Then, in a moment the NASA contingent seemed unprepared for, Lampson called for a round of applause. "The NASA team has done a magnificent job for our country," he said. "Not only in the responsible use of the money that has been given, but in the return that it has been able to bring to the American public and to the taxpayers."

To the NASA contingent he said, "Thank you for what you have done."

The clapping, however, couldn't mask the management problems that have emerged during Goldin's watch over the space station Alpha project.

For his part, Goldin offers no apologies for Alpha's cost overruns or the agency's optimistic approach to the station plan.

The NASA administrator arrived on the scene in April 1992 with a mandate to tighten up an agency in disarray. NASA was perceived in Washington, D.C., to be slow, bloated and outdated.

"When I came here ... we had nothing," he said of the space station. "Nine years later, we have a major portion of the space station up in space. It has gone together flawlessly. Flawlessly."

His voice raised, Goldin continued, "I make no apologies, zip, nada, nothing. This program is spectacular."

Throughout his NASA tenure, Goldin has slashed spending, studies, personnel and programs, often frustrating his subordinates with his preemptive political and budgetary moves. His "faster-better-cheaper" approach led to the remarkable success of the Pathfinder mission to Mars in 1997, but also produced two Mars mission failures in 1999.

"...When you try to do too much, you do too little," Goldin said. "NASA has learned how to prioritize and focus. That's the strength of this NASA team. That is not a weakness."

Tapping a pen to emphasize each point, Goldin said NASA's budget actually is less than the budget he had nine years ago. For what NASA does now on $14.3 billion a year, it would have spent $25 billion a year under earlier leadership, he said.

"We've launched $22 billion worth of things into space and lost a half billion dollars in payloads," Goldin said, comparing NASA's successes to its failures. "That's the context within which we have operated. And it's not because of me, but because our people are so can-do oriented. It is spectacular."

Nevertheless, three years ago, Goldin's space station program was about $4 billion over budget, and Congress extended spending limits on the station from $17.4 billion to $26 billion for development. In April, the organization revealed another $4 billion overrun.

Who's responsible?

Goldin's response is typically emphatic:

"Well, you want to pin the tail on my donkey, you can do that," he told FLORIDA TODAY. "But we don't play the blame game here at NASA."

In a second interview, however, Goldin reconsidered his answer.

"As the NASA administrator ... I am personally responsible for what goes on at this agency," he said. "I may not direct it. I don't manage. I delegate. But in the end, I am responsible."

When he came into office, Goldin said, NASA wasn't setting bold enough goals and was "going retrograde with management and technology, so that we never had a failure."

He stressed a concept that contradicted the nervy phrase used by legendary NASA flight director Gene Kranz, "Failure is not an option."

Goldin said, "I made a commitment to the employees, so long as there was no malice of forethought, something illegal, or gross incompetence, that failure was something that was acceptable at NASA, because when you fail, you learn."

Published under license from FLORIDA TODAY. Copyright © 2001 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.