NASA Budget: Carryover Balances for Selected Programs (Letter Report,
07/16/96, GAO/NSIAD-96-206).

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the extent of
carryover budget balances for the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's (NASA) Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) program and other
NASA programs.

GAO found that: (1) certain NASA program appropriations are available
for obligation over a 2-year period; (2) carryover balances in these
program areas totalled $3.6 billion by the end of fiscal year (FY) 1995;
(3) one-third of the budget authority provided to these programs will be
used to cover costs that accrue in FY 1996 or later; (4) the MTPE
program carried $695 million of budget authority into FY 1996 due to
several major program restructurings; (5) NASA plans to reduce carryover
balances in fiscal years 1996 and 1997 through improved cost-based
budgeting, procurement, and financial management practices, but actual
reductions will depend on the amount of new budget authority received
for FY 1997; (6) the NASA Comptroller has requested program managers to
justify carryover balances that exceed amounts necessary to fund program
costs; (7) large differences in carryover amounts are due in part to
slow reporting and processing of grant costs; (8) some program managers
have greatly reduced their carryover balances by carefully tracking
project performance; (9) the appropriateness of the 3-month threshold
should be examined over time to more fully understand carryover balances
in individual programs; and (10) the carryover amounts requiring
justification in fiscal years 1996 and 1997 are estimated at $1.5
billion and $1.0 billion, respectively.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  NSIAD-96-206
     TITLE:  NASA Budget: Carryover Balances for Selected Programs
      DATE:  07/16/96
   SUBJECT:  Unobligated budget balances
             Budget administration
             Total obligational authority
             Aerospace contracts
             Aerospace research
             Contract costs
             Budget authority
             Space exploration
             Cost-based budgeting
             Appropriated funds
IDENTIFIER:  NASA Mission to Planet Earth Program
             NASA Space Station Program
             Space Shuttle
             NASA Space Access and Technology Program
             NASA Aeronautical Research and Technology Program
             NASA Space Science Program
             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics,
Committee on Science, House of Representatives

July 1996

NASA BUDGET - CARRYOVER BALANCES
FOR SELECTED PROGRAMS

GAO/NSIAD-96-206

NASA Budget

(707170)


Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  MTPE - Mission to Planet Earth

Letter
=============================================================== LETTER


B-272539

July 16, 1996

The Honorable F.  James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
Chairman, Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
Committee on Science
House of Representatives

Dear Mr.  Chairman: 

In March 1996, you raised concerns in an oversight hearing and a
letter to us about the extent of carryover balances for the Mission
to Planet Earth (MTPE) and other National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) programs.  This report discusses MTPE's
carryover, as well as that of other NASA programs, and describes
NASA's plans to reduce those balances.  We plan to continue reviewing
NASA's carryover, as part of our basic legislative responsibilities,
to fully understand the nature of these balances and how they should
be considered in the budget process. 


   BACKGROUND
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1

Carryover balances consist of unobligated funds and uncosted
obligations.  Each fiscal year, NASA requests obligational authority
from the Congress to meet the costs of running its programs.  Once
NASA receives this authority, it can obligate funds by placing orders
or awarding contracts for goods and services that will require
payment during the same fiscal year or in the future.  Unobligated
balances represent the portion of its authority that NASA has not
obligated.  Uncosted obligations represent the portion of its
authority that NASA has obligated for goods and services but for
which it has not yet incurred costs. 

Through the annual authorization and appropriations process, the
Congress determines the purposes for which public funds may be used
and sets the amounts and time period for which funds will be
available.  Funding provided for NASA's Human Space Flight and
Science, Aeronautics, and Technology programs is available for
obligation over a 2-year period.  Authority to obligate any remaining
unobligated balances expires at the end of the 2-year period.  Five
years later, outstanding obligations are canceled and the expired
account is closed. 

