Priority Open Recommendations: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Fast Facts
Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help the federal government save money, address issues on our High Risk List, and significantly improve government operations.
This letter to NASA outlines 9 open recommendations that it should prioritize. For example, we recommended that NASA create cost and schedule targets for some of the major systems required for upcoming Artemis lunar missions.
NASA implemented 1 recommendation we identified as a priority last year.
We regularly update priority recommendations here.
Highlights
What GAO Found
In July 2022, GAO identified nine priority recommendations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Since then, NASA has implemented one of those recommendations by documenting management practices and tools that it will apply to the Artemis III and later missions.
In April 2023, GAO identified one additional priority recommendation for NASA, bringing the total number again to nine. These recommendations involve the following areas:
- monitoring program costs and execution,
- ensuring cybersecurity, and
- using federal contracting metrics.
NASA's continued attention to these issues could lead to significant improvements in government operations.
Why GAO Did This Study
Priority open recommendations are the GAO recommendations that warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies because their implementation could save large amounts of money; improve congressional and/or executive branch decision-making on major issues; eliminate mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or ensure that programs comply with laws and funds are legally spent, among other benefits. Since 2015 GAO has sent letters to selected agencies to highlight the importance of implementing such recommendations.
For more information, contact Timothy J. DiNapoli at (202) 512-4841 or dinapolit@gao.gov.