The Future of NASA IT

NASA could outsource flights and insource IT, Next.gov
“Any outsourcing of NASA’s human spaceflight program would not necessarily disrupt cloud computing advancements at the Silicon Valley-based Ames Research Center, said officials at NASA headquarters earlier this week. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said at an Aug. 19 space and missile defense conference in Huntsville, Ala., that the department will look to the commercial space sector that is capable of providing launch services and building satellites to help expand the frontier of space exploration. NASA reportedly is contemplating moving away from traditional parts of the space program, such as transporting people and materials into orbit, because of growing costs. But Ames’ cloud computing initiative Nebula, aimed at remotely hosting Web services, data storage and IT equipment for other NASA agencies, could help contain those costs, said Ames Chief Information Officer Chris Kemp, who is leading the program and involved in the federal government’s cloud computing working group.”