NASA Must Be Held to Account

摘要

The news focus story by a. lawler ("Trouble on the final frontier," 3 April, p. 34) describes the history of NASA's over-budget and behind-schedule projects over the years. Despite the protests of the various science teams that they are doing their best to develop sound budgets and schedules, the fact remains that they have not been able to make credible estimates, sometimes missing the mark by huge amounts. And yet, NASA management continues to accept the estimates. As long as there is no accountability for the science teams and NASA management-in the form of canceled programs and bars to future contracts and grants-and as long as Congress continues to view NASA as a jobs program instead of an investment of taxpayer dollars in the advancement of sound science, we should expect more of the same. Projects will be forecast as affordable, only to balloon out of control. Then more money will be poured in and no one will be held to account.