- However, according to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, NASA can not expect further delays with the SLS if it wants to meet the 2024 deadline set by the Trump administration.
- NASA plans to use the SLS as a key element of its plans for the Moon, with several rocket launches planned before a human landing.
Details: According to the GAO report quoting NASA officials, it is "unlikely" that the SLS will make its first flight in 2020, as the space agency expects. That said, NASA plans to use some of the additional funding requested from Artemis to continue developing and testing the SLS.
- GAO criticized NASA's continued cost overruns with JWST, for example. This telescope should now cost nearly $ 10 billion, or $ 2 billion more than originally planned.
- "I think the fact that Webb was such a poison pill in the middle of NASA's program remains quite remarkable," Logsdon said. "NASA's robotic science pays a very high price for Webb's problems."
Yes, but: NASA has "generally accepted" the recommendations made by the GAO. However, history suggests that the space agency may not apply them completely.
- "We have made very basic recommendations for at least the last 10 years and they can still be adopted more by NASA," said Cristina Chaplain, GAO's executive director, in a podcast on the report.
- These recommendations include being more "realistic" about the costs and schedules of major programs, making sure to update them along the way.
- GAO also recommended that NASA include reserves in human space flight systems programs to manage risks and potential cost overruns.
