Space Operations: Archiving Space Science Data Needs Further Management Improvements

Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) data archiving program, focusing on: (1) NASA improvements to its data archiving policies and practices in response to recommendations; and (2) other needed program improvements.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	The Administrator, NASA, should instruct officials responsible for data archiving and management to expand NASA science data inventory to include sites that have not been surveyed to date and archive or release data as appropriate.	Closed – Not Implemented NASA believes that its efforts have identified most data and that further inventorying efforts would not be productive.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	The Administrator, NASA, should instruct officials responsible for data archiving and management to ensure that mission project data management plans are prepared at the beginning of a project so that mission archives can be adequately planned and budgeted for in the context of overall program affordability.	Closed – Implemented NASA has supplemented its project data management plan requirements for all science programs to cover the review of data-related issues as part of the standard management practices and procedures. Such plans, or their equivalent, are, in some cases, subject to routine review by data users.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	The Administrator, NASA, should instruct officials responsible for data archiving and management to establish milestones for completing plans and agreements with other agencies on Earth Observing System permanent archives.	Closed – Implemented NASA's memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Geological Survey was updated in September 1993. NASA's agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was essentially final, except for NOAA's concern about the availability of long-term funding for carrying out its portion of the agreement.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	The Administrator, NASA, should instruct officials responsible for data archiving and management to require confirmation that permanent archives have been created before original data records are destroyed.	Closed – Implemented The Project Data Management Plans' guidelines have been revised to include more project-specific conditions for data disposal, and coordination with NASA's records management program is being done to ensure the orderly disposition of original data.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	The Administrator, NASA, should instruct officials responsible for data archiving and management to establish procedures requiring periodic review of the adequacy of physical conditions at data storage locations and sampling of the quality of data.	Closed – Implemented NASA has added a series of questions to a self-assessment document for reviewing the physical facilities used to store scientific data. Also, a new records management policy provides information on NASA's data archives, including the conditions and procedures at such a facility.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	The Administrator, NASA, should instruct officials responsible for data archiving and management to update NASA science data management policy directive to reflect roles and responsibilities consistent with the current organization of NASA science divisions.	Closed – Implemented NASA's science data management policy has been incorporated into the policies and procedures of the 3 new organizations formed from NASA's previous Office of Space Science and Applications.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	The Administrator, NASA, should instruct officials responsible for data archiving and management to include appropriate elements of NASA data management policies in future contracts with the California Institute of Technology for operation of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.	Closed – Implemented NASA has not incorporated data management policy in its contract for operation of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; however, data management requirements are included, as appropriate, in the task orders issued under that contract.

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Topics

Space

Aerospace researchArchivesData integrityData storageFederal records managementFuture budget projectionsInformation systemsRecords retentionSpace explorationWarehouse facilities