Some level of carryover balance is appropriate for government
programs.  In particular, NASA's Human Space Flight and Science,
Aeronautics, and Technology appropriations are available for
obligation over a 2-year period.  In such circumstances, some funds
are expected to be obligated during the second year of availability. 
Funds must travel through a series of approvals at headquarters and
the field centers before the money is actually put on contracts so
that work can be performed.  According to NASA officials, it can be
difficult to obligate funds that are released late in the year.  In
addition, the award of contracts and grants may sometimes be delayed. 
Once contracts and grants are awarded, costs may not be incurred or
reported for some time thereafter.  Expenditures, especially final
payments on contract or grant closeouts, will lag still further
behind.  Finally, costs and expenditures for a multiyear contract or
grant will be paced throughout the life of the contract.  For these
reasons, all NASA programs have carryover balances.  The unobligated
balances expire at the end of their period of availability, and
according to NASA officials, uncosted obligations carried over will
eventually be expended to cover contract costs. 


   RESULTS IN BRIEF
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2

Carryover balances in NASA's Human Space Flight and Science,
Aeronautics, and Technology programs totaled $3.6 billion by the end
of fiscal year 1995.  NASA also refers to carryover balances in terms
of the equivalent months of funding for a fiscal year.  In other
words, almost
4 months or one-third of the budget authority provided to these
programs in fiscal year 1995 would be used to cover costs that will
accrue in fiscal
year 1996 or later.  Individual programs carried over varying
amounts, ranging from the equivalent of 1 month to 16 months of
fiscal year 1995 new budget authority.  MTPE carried $695 million, or
more than 6 months, of budget authority into fiscal year 1996.  Under
NASA's current budget and cost plans, these balances will be reduced
in fiscal years 1996 and 1997, but the actual reductions depend on
(1) the extent NASA's projected costs match the actual costs incurred
and (2) the amount of new budget authority received for fiscal year
1997. 

NASA officials are concerned that the current amounts are too high
and are taking actions to reduce these balances.  Although there are
valid reasons to have carryover, the issue is how much.  A recent
NASA study of carryover balances determined that the equivalent of 3
months of budget authority should be carried into the next fiscal
year and recommended actions to bring NASA programs within that
threshold.  The study noted that the threshold needs to be studied
over time to determine if it is appropriate.  Applying the initial
3-month threshold to estimated carryover balances at the end of
fiscal year 1996 shows that 7 of the 11 Human Space Flight and
Science, Aeronautics, and Technology programs have total carryover of
$1.1 billion beyond the threshold.  Most of the carryover beyond the
threshold was in three programs:  Space Science with $379 million,
MTPE with $341 million, and Life and Microgravity Sciences and
Applications with $228 million. 

NASA's Comptroller also intends to carefully scrutinize carryover
amounts as part of the fiscal year 1998 budget development process. 
The Comptroller formally requested program managers to justify
carryover balances that exceed amounts necessary to fund program
costs for
8 weeks of the next fiscal year.  The 8 weeks was not a threshold for
the appropriate level of carryover, but rather a criteria for
identifying balances for review.  At the end of fiscal year 1996,
nine programs would need to justify $1.5 billion beyond the
Comptroller's 8-week criteria.  The three programs with the largest
estimated balances requiring justification are Space Science with
$558 million, MTPE with $435 million, and Life and Microgravity
Sciences and Applications with $257 million. 


   PROGRAM CARRYOVER BALANCES VARY
   SIGNIFICANTLY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3

Carryover balances at the end of fiscal year 1995 for Human Space
Flight and Science, Aeronautics, and Technology programs totaled $3.6
billion.  Of this amount, $2.7 billion was obligated but not costed
and $0.9 billion was unobligated.  Table 1 shows the carryover
balances by program.  The balance carried over from fiscal year 1995
plus the new budget authority in fiscal year 1996 provides a
program's total budget authority.  The total budget authority less
the planned costs results in the estimated balance at the end of
fiscal year 1996.  Table 2 starts with the carryover from fiscal year
1996 and ends with the balance that NASA estimates will carry over
from fiscal year 1997 into 1998.  The cost plans shown in the tables
reflect the amount of costs estimated to be accrued during the fiscal
year.  The carryover balances will change if actual cost and budget
amounts differ from projections.  NASA program officials are in the
process of updating their 1996 cost plan estimates.  Officials in
some programs now expect the actual costs to be less than planned,
resulting in higher carryover balances at the end of 1996 than those
shown in the tables. 



