It appears that NASA has lost nearly 100 million of taxpayer purchased equipment in the past decade.

It appears that there are few controls in place for about $35 billion of assets.

That being said, the story of the lost laptop is my favorite:

It cites one employee who excused himself (or herself) of losing a laptop worth $4,000 with the explanation that the machine had burned up in the atmosphere.

The lost equipment report included the following explanation: “This computer, although assigned to me, was being used on board the International Space Station. I was informed that it was tossed overboard to be burned up in the atmosphere when it failed.”

That sure as hell beats, “the dog ate my homework”.

You know, if I were in orbit, that’s what I’d do to a computer that was #$%%ing up badly. I’d watch it all the way down.