Building Orion

Shooting For Mars, Government Executive

“GAO wanted NASA to rethink its decision to award the second part of the contract for Orion in September 2006. The contract was scheduled to continue through 2019, and GAO didn’t think NASA had done enough research to make such a big commitment. There was a risk of cost overruns, schedule delays and overall poor performance, GAO wrote. If NASA did not reconsider its plans, then Congress should consider restricting its funding, GAO recommended. NASA officials disagreed. In their response letter, they said the agency had done enough preparation to proceed with the contract.”