Fiscal Year 2002 Performance and Accountability Report

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Fiscal Year 2002 Performance and Accountability Report Contents NASAVision and Mission Part I: Management’s Discussion and Analysis Transmittal Letter 6Message From the Administrator 8Reliability and Completeness of Financial and Performance Data 9Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act Statement of Assurance Overview 13Mission 13Organizational Structure 15Highlights of Performance Goals and Results 53Actions Planned to Achieve Key Unmet Goals 53Looking Forward 55Analysis of Financial Statements 55Systems, Controls, and Legal Compliance 56Integrity Act Material Weaknesses and Non-Conformances 58Additional Key Management Information 58The President’s Management Agenda 71Management Challenges and High-Risk Areas Part II: Performance 84Summary of Annual Performance by Strategic Goals Performance Discussion 87Space Science 99Earth Science 109Biological and Physical Research 117Human Exploration and Development of Space 123Aerospace Technology Supporting Data 133Space Science 145Earth Science 173Biological and Physical Research 185Human Exploration and Development of Space 193Aerospace Technology 209Manage Strategically Crosscutting Process 219Provide Aerospace Products and Capabilities Crosscutting Process 223Generate Knowledge Crosscutting Process 225Communicate Knowledge Crosscutting Process Part III: Financial 233Letter From the Chief Financial Officer Financial Statements and Related Auditor’s Reports 236Financial Overview 238Financial Statements 267Auditor’s Reports NASA Office of Inspector General Summary of Serious Management Challenges Other Agency-Specific Statutorily Required Reports 294Inspector General Act Amendment Reports 294Audit Followup 294Audit Reports With Disallowed Costs and Recommendations 295Audit and Inspection Reports Pending Final Action Acronyms PART I Management’s Discussion and Analysis Transmittal Letter Message From the Administrator I am pleased to present the NASA Fiscal Year 2002 Performance and Accountability Report. Over the past year, we began to implement significant changes that will greatly improve NASA’s management, while continuing to break new ground in science and technology. We made excellent progress in implementing the President’s Management Agenda. As the Office of Management and Budget reported in its FY 2002 midsession review on progress implementing the President’s Management Agenda, “NASA is leading the government in its implementation of the five government-wide initiatives.” We received an unqualified audit opinion on our FY 2002 financial statements. We achieved the vast major- ity of our performance goals, furthering each area of our mission: To understand and protect our home planet In FY 2002, we investigated solar flares to help explain and predict damage the Sun caus- es to communications systems and power grids on Earth. We documented changes to the Earth’s ice mass that affect the oceans, ocean ecosystem food chains, and the climate. Our observations from space enhanced efforts to track and predict the spread of West Nile Virus. We advanced technologies that may by the end of this decade double weather forecast accu- racy and refine hurricane prediction capabilities. We helped the U.S. Forest Service use our satellite data to determine how best to mobilize scarce firefighting resources. Our aeronautics research continued to make progress in ensuring that air travel is not only safer, but also quieter and cleaner. Our researchers demonstrated a new device that monitors the air for bacterial spores and may help detect biohazards such as anthrax. To explore the universe and search for life During FY 2002, our Mars Odyssey spacecraft went into orbit around the Red Planet. At the Martian north and south poles, the spacecraft detected vast amounts of water ice—so much ice that, if thawed, it would fill Lake Michigan twice. This confirmed that our near- est neighbor has abundant supplies of one of the key elements needed for life. We also dis- covered new planets in other solar systems, including a Jupiter-sized planet that is about as far from its parent star as Jupiter is from our Sun. This suggests that there may be Earth- like planets as well in such systems. We investigated other space mysteries. For the first time, astronomers tracked the life cycle of x-ray jets from a deep-space black hole. In a fitting culmination to his decades of work in exploring cosmic x-ray sources, NASA-sponsored researcher Riccardo Giacconi won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Investigating other exploration modes, we demonstrated technologies to make planetary rovers more autonomous, able to respond to unexpected events, replan their course, and even improvise science experiments when opportunities arise. Further enhancing