NASA Queried On Protested Contract Award NASA reneged on an agreement to re-compete an IT contract that was the subject of a protest, according to the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley said the Government Accountability Office dismissed the protest after NASA promised to conduct a new acquisition on the $5.2 million contract for mechanical computer-aided design and data management software licenses and support services. The contract was awarded in 2005 to Parametric Technology Corp. of Needham, MA, but two losing bidders protested. According to Grassley’s letter to NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, the space agency’s counsel acknowledged “some inconsistencies in the procurement process,” but said the defects would be cured by conducting a new competition. That led GAO to dismiss the protest. Grassley said NASA’s inspector general found that, instead of beginning a new competition, the agency drafted a “justification for other than full and open competition.” The IG called the decision to bypass competition “questionable.” In his April 5 letter to the NASA administrator, Grassley asked for a status report on the computer-aided design procurement and asked why GAO had not been notified of the action. “Regardless of which product NASA ultimately chooses, NASA needs to ensure that basic procurement principles are followed,” the senator wrote.