Senator Grassley wants answers on Google air fleet leasing at NASA field

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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wants to know if Google is getting a sweetheart deal from its lease of a California airfield operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

In a letter to NASA administrator Charles Bolden, Sen Grassley inquires as to "troubling allegations" regarding the fleet of Google-owned aircraft at California's Moffett Airfield, a former Naval Air station now operated by NASA. Google pays $3.7 million year to use 42 acres at Moffett to house a fleet of jets and helicopters, including a number of large Boeing jets owned by Google founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin under the name of the holding company H211. NASA policy lets private aircraft use government-owned facilities, but only if the aircraft are used for scientific missions. But an investigation by NBC San Diego showed that Google's six planes, which are owned and operated by the holding company, have flown only 52 scientific missions since 2007, out of approximately 1,039 total fights. That means only around five percent are scientific in nature.


Senator Grassley wants answers on Google air fleet leasing at NASA field