Posted: Thu, Aug 8, 2002, 8:49 PM ET (0049 GMT)
Hackers broke into a NASA computer system and copied sensitive engineering documents that are part of the Space Launch Initiative (SLI), the computer trade publication Computerworld reported Thursday. According to the report, a hacker based in Latin America uploaded to an undisclosed web site 43 MB of documents that were taken from a NASA server. The documents include engineering drawings and other information about technologies being developed for SLI, including the COBRA engine and an advanced ground control system. NASA officials confirmed that the documents were legitimate, but declined to confirm whether they had been taken by hackers. The documents, provided to NASA by Boeing, Pratt and Whitney, and Aerojet, were marked "competition sensitive" and include technologies governed by export control regulations that may also be of military interest. The incident comes at a time when SLI has come under some criticism and faces possible major changes in the structure of the effort to develop technologies for a second generation reusable launch vehicle.

Related Links:

•  Computerworld article