NASA's Development of EOSDIS

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) development strategy for the Earth Observing System Data Information System (EOSDIS). GAO noted that NASA: (1) should not award the EOSDIS Core System contract until it develops specific plans for prototyping the full range of critical system elements involving new capabilities or substantially expanded capabilities; (2) must also continue to develop the advanced technologies that EOSDIS will ultimately need, rather than focusing development resources solely on near-term goals; (3) testing of its Information Management System prototype was too limited to model advanced EOSDIS functions; and (4) should take advantage of relevant data systems experience and knowledge in other programs and agencies.