Foreword
The year 1996 has been a particularly fruitful time for NASA.
The Galileo spacecraft is conducting a comprehensive investigation
of Jupiter from uniquely productive vantage points in orbit around
the giant planet. The Hubble Space Telescope continues to astound
the world with its frequent revelations of space phenomena. Space
Shuttle/Mir dockings have been  carried
out with impressive professionalism by the American and Russian
crews. Accelerating deliveries of flight hardware has kept the
International Space Station on track for initial assembly operations
next year. And the aeronautics program marked its "return
to flight," a renewed emphasis on the use of experimental
aircraft with the unveiling of the X-36 tailless experimental
vehicle.
We, in NASA, are justifiably proud of these and other accomplishments
in aeronautics and space. We are equally proud of another type
of accomplishment, one which is less visible to the public but
just as important to the future of aerospace in America as are
our dramatic operational achievements: we are reinventing NASA
to better structure its organization and activities to meet the
realities of the times and its potential for the future.
The dictates of reducing the national deficit have made it
necessary for the agency to absorb large-scale funding cuts.
The challenge has been to cope with these reductions while maintaining
program stability. We have responded by seeking and finding new
efficiencies in every phase of NASA operations to achieve cost
savings with minimal loss of capability. Necessity, in this instance,
is the mother of reinvention.
We have reversed cost growth; whereas NASA was experiencing
large cost overruns four years ago, we are holding the line on
meeting our costs estimates, and in some cases, underrunning
those estimates. We have generated considerable savings by streamlining
the management of the International Space Station and by restructuring
several other large space programs. We have created many processes
to reduce costs within the Space Shuttle program without compromising
our high safety standards. We are realizing markedly significant
savings by compressing the time it takes to design and develop
a spacecraft vehicle with costs as a major consideration.
These are just a few of literally hundreds of examples wherein
NASA is effecting major savings while maintaining the integrity
and capabilities of the programs.
Despite this sharp focus on economy, NASA has by no means
abandoned the exciting goals envisioned throughout its heritage.
We have developed a NASA Strategic Plan that looks well into
the future and targets such possibilities as human planetary
exploration missions, lunar-based observatories, hypersonic aircraft,
space-based commerce, and a global system for monitoring Earth's
land, seas, and atmosphere. And we have created roadmaps that
define the technologies needed to attain those goals.
Our strategic plan is bold and exciting, yet a pragmatic plan
that accepts the probability of stringent funding for some time
to come. We know that, if we are to attain the goals, we will
have to do more with less, do it faster, and do it better. We
are confident we can do that -- because we're doing it now.
Daniel S. Goldin
Administrator
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
|
