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NASA OIG Criticizes Current JPL Contract

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
September 29, 2009

NASA OIG: NASA Should Reconsider the Award Evaluation Process and Contract Type for the Operation of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Redacted)
“NASA can improve its management of the JPL contract:
– NASA’s overall assessment of contractor performance may have been overstated because the Agency’s performance evaluations for fiscal year (FY) 2007 were incomplete or did not otherwise comply with its guidance.
– The contractor’s poor performance on a large, significant project was offset in NASA’s assessment by higher performance on smaller projects because the Agency did not use proportional weighting in its evaluations.
– NASA’s award of $16 million in fees and 27 months of contract term extensions, value at $3.375 billion, were unsupported because the Agency’s performance evaluation factors did not include an assessment of required cost control measures.
– NASA does not have assurance that the existing contract still meets its needs or provides the best value for the taxpayer because the Agency did not fully comply with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirements for a 5-year comprehensive review of the use and need for the FFRDC.
– NASA’s use of a single CPAF contract for all aspects of the FFRDC creates a significant administrative and management burden for the Agency that is unnecessary given that there is a basis for the contracting officer to establish fair and reasonable prices for routine operations and maintenance of the facility.”

NASA audit criticizes contract awarded to Caltech for the operation of JPL, Pasadena Star News
“Officials from JPL and Caltech declined to comment on the report.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.