GAO Report: Priority Open Recommendations: NASA
What GAO Found
In June 2021, GAO identified 11 priority recommendations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Since then, NASA has implemented four of those recommendations by, among other things, establishing a process for aggregating and assessing cyber risk information from across NASA, and approving an updated cost and schedule baseline for the second test flight of the Orion crew vehicle for the Artemis II mission.
In June 2022, GAO identified two additional priority recommendations for NASA, bringing the total number to nine. These recommendations involve the following areas:
- monitoring program costs and execution,
- ensuring cybersecurity, and
- federal contracting metrics.
NASA’s continued attention to these issues could lead to significant improvements in government operations.
Why GAO Did This Study
Priority open recommendations are the GAO recommendations that warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies because their implementation could save large amounts of money; improve congressional and/or executive branch decision-making on major issues; eliminate mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or ensure that programs comply with laws and funds are legally spent, among other benefits. Since 2015 GAO has sent letters to selected agencies to highlight the importance of implementing such recommendations.
For more information, contact Timothy J. DiNapoli at (202) 512-4841 or DiNapoliT@gao.gov.
