The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "NASA" ...
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Space Florida
A new agency, Space Florida, was created in the state of Florida to find innovative ways to help those who were losing their jobs and create alternative business. But an investigation into the agency revealed that it was creating more controversy than helping. Some of these include things like spending huge amounts of money without return, stealing ideas, not creating jobs because they didn’t track it, and awarding contracts to those later convicted of crimes.
Tags: Steve Kohler; NASA; space shuttle fleet; astronauts; space-tourism; industry; aerospace; state crisis; rockets
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Follow the Money
This is an extensive series conducted to examine questionable earmarks on many levels. The story covers money trails from the Presidential election to wasted medical drugs that are (literally) being flushed down the toilet.
Tags: lobbying; public waste; banking bailout; Presidential election; whistle blower; Qui Tam; Medicaid; NASA
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NASA
These stories take a hard look at NASA's plans to return humans to the moon and focus on the agency's decision to retire the space shuttle and build a revolutionary new rocket to replace it. The reporting documents actions by American's space agency that threaten to leave thousands of Floridians without jobs and America's space program bankrupt and grounded for years. It also exposes a NASA culture of decision making that is little changed from the one blamed for the deaths of the seven Columbia astronauts.
Tags: NASA; astronaut programs; funding; technology; debt; space missions; NASA engineers
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Cyber-War
The series contains three articles detailing the extent of computer breaches, technology blunders and data theft that puts the U.S. defense industry, military and space agency in a vulnerable position.
Tags: NASA; Booz Allen Hamilton; computer; satellite; national security; espionage; microchip; networks;
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Following the Money: Earmarks and Waste
The series tracks and investigates "government waste and Congressional earmarks." It uncovered "NASA's extravagant parties, USDA assigning undercover agents to spy on Hemingway's cats, a Congressman spending your tax dollars on a monument to himself" and more.
Tags: money; federal spending; tax dollars; investments; earmarks; Congress; NASA; CDC; USDA; government
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University of Montana Space Programs
The University of Montana was granted $3 million in federal earmarks from NASA between 2004 and 2005 to develop space research and create space-related jobs. UM used the money to create a for profit group called Inland Northwest Space Alliance, and a campus group called the Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization. The majority of the money went to paying six figure salaries to university officials, former Sen. Conrad Burn's staffers, as well as their spouses and lovers.
Tags: NASA; for profit; salaries; Senator; Conrad Burns; University of Montana; INSA; federal earmarks; space programs; FBI; OIG
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Clipped Wings
White House appointees at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration were found to be limiting the flow of scientific information which has to do with potentially dangerous and growing human influence on the climate.
Tags: NASA; conservative; religion; Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Mars; moon
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Tired Pilots
"This is an investigation of the prevalence of fatigue among pilots at regional airlines, its effects, and the failure of airlines and the FAA to do anything about it."
Tags: FAA; pilots; fatigue; regional airlines; NASA
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Comm check: The final flight of shuttle Columbia
This book chronicles the events surrounding the Feb. 1, 2003, space shuttle Columbia accident that killed seven astronauts. The investigation found that there was a heated debate among engineers on the ground whether it was safe for the shuttle to return, that opportunities to learn the extent of the spacecraft's problems were missed and that repeated warning signs were ignored.
Tags: BOOK; NASA; space shuttle Columbia; space; aerospace industry
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Missile Defense: America's Costly Gamble
Supporters of the Pentagon's planned missile defense system say that eventually it will be able to stop almost any type of missile, in any stage of flight. Cabbage's investigation found that those claims are still a long way from being realized. While some of the basic technology has been developed, the system still needs extensive testing and a lot of refinement. The military's current tests are not challenging enough; they're really just used to make it seem as if the technology is progressing. Partisan politics also have a part in the slow development of the technology and the lack of appropriate testing.
Tags: missile; NASA; U.S. Strategic Command; defense; defense spending