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Open Recommendations

NASA Lunar Programs: Improved Mission Guidance Needed as Artemis Complexity Grows
GAO-22-105323
Sep 08, 2022
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The NASA Administrator should ensure that the Chief Financial Officer, in coordination with the mission directorates, develops Artemis mission-level schedule management guidance. (Recommendation 1)
Open
NASA agreed with this recommendation. NASA stated that the Artemis Campaign Development Division developed a baseline Schedule Management Plan in July 2022. The Office of the Chief Financial Officer expects to complete actions that address our recommendation by August 2023.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The NASA Administrator, in coordination with the relevant mission directorates, should ensure that NASA conducts a schedule risk analysis for the Artemis II mission as close as possible to completion of the Artemis I mission and update it as needed to incorporate schedule updates and new risks. (Recommendation 2)
Open
NASA agreed with this recommendation and recognized the importance of performing an Artemis II schedule risk analysis. NASA stated that it plans to complete a schedule risk analysis in late fall of 2023.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The NASA Administrator should ensure that the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer develops guidance that identifies a regular and recurring process for long-term Artemis workforce scenario planning to address future uncertainties, at least 5 years beyond the existing 5-year workforce plans. (Recommendation 4)
Open
NASA agreed with this recommendation, noting that it plans to establish workforce planning guidance beyond the 5-year budget planning process. In July 2023, NASA stated that NASA Centers had developed annual workforce plans that implemented NASA guidance for long term planning. NASA is in the process of reviewing these plans and expects to release finalized plans no earlier than October 1, 2023.

U.S. Space Command: Air Force Should Develop Guidance for Strengthening Future Basing Decisions
GAO-22-106055
Jun 02, 2022
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations, and Environment develops guidance for future strategic basing decisions that is consistent with GAO's Analysis of Alternatives (AOA) best practices, and determines the basing actions to which it should apply. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Air Force neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. On December 20, 2022, the Air Force stated that the department is developing guidance to identify appropriate basing actions and elements of the GAO analysis of alternatives methodology that will strengthen future basing decisions. The Air Force projected a completion date of March 31, 2023. Subsequently, in July 2023, the Air Force revised its completion date to October 16, 2023, due to sensitivities related to the U.S. Space Command basing decision - which has not been finalized. We will update the status of this recommendation when we confirm what actions the department has taken.

NASA Lunar Programs: Significant Work Remains, Underscoring Challenges to Achieving Moon Landing in 2024
GAO-21-330
May 26, 2021
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The NASA Administrator, in coordination with the Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, should ensure the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) project office includes relevant development costs from the Resource Prospector project and the cost of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services task order for the delivery of VIPER to the lunar surface into its cost baseline. (Recommendation 1)
Open
NASA did not agree with this recommendation stating it did not include development costs for the Resource Prospector project in the baseline because VIPER's mission was significantly different, its design is much more capable, and a different mission directorate funded the project. In addition, NASA stated that it chose not to include the Commercial Lunar Payload Services task order costs in the VIPER project's cost baseline because the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative differs from other launch services procured for NASA missions. We continue to believe that the relevant costs incurred for the VIPER project's development under the Resource Prospector project are important because they provide visibility into the total cost of developing the rover and some of its instruments. Further, the cost of Commercial Lunar Payload Services task order to deliver VIPER to the Moon is a key cost of the project's life cycle, even if the project is not responsible for managing the task order.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The NASA Administrator should ensure that the NASA Office of the Chief Engineer develop guidance to mitigate risks associated with delaying the establishment of high-level requirements early in the acquisition process when using service-type contracts and incorporate it in its reference guide or a similar document. (Recommendation 2)
Open
NASA agreed with this recommendation and stated that the Office of the Chief Engineer plans to constitute a team to develop the guide. The team will help outline and determine the contents of the guide, develop the content, and review the guide prior to planned publication in November 2022.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The NASA Administrator, in coordination with the Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, should ensure the Gateway program, in advance of the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) project's confirmation review, assesses the solar electric propulsion thrusters' technical risks and determine whether off-ramps—such as reduced requirements for PPE—are needed or whether the project's schedule should be reassessed. (Recommendation 3)
Open – Partially Addressed
NASA agreed with this recommendation and has taken some actions to implement it. The Gateway program and PPE project evaluated the technical risks of the solar electric propulsion thrusters as part of the project's preliminary design review in November 2021, and determined that there were no viable technical off-ramps. NASA is continuing to assess the project's schedule as part of a Gateway key decision point review planned to be held in December 2022, at which time the program will establish a baseline schedule for PPE's launch.
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