NASA Was Sold Defective Aluminum for 19 Years (Video)

by N.Morgan

An investigation led by NASA has made the stunning discovery that one of its former metals manufacturers, Sapa Profiles, falsified test results and provided it with faulty aluminum parts for almost 20 years.

Sapa Profiles faked the certifications for its parts from 1996 to 2015, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, for “hundreds of customers” including NASA.

The space agency wasn’t the only client that lost out from this fraudulent activity, but it could be the one that was most damaged by it: NASA used Sapa’s parts in the making of Taurus XL, a rocket that was used in two missions in 2009 and 2011. Both missions failed, causing NASA to lose somewhere around $700 million, Engadget explained.

The company, now called Hydro Extrusion Portland, Inc., has since ended its contract with NASA. Now, it’s prevented from ever entering into a contract with the U.S. government again, in addition to fines of $46 million paid to NASA, the Department of Defense, and others.

NASA’s director of Launch Services, Jim Norman, explained that falsified tests can result in not only property damage and wasted time, money, and resources, but also, in this case, “severely violated” their trust in their suppliers. “NASA relies on the integrity of our industry throughout the supply chain,” he said. 

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News of the satellite failures comes a week after Norsk Hydro ASA, the current parent company of Sapa, agreed to pay $46 million to NASA, the Department of Defense and others to resolve criminal charges and civil claims related to the fraud, which took place from 1996 to 2015.

The company admitted that employees had faked test results related to the metal’s strength and reliability under pressure. Sapa Profiles, now known as Hydro Extrusion Portland Inc., also agreed to plead guilty to one count of mail fraud and is barred from U.S. federal government contracting.

“Corporate and personal greed perpetuated this fraud against the government and other private customers, and this resolution holds these companies accountable for the harm caused by their scheme,” said Brian Benczkowski, the assistant attorney general of the criminal division at the Department of Justice, in an April 23 statement.

A spokesman for Norsk Hydro said the case has been settled. Last week, it said it has invested “significant time and resources to completely overhaul our quality and compliance organizations.”

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References:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-01/nasa-says-aluminum-fraud-caused-700-million-satellite-failures

https://theweek.com/speedreads/838771/nasa-sold-faulty-aluminum-19-years

Stories Contributed by N. Morgan