenport, referring to the reason for his resignation. "It had to do with moving fast on Artemis, and I don’t want to characterize it in any more detail than that."