Sean O'Keefe, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), told the task force that cost estimates for the publicly financed ISS are now looked upon suspiciously. Not having confidence in an ability to know true ISS expenses "should scare all of us," he said.

O'Keefe said that the Congress has been "discouraged" from making "adjustments" to the ISS by adding more monies to the project. What's needed now is a shoring up of confidence that cost estimates can be trusted, he said.

Joseph Rothenberg, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight, said that the agency has a budget and cost management problem. Over the 1993 through 2000 time frame, NASA "lost track" of the baseline costs for complete assembly of the ISS.

Young said he doubted that such an ISS management system was in place. "It is hard to perceive it's better than it was two to three months ago," he said.

Funding cutbacks threaten the utility of the ISS, said Kathie Olsen, NASA Acting Associate Administrator for the Office of Biological and Physical Research. "If you don't have the facilities, you don't have the science," she said.

Olsen said that ISS science is being prioritized. "We're taking a hard look at priorities. What is unique for the ISS that we can't do in terms of using other platforms," she said.

A major issue is the number of crew working onboard the ISS. At present, a three-person team is reportedly consumed by daily maintenance of the facility itself, leaving little time for active research. Trying to automate equipment, while easy to suggest, would not come without expense and delay, Olsen said.

Discussions are underway to look at outfitting free-flying platforms with some classes of ISS science investigations, Olsen said.

According to SPACE.com sources, now being actively reviewed is long-term parking of a space shuttle to the ISS. This interim plan could help increase crew size and augment science carried out. Other "creative options" are on the table as well, including increased involvement of the Italian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, and relying more heavily on commercial firms to supply goods and services.

Restoring credibility in the ISS project, both in Congress and in the public mind, is needed, said Jeff Bingham, Acting Associate Administrator in NASA's Office of Legislative Affairs.

Bingham told the task force that there is a consensus of serious concern about increasing ISS costs within the U.S. Congress. But coupled with that is an equally forceful concern that the ISS will not be able to provide sufficient research capability within current budget dollars.

"Congress expects a solution that results in a U.S.-led space station worthy of the name, and worthy of the considerable investment to date," Bingham advised the task group.

For Bingham, the bottom line was for the task force to help NASA restore budget credibility to the ISS. A long-term solution must be found that both defines and provides the means for achieving a fully functional ISS, he said.

Marcia Smith, a space policy analyst for the Congressional Research Service, a research arm of Congress, said that a key question is the true independence of the ICME task force.

"Can the task force come up with what they believe is the 'right' answer, even if they think that Goldin and the White House don't want that answer? For example, Congress may have a different point of view than the White House. So can the task force be independent in their deliberations? And from whom are they independent?" Smith told SPACE.com.