spacetoday.net: NASA report criticizes management of NEO program office

Posted: Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 10:16 PM ET (0216 GMT)
A NASA office charged with oversight of the agency's efforts to search for near Earth objects (NEOs) lacks the staff and structure to effectively do its work, a NASA audit concluded. The report by the NASA Office of Inspector General on the NEO Program Office found that the office didn't perform adequate oversight of grants and contracts it awarded to organizations involved in searches for NEOs. The office, the report said, had only one dedicated staff member, when it needed several. The report argued that the office should be managed more in line with standard NASA practices. The office, whose budget has grown from $4 million in 2009 to $40 million in 2014, has the goal of detecting all NEOs 140 meters in diameter or larger by 2020, as well as supporting NASA's Asteroid Initiative.