                                     Table 1
                     
                      Estimated Carryover Balances in Human
                      Space Flight and Science, Aeronautics,
                      and Technology Programs at the End of
                            Fiscal Years 1995 and 1996

                              (Dollars in millions)

                  Actual   Fiscal year                                 Estimated
               carryover      1996 new     Estimated   Fiscal year     carryover
             balance (9/        budget  total budget     1996 cost   balance (9/
                  30/95)     authority     authority          plan        30/96)
----------  ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Human Space Flight
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Space            368.4 $     1,863.6 $     2,232.0 $     2,162.4 $          69.6
 Station $
U.S.-              133.0         129.2         262.2         218.1          44.1
 Russian
 Cooperati
 ve
 Program
Space              332.9       3,148.8       3,481.7       3,329.8         151.9
 Shuttle
Payload            114.5         315.0         429.5         339.8          89.7
 Utilizati
 on and
 Operation
 s
================================================================================
Total             $948.8      $5,456.6      $6,405.4      $6,050.1        $355.3

Science, Aeronautics, and Technology
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Space             $769.2      $2,007.6      $2,776.8      $1,895.9        $880.9
 Science
Life and           323.3         488.5         811.8         461.6         350.2
 Micrograv
 ity
 Sciences
 and
 Applicati
 ons
MTPE               694.9       1,250.1       1,945.0       1,291.2         653.8
Aeronautic         212.4         877.3       1,089.7         871.8         217.9
 al
 Research
 and
 Technolog
 y
Space              254.1         678.9         933.0         762.0         171.0
 Access
 and
 Technolog
 y
Academic           138.1         102.2         240.3         135.0         105.3
 Programs
Mission            128.2         441.3         569.5         490.6          78.9
 Communica
 tion
 Services
================================================================================
Total         $2,676.4\a      $5,845.9    $8,522.3\a    $6,064.3\a      $2,458.0
================================================================================
Total           $3,625.2     $11,302.5     $14,927.7     $12,114.4      $2,813.3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a Includes $156.2 million for launch services in fiscal year 1995. 
After fiscal year 1995, NASA's budget does not include a separate
line for launch services. 



                                     Table 2
                     
                      Estimated Carryover Balances in Human
                      Space Flight and Science, Aeronautics,
                      and Technology Programs at the End of
                            Fiscal Years 1996 and 1997

                              (Dollars in millions)

               Estimated                                               Estimated
               carryover   Fiscal year     Estimated   Fiscal year     carryover
             balance (9/   1997 budget  total budget     1997 cost   balance (9/
                  30/96)       request     authority          plan        30/97)
----------  ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Human Space Flight
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Space              $69.6      $1,802.0      $1,871.6      $1,803.0         $68.6
 Station
U.S./               44.1         138.2         182.3         164.0          18.3
 Russian
 Cooperati
 ve
 Program
Space              151.9       3,150.9       3,302.8       3,164.0         138.8
 Shuttle
Payload             89.7         271.8         361.5         292.0          69.5
 Utilizati
 on and
 Operation
 s
================================================================================
Total             $355.3      $5,362.9      $5,718.2      $5,423.0        $295.2

Science, Aeronautics, and Technology
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Space             $880.9      $1,857.3      $2,738.2      $2,099.0        $639.2
 Science
Life and           350.2         498.5         848.7         609.0         239.7
 Micrograv
 ity
 Sciences
 and
 Applicati
 ons
MTPE               653.8       1,402.1       2,055.9       1,425.0         630.9
Aeronautic         217.9         857.8       1,075.7         947.0         128.7
 al
 Research
 and
 Technolog
 y
Space              171.0         725.0         896.0         741.0         155.0
 Access
 and
 Technolog
 y
Academic           105.3         100.8         206.1         106.0         100.1
 Programs
Mission             78.9         420.6         499.5         440.0          59.5
 Communica
 tion
 Services
================================================================================
Total           $2,458.0      $5,862.1      $8,320.1      $6,367.0      $1,953.1
================================================================================
Total           $2,813.3     $11,225.0     $14,038.3     $11,790.0      $2,248.3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NASA often discusses and analyzes carryover balances in terms of
equivalent months of a fiscal year's budget authority that will be
carried into the next fiscal year.  For example, the Aeronautical
Research and Technology carryover balance of $217.9 million at the
end of fiscal year 1996 is equivalent to 3 months of the $877.3
million new budget authority, based on an average monthly rate of
$73.1 million.  Table 3 shows each program's carryover in equivalent
months of budget authority. 



