Mar 9 2005
From The Space Library
The GAO published a report warning that the lack of a detailed, long-term strategy regarding NASA's workforce could threaten the safety of Space Shuttle operations and delay implementation of the Bush administration's 2004 directive to return astronauts to the Moon. The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation had tasked GAO with tracking NASA's efforts to develop a strategy for sustaining the Space Shuttle workforce until the Shuttle's retirement and identifying factors that impeded those efforts. GAO reported that NASA had made limited progress toward this goal. GAO found that NASA had taken preliminary steps: identifying lessons learned from the retirement of programs comparable to the Space Shuttle, such as the Air Force Titan 4 Rocket Program; enlisting the assistance of human capital experts; and revising its acquisition strategy for updating specific prime contracts. However, GAO concluded that NASA's failure to make decisions regarding contractor requirements during the remainder of the Shuttle program would hinder its progress. Moreover, GAO stated that NASA must develop a detailed strategy for retiring the Shuttle program, to enable it to protect agency-wide goals from the potential impact of workforce problems. GAO cited several factors hampering NASA's ability to accomplish this, such as NASA's near-term focus on returning the Shuttle to flight, a focus that had caused a delay in assessing hardware and facility needs. Furthermore, program officials remained uncertain about how to implement future aspects of the President's Vision for Space Exploration. (U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Space Shuttle: Actions Needed To Better Position NASA To Sustain Its Workforce Through Retirement” (report no. GAO-05-230, Washington, DC, March 2005), 1-19, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05230.pdf (accessed 3 September 2009).)
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