Summary

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) plans for a $3 billion project to process, store, and distribute information generated by the Earth Observing System--a program to collect data on changes in the planet's atmosphere, oceans, and continents--falls short in identifying and mitigating the technological risks inherent in a project of such scope and complexity. GAO recommends that NASA not award the Earth Observing System Data Information System (EOSDIS) contract until specific plans have been developed and resources identified for (1) prototyping the full range of critical system elements and (2) guiding and accelerating research into key advanced technologies essential for the system's ultimate success. In addition, NASA should work to maximize cooperation with other federal agencies and earth science programs having data system experience in global change-related areas. Without specific plans and resources in place to ensure that emerging user needs are met and key technical challenges aggressively pursued and resolved, NASA is running an unnecessarily high risk that EOSDIS may not meet future global change research needs and may require costly modifications to be useful. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Earth Observing System: NASA Needs to Reassess Its EOSDIS Development Strategy, by Samuel W. Bowlin, Director of Defense and Security Information Systems Issues, before the Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. GAO/T-IMTEC-92-7, Feb. 26, 1992 (eight pages); and Earth Observing System: NASA Needs to Reassess Its EOSDIS Development Strategy, by Samuel W. Bowlin, Director of Defense and Security Information Systems Issues, before the Subcommittee on Space, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. GAO/T-IMTEC-92-8, Feb. 27, 1992 (eight pages).

GAO found that: (1) NASA initiated a collection of prototype projects using existing earth science systems and data to validate its requirements and test the feasibility of key functions prior to contractor development; (2) the prototype projects are typically enhancements to existing systems, do not substantially support validation of key functions, and do not address critical technical feasibility issues; and (3) NASA did not take full advantage of available systems resources and experiences in designing and building its prototypes. GAO also found that: (1) NASA, other organizations, and research scientists believe that EOSDIS cannot reach its ultimate goal of providing ready access to vast amounts of earth science data without several kinds of significant technological advances; (2) experts cited scientific database management software, high-volume data storage and access systems, new techniques for data characterization, and data visualization as critical to the development and success of EOSDIS; and (3) because the NASA development strategy for EOSDIS does not specifically address those key advanced technologies, NASA runs the risk of developing a system that is little better than existing systems.