                                Table 3
                
                Months of Carryover at the End of Fiscal
                       Years 1995, 1996, and 1997


                                                      Fiscal    Fiscal
                                            Fiscal      year      year
                                              year      1996      1997
                                              1995  estimate  estimate
                                            actual         d         d
----------------------------------------  --------  --------  --------
Human Space Flight
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Station                                  2.3       0.4       0.5
U.S.-Russian Cooperative Program              10.6       4.1       1.6
Space Shuttle                                  1.3       0.6       0.5
Payload Utilization and Operations             4.3       3.4       3.1

Science, Aeronautics, and Technology
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Science                                  5.2       5.3       4.1
Life and Microgravity Sciences and             8.3       8.6       5.8
 Applications
MTPE                                           6.6       6.3       5.4
Aeronautical Research and Technology           2.9       3.0       1.8
Space Access and Technology                    5.0       3.0       2.6
Academic Programs                             16.2      12.4      11.9
Mission Communications Services                3.2       2.1       1.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The carryover balances at the end of fiscal year 1995 ranged from the
equivalent of 1 month for the Space Shuttle to 16 months for Academic
Programs.  NASA officials gave several overall reasons for the large
relative differences in carryover amounts.  One major reason was that
programs such as the Space Station and the Space Shuttle, which have
fewer months of carryover, prepare budgets based on the amount of
work estimated to be costed in a fiscal year.  Other programs, such
as MTPE and Space Science, have based their budgets on the phasing of
obligations over a number of fiscal years.  Another major reason
given was that some programs fund a substantial number of grants,
which are typically funded for a 12-month period regardless of what
point in the fiscal year they are awarded.  This practice, coupled
with slow reporting and processing of grant costs, contributes to
higher carryover balances.  Science programs such as MTPE, Space
Science, and Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, fund
grants to a much greater extent than the Space Station and the Space
Shuttle.  NASA officials also said the size of contractors affects
carryover balances, with larger contractors requiring less funding
into next year than smaller contractors. 


      MTPE'S LARGE CARRYOVER
      CAUSED BY PROGRAM
      REDIRECTION AND GRANTS
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :3.1

NASA officials gave two major reasons for MTPE's carryover balance at
the end of fiscal year 1995.  First, the MTPE program has undergone
several major restructurings since its inception in 1991.  During the
periods when the content of the program was being changed, selected
program activities were restrained until the new baseline program was
established.  Since several contract start dates were delayed, the
carryover balance grew.  MTPE officials emphasized that all work for
which funding was provided would be performed in accordance with the
approved baseline and that, in most cases, the new baseline included
the same end dates for major missions and ground systems.  Officials
expect the balances to decrease as delayed work is accomplished.  The
second reason given for the large carryover balance at the end of
fiscal year 1995 is the large number of grants funded in the MTPE
program.  As discussed earlier, the process for awarding grants and
delays in reporting costs on grants contributes to carryover
balances. 


      AERONAUTICAL RESEARCH AND
      TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM CLOSELY
      MANAGES CARRYOVER BALANCE
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :3.2

Officials from the Aeronautical Research and Technology program
attributed their relatively low level of carryover to aggressively
managing carryover balances.  Officials have studied their carryover
balances in detail and have greatly reduced their levels.  In 1989,
the program had a carryover balance of 43 percent, equivalent to 5
months of funding.  Program financial managers analyzed their
carryover and determined that it could be reduced substantially.  By
1992, the carryover balance was about 25 percent, or 3 months, of new
budget authority, and it is estimated to remain at that level through
fiscal year 1996.  In fiscal year 1997, program managers hope to
achieve a 15-percent, or 2-month, carryover level.  Officials
attributed their improved performance to thoroughly understanding
their carryover balances, emphasizing work to be accomplished and
costed in preparing budgets, and carefully tracking projects'
performance.  They believe that some of their methods and systems for
managing carryover balances could be applied to other NASA programs. 


