CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The General Accounting Office (GAO) maintains in a new report that the International Space Station will run about $35 billion over cost.
GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, said the space agency continues to let contractors run up costs despite past demands for more oversight by NASA. It also found the agency lacks critical people in its shuttle workforce and risks future robotic probe failures.
The report, similar to one issued by the GAO last September, was offered as a primer for incoming President George W. Bush.
The GAO said the station likely will cost $95 billion to build and operate for 15 years. NASA Administrator Dan Goldin said last summer the total cost would be $60 billion.
"Principally, NASA still needs effective . . . financial management as well as cost controls, particularly for the space station program," the report said. GAO called NASA's current money management a "high risk."
If the space agency does not work out better ways to pay for its programs, other projects will continue to suffer to cover the overruns, the report said.
NASA has long been criticized for transferring money from science and other projects to pay for the station's construction.
The GAO also criticized the space agency for inadequate plans to make up for delays or losses of major station components. If the Destiny laboratory module -- set for launch to the station next month -- were lost, for example, the GAO said NASA only has a vague blueprint for keeping the station program alive.
Charles Vick, space analyst for the Federation of American Scientists, said Thursday that NASA suffered tremendously from delays by the Russian Space Agency. Those problems forced station modules to pile up waiting for launch from Kennedy Space Center.
Another problem is that NASA's role is to develop cutting-edge technology.
"Inherently, everything NASA does is high-risk new technology," Vick said. "Anyone who doesn't understand that is truly fooling themselves."
That technology needs a lot of careful attention, as NASA found with its venerable shuttle fleet.
The GAO again chastised the space agency for cutting its shuttle workforce too much in 1995. Acknowledging that NASA has hired about 800 new workers since then and plans to hire more, the report said shortages abound.
According to the GAO, NASA's shuttle workforce lacks workers in avionics, mechanical engineering and computer systems.
"The shuttle requires an awful lot of nursing," Vick said. "(The report) says the potentiality for failure is still staring us in the face."
The GAO also found fault with NASA Administrator Dan Goldin's "faster, better, cheaper" mantra for new spacecraft.
The policy, calling for less complex satellites, has not overcome management problems, the GAO said.
"Until NASA resolves those problems, space exploration programs using this approach may not achieve their objectives," the report said.
Vick said, however, NASA should continue to push for exploration, such as missions to Mars.
"Faster, better, cheaper is obviously going to have to be more expensive," he said.
Published under license from FLORIDA TODAY. Copyright © 2001 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.
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