CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA underestimated costs and failed to grasp the complexity of the International Space Station program, resulting in $4 billion of extra expense and changes to the project that have crippled the outpost's scientific promise.

That's the conclusion of a special report published by FLORIDA TODAY newspaper on June 17, 2001. FLORIDA TODAY, whose circulation area includes the Kennedy Space Center, is owned by Gannett Co., Inc., a strategic media partner of SPACE.com.

FLORIDA TODAY's space team spent the past few months reviewing more than 1,000 pages of documents, many obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, to determine where the money went and why the cost overruns happened in the first place.

Contract changes, ignored warnings, program delays, mistakes and optimism are all cited as contributors to the problem in the series of reports that includes a history of the space station program and reaction from scientists. That complete report is now available here on SPACE.com.

NASA's Mistakes, Optimism Cost Taxpayers Billions

Overruns Slash Heart of Station

Pre-orbit Testing Saves Taxpayers $1 Billion

NASA Chief Says: 'In the End, I am Responsible'

Lawmakers Deflect Blame for Station Woes

Space Contractors Gave Millions to Lawmakers

Big Money, Big Politics: The Numbers

Space Station Timeline

International Partners May Take on Larger Role in Paying for Station

Broken or Not, Scientists Unswayed by Promise of Station