NASA Project Status Reports: Congressional Requirements Can Be Met, but Reliability Must Be Ensured.

Abstract

Funding requirements for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration %NA%4) are expected to rise dramatically in the l9OOs and could triple by the year 2()OO if some recently proposed initiatives such as a lunar outpost or a staffed Mars expedition are adopted. Contribut- ing substantially to these prospective increases are major existing and planned research and development projects. The current federal budget deficit environment adds to the challenge facing congressional deci- sionmakers in making increasingly difficult choices about what civil space projects will be undertaken and the pace at which they will be ft%nded. Reliable information on the cost and progress of NASA'S major projects can be a valuable resource for legislators when making budget allocation decisions - NASA s four principal oversight Committees requested GAO to assess NASA 5 ability to produce status reports that meet their requirements for reliable cost schedule and performance information on major NASA projects. As part of this request, GAO helped the Committees and NASA agree upon project status reporting criteria and reviewed NASA's current process for developing these reports in a reliable manner.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA292035

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aerospaceplanes
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Astronautics
  • Cost Estimates
  • Data Acquisition
  • Financial Management
  • Jet Propulsion
  • Project Management
  • Reliability
  • Space Sciences
  • Space Shuttles
  • Space Stations
  • Space Transportation
  • Spacecraft
  • Test And Evaluation
  • United States

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Military Mobilization and Reserve Forces Studies.
  • Software Engineering

Technology Areas

  • Space