NASA Office of Inspector General’s Semiannual Report to Congress April 1 – September 30, 2014
NASA faces ongoing challenges in sustaining its exploration and science missions, including such high-profile initiatives as the Space Launch System, its commercial cargo and crew programs, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the International Space Station (ISS). And like all Federal agencies, NASA has begun another fiscal year without a full-year appropriation, making the long-range planning necessary to carrying out its missions more difficult.
However, neither starting the fiscal year under a continuing resolution nor the expectation of static “top-line” funding are new scenarios for NASA. Accordingly, even with effective program management, NASA leaders will need to make choices that result in the continuation of some programs and the delay or cancellation of others. Case in point: the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) – the Boeing 747SP NASA fitted with a 9-foot telescope to study the universe. After a $1.1 billion investment and 23 years of effort, SOFIA reached full operational capability earlier this year. But SOFIA faces an uncertain future because the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget proposed placing the observatory in storage unless NASA could identify partners to help subsidize its $80 million annual operating cost.
We reviewed the SOFIA Program and found that the Administration’s proposal presents immediate challenges, including decisions about whether to delay planned aircraft maintenance and concerns about the potential loss of key personnel during the period of congressional debate over the FY 2015 budget. At the same time, appropriations legislation considered in the House of Representatives and Senate contained between $70 and $87 million to continue funding the Program.
During this reporting period, we also examined NASA’s use of Space Act Agreements and questioned the Agency’s decision to refrain from including more specific information about program objectives and key safety elements in the $1.2 billion in funded Agreements it entered into with several private companies to develop commercial crew spaceflight capabilities. We recommended that in the future NASA consider being more prescriptive when using funded agreements to develop spaceflight technology. In another review that examined extending the ISS until 2024, we found assumptions underlying NASA’s cost projections overly optimistic. While NASA projects its annual ISS budget to grow from its current $3 billion to nearly $4 billion by FY 2020, we questioned the validity of the Agency’s estimates for transportation costs. For example, NASA developed its transportation estimates using a $70.7 million average cost for a seat on Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft for a total cost of approximately $282 million per mission for four astronauts rather than projected costs for using commercial companies to transport astronauts, which NASA expects to be higher.
We also examined NASA’s efforts to modernize its Space Network, a constellation of eight satellites and three ground stations used to communicate with spacecraft operating in low Earth orbit. Without this Network, space hardware worth tens of billions of dollars would be little more than orbital debris. We found that key components of the Network are not meeting planned cost, schedule, and performance goals, and the delays and cost growth increase the risk that the Network will be unable to continue to provide adequate communication services to NASA missions and other customers.
Finally, our Office of Investigations continues to actively pursue allegations involving misuse of NASA funds and misconduct by NASA employees, contractors, and grant recipients. During the past 6 months, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigated dozens of cases of bribery, wire fraud, and falsification of records – the latter by two scientists who fraudulently obtained $1.5 million in research contracts with NASA.
This Semiannual Report summarizes the OIG’s activities and accomplishments between April 1 and September 30, 2014. We hope you find it informative.
