Under the “vision for space exploration” the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration has been directed
to retire the space shuttle following completion of the
international space station around 2010, and it needs
to take action on its long term workforce strategy, the
Government Accountability Office has said.
It said the program’s retirement process would impact
thousands of critically skilled civil service and
contractor employees, though progress has been limited
“toward developing a detailed long-term strategy.”
So far the program has identified lessons learned from
comparable retirement programs – namely the Air Force
Titan IV rocket program–has enlisted human capital
experts, and has revised the acquisition strategy for
updating the space shuttle’s propulsion system prime
contracts, according to GAO-05-230. However, it added
that “actions taken thus far have been limited.”
NASA has said it could be difficult to hold onto critical
workers without an identifiable career path beyond the
shuttle program, and noted that the government-wide
fiscal situation makes retention bonuses unlikely, said
GAO.
It said the space shuttle program has been focused on
the near term goal of lift-off, so it has delayed efforts
to determine hardware and facility needs and corresponding
workforce requirements, and thus, a strategy to meet them.
Officials have said they are uncertain about upcoming
aspects of the NASA “vision” and lack requirements needed
for workforce planning. GAO suggested scenario planning
as a way to better position the agency to address future
needs.