our space science capabilities, the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-109) completed a spectacular servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Making one of the best astronomical observatories ever built even better, the crew installed new solar pan- els, an improved central power unit, and a new camera that increased Hubble’s “vision” tenfold. They even revived a disabled infrared camera. Hubble rewarded these efforts with stunning data and images including new measurements of the age of the universe based on observations of the oldest stars. The Shuttle continued its superb safety record. In addition to the Hubble mission, we flew three other Shuttle missions in FY 2002, delivering crew, supplies, and assembly pieces to the International Space Station. Although we had originally planned for seven flights in FY 2002, we delayed three flights because of propulsion system safety concerns. The vig- ilant, diligent work that went into discovering and repairing tiny cracks in the propellent lines was just one example of NASA employees constantly making the difference that keeps our operations safe. 6 NASA FY 2002 Performance and Accountability Report FY 2002 was the second year of continuous, permanent human habitation of the International Space Station. As the Station’s size and capabilities grew, so did the amount of scientific research it hosts. Astronaut Peggy Whitson came on board as the Station’s first Science Officer to coordinate efforts of the Station’s international research teams. To inspire the next generation of explorers During FY 2002, we made progress toward creating an Education Enterprise to coordinate all of our education and outreach activities. We also announced that Barbara Morgan will become NASA’s first Educator Astronaut, flying on STS-118 next November. NASA’s education and outreach work will not only enhance U.S. education and the scientific and tech- nical literacy of our citizens, it will also help build the future workforce our Nation needs to remain a leader in science and technology. as only NASA can In FY 2002, we comprehensively changed our structure and management philosophy to reflect the concept of “One NASA,” focusing all of NASA’s elements on achieving our new Vision and Mission. This is a robust, flexible, research-driven philosophy that maximizes our efficiency in meeting Agency goals. One example of this is the new Integrated Space Transportation Plan. It systematically coordinates all of our space transportation invest- ments to support science-driven exploration and continue safe, reliable access to the Space Station. Similarly, we rigorously assessed Space Station research and adjusted our invest- ments to focus on the highest priority research. In FY 2003, we will continue assembly of the International Space Station nearing comple- tion of the U.S. core, conducting new research there and on the Shuttle, sending rovers and other exploratory spacecraft to Mars, and launching spacecraft to better monitor the Earth. We are facing a very exciting period of challenges, changes, and expanding scientific accomplishment. I hope that as you read this report, you will share my pride in and enthu- siasm for NASA’s FY 2002 achievements. Sean O’Keefe NASA Administrator Part I • Administrator’s Message 7 Reliability and Completeness of Financial and Performance Data The performance data in this report indicate the extent to which NASA achieved the performance measures that we specified in the FY 2002 Revised Final Annual Performance Plan. These performance measures help gauge how well we met our goals. Experience has taught us that measuring performance in a cutting-edge research and development envi- ronment is a challenging process. Most of our projects are complex multiyear efforts with inherently unpredictable outcomes and timelines. Therefore, many of our goals are not specific because we work in the realm of discovery and the unknown. Finding measures that are concrete yet clearly linked to goals is often difficult. As we are strongly commit- ted to explaining to the Administration, Congress, and the U.S. public the progress we are making toward our goals, we regularly attempt to improve our performance measures. The FY 2002 Revised Final Annual Performance Plan and the Performance and Account- ability Report reflect such efforts in several program areas. We hope that the new performance measures provide a clearer link between quantifiable results and ambitious long-term goals. In addition, I am pleased to state that for the FY 2004 Performance Plan, which is included in the new Integrated Budget and Performance Document, we have redesigned performance measures Agency-wide to better relate to outcomes. This in-depth effort eclipses the ad hoc work that individual program areas

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