May 6, 2008 Vol. 1, Issue 4
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report questions whether enough is known about the performance requirements for the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle and the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle for those vehicles to meet their proposed cost and schedule goals.
GAO says that uncertainties regarding performance requirements for the vehicles could make it impossible for NASA to conduct the preliminary design reviews (PDRs) for Ares I and Orion as scheduled (August 2008 and September 2008, respectively).
While GAO acknowledges that NASA has taken many steps to reduce risks associated with these projects, it says that considerable knowledge gaps prevent the agency from being able to make firm cost estimates at this point. Given the tight linkages between Ares I and Orion, future requirements changes would raise the risk of cost and schedule problems for both projects.
Read the full report.
