Recovery.gov - Track the Money

Among the key purposes of the Recovery Act are preserving and creating jobs, spurring technological advances in science and health, and promoting economic recovery. NASA has an important role to play in achieving these purposes through the program and facilities investments it will make with Recovery Act funding. Meeting these goals with an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability will require sustained focus by everyone at NASA, particularly in planning, awarding, managing, and overseeing the contracts and grants through which the objectives of the Recovery Act will be achieved.

Specifically, under the Recovery Act NASA received approximately $1 billion for augmenting key research and development activities in the key program areas of Aeronautics, Science, with an emphasis on Earth Science and Exploration, and to restore critical NASA-owned facilities damaged from hurricanes during calendar year 2008. Some highlights of NASA’s intended investments include the Agency’s plans to accelerate the development of the Tier 1 set of Earth Science climate research missions recommended by the National Academies Decadal Survey; to increase the Agency's supercomputing capabilities; to undertake systems-level research, development and demonstration activities related to: aviation safety, environmental impact mitigation, and the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Further, NASA intends to use Recovery Act funding for Exploration to develop capabilities essential to maintaining a robust exploration program, including stimulation of efforts within the private sector to develop and demonstrate technologies that enable commercial human spaceflight capabilities.

For more information on NASA’s approach to meeting the goals of the Recovery Act see http://www.nasa.gov/recovery/index.html

The Recovery Act states that funds are to be awarded primarily using competitive procedures. NASA practices full and open competition where prudent. There are instances where in the highly-complex and specialized business of space that non-competitive contract mechanisms are warranted. In fiscal year 2008, NASA competitively awarded 51% of its dollars targeted for contracts. In the past five years, NASA trended between 50% to 60% of the Agency’s contracted dollars, done so competitively. For the Recovery effort, NASA will exceed these percentages.

NASA developed a competition advocacy program to enhance and promote competition and to eliminate barriers to full and open competition. NASA has appointed an agency competition advocate to oversee the program and each NASA center has a designated competition advocate. Federal agencies are required to submit uniform competition statistics to Congress in an annual report that summarizes the accomplishments of the agency’s competition advocacy program during the past year and describes proposed actions for the current year to increase competition and reduce noncompetitive contract awards. These designated competition advocates will apply a focus on the Recovery funds, and monitor how the spirit of the Act is met.

NASA will promote the use of competition in its acquisitions. Contracts, cooperative agreements and grants will all be employed as mechanisms to achieve the goals for Recovery. NASA’s Recovery funds will be added to existing contracts that were originally awarded competitively. New contracts and grants are planned to be awarded using competition, but will be awarded to best suit the nature of NASA’s business and provide the most effective delivery of the Agency’s key spacecraft hardware and scientific products.

Consistent with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), it is NASA’s policy to utilize fixed-price contracts when requirements are relatively certain which permits costs to be estimated with sufficient accuracy for pricing. When issuing contacts with Recovery Act funds, NASA will utilize competitive procedures and fixed-price contracts to the maximum extent practicable. We also anticipate using Recovery Act funds on contracts that are non-competitive and other than firm fixed-price, as NASA mission requirements often contain uncertainties that do not permit costs to be estimated with sufficient accuracy to use a fixed-price contract. In those cases, NASA will publish the rationale for using any contract mechanism other than a competitive and fixed-price contract as part of the award notice, in compliance with all requirements of the Recovery Act.

NASA currently utilizes multiple methods to assure accountability, and will apply these standard processes and procedures to all Programs supported by Recovery Act funds. NASA requires accountability at all levels of management and from all of its cost-sharing and non-cost sharing partners, contractors, and grantees for the timely delivery and quality of products.

NASA employs multiple methods of review and evaluation of progress toward the goals of each Program Plan for Recovery funds. These reviews will assure the funds are being utilized as intended and are delivering on their committed objectives. Managers at all levels will be held accountable both via review of their progress and individual performance plans. At NASA, all employee performance plans for Federal managers include elements tied to the program plans for which they are responsible. They are held accountable for cost, schedule, and performance results, and their individual performance is rated in annual appraisals.

NASA's management monitors different aspects of program or institutional performance, at the highest Agency levels, and uses a rigorous structure of program and management reviews for Agency-level decisions. To continue through each phase of development, programs must demonstrate, on an on-going basis and at key life cycle junctures, an ability to manage in a manner that produces identifiable results, and must document performance against previously defined commitments including multi-year outputs, annual performance goals, milestones and other metrics, as appropriate.

NASA internally monitors performance through monthly and quarterly reviews, at each management level. At the senior management level, program reviews, accompanied by an independent (internal) assessment, occur across all mission areas (aeronautics, science, space operations and exploration systems), with an in-depth review each quarter rotating among the mission organizations. Senior management also reviews institutional data (finance, human capital, acquisition, infrastructure), and aggregated Agency measures and metrics, e.g., safety, cross-cutting technical and non-technical issues. The data reviewed, and the accompanying analysis, allows the Agency to focus on, and proactively address, issues that could lead to not achieving desired performance goals.

Contractors will be held accountable for the timely delivery and quality of products. Award fee reviews, where appropriate, will be performed on contracts and past performance evaluations are integral in solicitation criteria. Grants and cooperative agreements are subject whenever possible to deliverables and milestones that must be met in order to receive funding renewal. Contractor and government accounting systems are audited periodically to ensure compliance with government standards. Additionally, NASA will cooperate with the Government Accountability Office and the NASA Office of Inspector General through various engagements and audits that monitor specific items dealing with Recovery funds.

To assure transparency and accountability to the public and its key stakeholders, NASA will post its current plans, and outline any revisions to previous versions on the Agency Recovery Act website. Information will be available on key events, the status of on-going activities, outcomes of Inspector General Audits and the accomplishment of and performance toward, annual and long-term Recovery Program goals. Web links will be provided, where applicable to posted solicitations, awards, and grantee performance, among other relevant information. For this and other important information on NASA implementation of the Recovery Act, see http://www.nasa.gov/recovery/.