NASA projects too long, too costly, GAO says

By STEWART M. POWELL Houston Chronicle

WASHINGTON — Congress’ watchdog accountants have unmasked cost overruns and launch delays in at least 10 of NASA’s premier acquisition projects, setting the stage for a House hearing on Thursday.

Investigators for the Government Accountability Office said average development costs had increased 13 percent on 10 of NASA’s $250 million-plus programs and that average launch delays had reached 11 months.
The twin difficulties, the investigators said, have set back the development of the next generation of spacecraft by a year, to 2015. The project is crucial to Houston’s Johnson Space Center.

In addition, the analysts said, the price tag of the Ares 1 rocket, which will launch the Orion crew vehicle into space, has increased $300 billion. The entire Constellation project to put humans on the moon by 2020 is expected to cost more than $230 billion.

"In the past, NASA has had difficulty meeting cost, schedule and performance objectives for some of its projects," the GAO investigators reported in a 78-page assessment, which was delivered to the House subcommittee overseeing NASA.

The GAO investigators said the need to "effectively manage projects will gain even more importance in an increasingly constrained fiscal environment."
NASA responded to the GAO’s criticisms in a statement that said, "NASA’s missions are one-of-a-kind and complex, which always makes estimating challenging. We believe NASA is a good investment of federal funds, and we strive to provide the best value."

Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, whose district includes the space center, said the GAO report recognizes that NASA has worked to limit cost overruns and delays.

"Unfortunately," he added, "this is rocket science — and as such is easier said than done."

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, also a member of the panel, said he was "pleased that the GAO report gives NASA credit for the progress that it has made in improving its acquisitions management."

But McCaul said the report found there is still more work to be done.
The biggest cost overrun identified by the GAO was a 53 percent increase for the Glory project. The program will deploy a satellite to study climate change. The estimated development costs grew from $169 million to $259 million in one year.