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REINVENTING NASA
 
 
March 1994
 
 
NOTES

Unless otherwise indicated, all years are fiscal years.

Cover photo of the Hubble Space Telescope is courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
 
 
Preface

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is confronting the difficult task of squeezing a program that it anticipated would cost about $95 billion for five years into a budget plan allowing just over $70 billion. This study, which was prepared for the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, evaluates NASA's strategy for coping with the expectation of lower funding in the future and develops a set of illustrative alternatives that would reduce the scope of NASA's mission. In keeping with the mandate of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide objective analysis, the study makes no recommendation.

David Moore of CBO's Natural Resources and Commerce Division wrote the study under the supervision of Jan Paul Acton and Elliot Schwartz. Molly K. Macauley provided extensive comments and helpful suggestions. Useful reviews were also provided by Ronald Konkel, William Lilly, Howard McCurdy, Carole Neves, John Pike, Marcia Smith, Karen Tyson, and Ray Willamson. Other valuable comments came from John Peterson, John Sturrock, and William Thomas within CBO.

Leah Mazade edited the manuscript, and Christian Spoor provided editorial assistance. Angela Z. McCollough and Donna Wood typed the drafts. Aaron Zeisler prepared the figures. Kathryn Quattrone, with the assistance of Martina Wojak-Piotrow, prepared the study for publication.
 

Robert D. Reischauer
Director
March 1994
 
 

Contents
 

SUMMARY

ONE - THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION IN TRANSITION

TWO - THE RISKS OF A STRATEGY OF MARGINAL ADJUSTMENT

THREE - CHANGING THE WAY NASA DOES BUSINESS

FOUR - A FOCUSED STRATEGY AND ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS FOR NASA

TABLES
 
1.  Initial Operating Plan for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1994
2.  Budget of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1984-1994
3.  Budget Requests and Appropriations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989-1994
4.  Five-Year Budgets in the 1993 and 1994 Plans of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
5.  National Aeronautics and Space Administration's 1993 Operating Plan and Alternatives
 
FIGURES
 
S-l.  Five-Year Budget Requests of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1990-1995
1.  Budget Shares for Piloted Spaceflight and Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1984-1993
2.  Five-Year Budget Requests of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1990-1995
 
BOXES
 
1.  Short-Term Economic Effects of Spending for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
2.  Changes to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Appropriations Proposed in the 1995 Budget
3.  A Brief History of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Contract Preferences

This document is available in its entirety in PDF.