Most of the reasons given by the editor for this action are inadequate to justify such an unusual action by a media company.

Of course the study was "part of an ongoing process" and from a "yet to be finished study." However, the rare insight it provided into NASA's internal planning process was one reason this document elicited such intense interest.

The Wal-Mart lander and L2 rendezvous scenarios certainly are "extreme concepts", but the fact that such major changes to the original VSE plan are even under consideration is newsworthy and relevant to the ongoing public debate over this program.

And a document "for internal use only" is not classified secret.

The only substantive reason given for suppressing the LRA-0 study report is: "We also understand that the data was altered to support the position of the person who provided the information..."

This is a very serious charge.

This statement could mean either:

A) The results of a major engineering trade study were falsified to deceive NASA managers about the feasibility of the ESAS plan, or...

B) The results of the study were falsified specifically for the leak, in order to deceive the interested public who would then place external pressures on NASA.

Either one of these scenarios is unacceptable. If anyone at NASA actually was responsible for such deception, they should be immediately escorted out of the building by security guards (as happened only last week to the Assistant Administrator for Diversity and Equal Opportunity).

Without clear and publicly available evidence to support the allegation that this document was altered for some political purpose and does not accurately describe the results of the LRA-0 study, it is impossible to know the truth.

So while awaiting such evidence, I stand by my analysis and my proposed non-extreme solutions to the problems revealed in the leaked report.

Jeffrey F. Bell is a former space scientist and recovering pro-space activist

Related Links
Power Point Package of Lunar Architecture LRA-0 Trade Summary
ZIP Package of JPG Slides of Lunar Architecture LRA-0 Trade Summary
The Vision at NASA