NASA's Grand Goals Face Down to Earth Issues. Image Credit/NASA
NASA faces significant management challenges as it carries out the shuttle’s retirement, termination of the Constellation Program and the start of a commercial space transportation initiative, according to agency Inspector General Paul Martin.
In 14-page report made public on Tuesday, Martin identified a half-dozen areas of broad concern.
They range from cost overruns and schedule delays on major projects like the James Webb Space Telescope to maintaining hundreds of under utilized laboratories and warehouses; disposing of no longer needed shuttle assets; correctly sizing the astronaut corps in a new commercial space transportation environment; and warding off computer network intrusions from foreign rivals.
“To its credit, NASA has made a concerted effort over the past several years to improve its management practices and address weaknesses identified by the Agency, the Office of Inspector General (OIG), and other oversight bodies,” said Martin. “Nevertheless, significant challenges remain across all NASA programmatic and functional areas.”
White House, Congressional expectations sometimes at odds
The annual report is required of every federal agency under the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000.
Some of the thorniest issues NASA faces involve compliance with changing and often conflicting policy and budgetary direction from the White House and Congress. It wasn’t until fall that the two arms of government came to a policy agreement to end the shuttle program in 2011, terminate the seven-year-old Constellation program; and foster commercial space transportation services to support an extension of International Space Station operations.
Yet NASA and other federal agencies have operated without a budget since the 2011 fiscal year began on Oct. 1. Under a 2010 budget continuing resolution, NASA is prevented from proceeding with Constellation’s termination. It remains unclear whether the final shuttle mission will be launched in late February or mid-summer.
At the same time, NASA must press ahead with developing “human rating” and “spacecraft certification” standards for future commercial spacecraft operators in order to reduce risk to astronauts and field a U. S. successor to the shuttle as quickly as possible.
The IG commended NASA for turning to the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academies of Science, to assist with a definition of the future role and size of the astronaut corps.
Ground breaking deep space exploration
The agency’s emerging charter includes the development of a heavy lift rocket and capsule for future missions by NASA astronauts to asteroids, Mars and other deep space destinations. Congressional guidelines point to operational dates of late 2016, with additional guidance to use Constellation and shuttle technologies where possible. President Obama favored a much slower development pace and suggested the first asteroid visit by human explorers around 2025.
In a survey of major projects, the IG and other oversight agencies found NASA weak in its ability to manage project schedule and costs.
The James Webb Space Telescope, successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is the most recent example. Once envisioned as a $1.6 billion program with a late 2011 launch date, the James Webb has grown to a $6.5 billion endeavor, with a late 2015 launch date.
Last week, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden pledged reforms in the way the James Webb project is managed.
However, a survey of NASA’s 19 most costly projects, revealed an average cost overrun of $121 million and average schedule delay of 15 months.
The IG found examples where NASA was using innovative management and financial practices to bring projects in on cost and schedule, including new Tracking and Data Relay System satellites. It urged the agency to expand those practices
NASA burdened by real estate, aging structures
The auditors found NASA burdened with far flung real estate and 5,400 buildings and other structures — many under utilized, at or beyond their 40 year design life and in need of renovation and maintenance.
After placing the cost of deferred maintenance at $2.55 billion, the IG urged NASA to embrace an aggressive leasing policy to decrease the numbers of under utilized assets.
Computer systems threatened
On the IT front, the auditors warned that NASA faces an evolving threat, both in the scope and sophistication of efforts by China and other rivals to obtain information restricted by International Traffic in Arms Regulation and other export controls.
The IG was troubled that NASA was slow in implementing IT protections required under the Federal Information Security Management Act.