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GAO-10-87R 1 (2009-10-15)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaanps0001 and id is 1 raw text is: i GA 0 Accountibiity I Integity * Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 October 15, 2009 Congressional Requesters Subject: NASA: Briefing on National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Programs and Associated Activities The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, as amended, established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as the civilian agency that exercises control over U.S. aeronautical and space activities and seeks and encourages the fullest commercial use of space.' NASA's activities span a broad range of complex and technical endeavors, from investigating the composition, evaluation, and resources of Mars; to working with international partners to complete and operate the International Space Station; to providing satellite and aircraft observations of Earth for scientific and weather forecasting; to developing new technologies designed to improve air flight safety. The agency currently engages in these endeavors against a backdrop of growing national government fiscal imbalance and budget deficits that are straining all federal agencies' resources. Although NASA's budget represents less than 2 percent of the federal government's discretionary budget, the agency is increasingly being asked to expand its portfolio to support important scientific missions, including the study of climate change. Therefore, it is important that these resources be managed as effectively and efficiently as possible. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-422)-directed us to review whether NASA's programs and associated activities with a fiscal year 2009 funding level over $50 million-are duplicative with other activities of the federal government. We briefed the committees on the results of our review, and this letter summarizes that briefing, including our scope and methodology, which is reprinted in full as enclosure I. As agreed to by the committees, this concludes our work performed under this mandate. Summary We identified 33 of 38 NASA programs that meet the mandate's $50 million threshold. These programs represent about 81 percent of NASA's fiscal year 2009 budget and support 226 projects, each of which may consist of numerous types of research and related activities. We focused on three areas within -Science, Aeronautics Research, and Education-for review and excluded other activities such as space operations and exploration missions that are unique to NASA. We judgmentally selected projects 'Pub. L. No. 85-568 § 102 (b) and (c) (1958) (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. § 2451(b) and (c)). GAO-10-87R NASA Programs

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