[El Gran Salseron]

Ron Dittemore got the ax. The excuse was that he had planned on resigning after the successful landing of Columbia "to take a job with a civilian company" but "decided to stay on until the resolution of the Columbia disaster."

So I guess Dittemore was the "sacrificial lamb" instead of O'Keefe.

[elbucko]

So I guess Dittemore was the "sacrificial lamb" instead of O'Keefe.

Stands to reason. I have been in private businesses that have had "interfaces" with the government types. It does not surprise me that O'Keefe had an industrial strength "CYA" in place throughout his tenure at NASA. O'Keefe has found his level of incompetence.