Nozette wanted to repeat the experiments with more sophisticated equipment, former colleagues said, and he lobbied lawmakers and officials to give him another chance.
But NASA had another probe, the Lunar Prospector. Nozette and a colleague visited top-ranking NASA officials in hopes of ending the mission and getting the funding for their project, said Alan Binder, the lead scientist on the Prospector.
Binder, who fended off the assault, said he never forgave Nozette. "He wanted the glory," Binder said. "He wanted the mission."
Evidently Dr. Nozette's betrayal started much early. I am appalled that Dr. Nozette tried to get Lunar Prospector canceled. It is so difficult to get interest and funding for lunar projects the last thing we need to do is sabotage each other. Trying to grab the Lunar Prospector funding for himself might very well have meant no lunar probe. If Dr. Nozette had been patient he probably could have gotten funding for a Clementine follow up after Lunar Prospector which I am sure Alan Binder would have supported. Instead he endangered the lunar program and made an enemy of Dr. Binder. I guess Dr. Nozette really had no loyalty except to himself.
More on Dr. Nozette's troubles
USA v. Office of Alliance for Competitive Technology
US v. Nozette
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