NATIONAL
AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Setting priorities
among its different research activities is a major management challenge
for NASA, as is controlling the costs of its supporting capabilities,
such as the Space Shuttle and Space Station. NASA is a government-wide
leader in the human capital and budget and performance integration initiatives,
and is making substantial progress in competitive sourcing.
Initiative |
Status |
Progress |
Human
Capital — NASA’s status has improved to yellow
because it is implementing a strategic human capital plan. A key
element of this plan is a human capital tracking system, which
allows NASA to identify workforce deficiencies across the agency
and undertake corrective actions. |
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|
• |
Competitive
Sourcing — In competitive sourcing, NASA has achieved
the government-wide goal by contracting out 15 percent of its
commercial positions but still has not conducted a competition
or finalized a plan to achieve the long-term 50 percent goal. |
•
|
• |
Financial
Performance — NASA’s received a disclaimer of
opinion on its 2001 audit. However, NASA has addressed the issues
from the audit, and it could improve from a red to a yellow rating
if it earns an unqualified opinion on its 2002 audit. NASA also
has begun implementing a common, agencywide financial management
system. |
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|
• |
Enhanced
E-Government —
NASA’s progress rating is green due to recent actions to
improve its information technology (IT) architecture and its reporting
on IT security and project justifications. NASA’s status
rating could improve if its new processes yield improved architectures,
IT security, and project justifications. |
•
|
• |
Budget/Performance
Integration — NASA’s status improved to yellow
because the agency budgets for the full cost of its programs,
including workforce, facilities, and overhead, and has integrated
its budget and performance reports. |
•
|
• |
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arrows
indicate change in status since baseline evaluation on September 30,
2001. |
Program
Assessments
NASA’s
three program assessments demonstrate a wide range of performance, from
the Mars Exploration Program, which was rated effective for its planning
and execution since the loss of two Mars missions in the late 1990s, to
the Space Station program, which was rated adequate because it is still
recovering from recent cost overruns. All NASA programs must improve performance
measures so that the annual and long-term results of multi-year investments
in NASA research are made clearer.
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