   NASA IS TAKING ACTIONS TO
   ANALYZE AND REDUCE CARRYOVER
   BALANCES
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4

Although carryover naturally occurs in the federal budget process,
NASA officials became concerned that the balances were too high. 
NASA is taking actions to analyze and reduce these balances.  NASA's
Chief Financial Officer directed a study that recommended changes to
reduce carryover balances.  NASA's Comptroller will review
justifications for carryover balances as part of the fiscal year 1998
budget development process. 


      NASA RECENTLY STUDIED
      CARRYOVER BALANCES
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :4.1

A NASA steering group was tasked by NASA's Chief Financial Officer to
review carryover balances as part of a study\1 to address NASA's
increasing level of unliquidated budget authority.\2 The study
identified a number of reasons for the current balances, including
NASA's current method of obligations-based budgeting, reserves held
for major programs, delays in awarding contractual instruments, late
receipt of funding issued to the centers, and grant reporting delays. 
The study recommended a number of actions to reduce carryover
balances through improved budgeting, procurement, and financial
management practices, including implementing cost-based budgeting
throughout the agency and establishing thresholds for carryover
balances. 

According to the study, cost-based budgeting takes into account the
estimated level of cost to be incurred in a given fiscal year as well
as unused obligation authority from prior years when developing a
budget.  The organization then goes forward with its budget based on
new obligation authority and a level of proposed funding that is
integrally tied to the amount of work that can be done realistically
over the course of the fiscal year.  However, the study cautioned
that a cost-based budgeting strategy should recognize that cost plans
are rarely implemented without changes.  Therefore, program managers
should have the ability to deal with contingencies by having some
financial reserves. 

The study recommended that NASA implement thresholds for the amount
of funds to be carried over from one fiscal year to the next.  NASA
had
about 4 months of carryover at the end of fiscal year 1995, according
to the study.  It recommended that NASA implement a threshold of 3
months for total carryover:  2 months of uncosted obligations for
forward funding on contracts and 1 month of unobligated balance for
reserves.  The study noted that carryover balances should be reviewed
over the next several years to determine if this threshold is
realistic.  NASA's Chief Financial Officer said the next logical step
is to analyze balances in individual programs in more depth.  We
agree that the appropriateness of the threshold should be examined
over time and that further study is needed to more fully understand
carryover balances in individual programs. 

We also believe that individual programs must be measured against an
appropriate standard.  One problem with looking at carryover balances
in the aggregate is that programs substantially under the threshold
in effect mask large carryover balances in other programs.  For
example, at the end of fiscal year 1996, the total amount of
carryover in excess of 3 months for seven programs is estimated to be
$1.05 billion.  However, the carryover balance for the Space Shuttle
and the Space Station programs in the same year is estimated to be
$1.03 billion under the threshold, which almost completely offsets
the excess amount.  We compared the balances of individual Human
Space Flight and Science, Aeronautics, and Technology programs to
this 3-month threshold and found that at the end of fiscal year 1995,
nine programs exceeded the threshold by a total of $1.3 billion.  By
the end of fiscal year 1997, only four programs are expected to
significantly exceed the threshold by a total of $0.6 billion.  Table
4 compares individual program carryover amounts with the 3-month
threshold at the end of fiscal years 1995, 1996, and 1997.  As
mentioned earlier, the estimates are based on projected costs for
fiscal year 1996 and projected budgets and costs for fiscal year
1997.  If actual costs and budgets are different, the amount of
carryover exceeding the threshold will change. 



                                Table 4
                
                 Carryover in Excess of 3 Months at the
                End of Fiscal Years 1995, 1996 and 1997

                         (Dollars in millions)


                                                      Fiscal    Fiscal
                                            Fiscal      year      year
                                              year      1996      1997
                                              1995  estimate  estimate
                                            actual         d         d
----------------------------------------  --------  --------  --------
Human Space Flight
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Station                                   \a        \a        \a
U.S.-Russian Cooperative Program             $95.5     $11.8        \a
Space Shuttle                                   \a        \a        \a
Payload Utilization and Operations            34.5      11.0      $1.6
======================================================================
Total                                       $130.0     $22.8      $1.6

Science, Aeronautics, and Technology
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Science                               $325.0    $379.0    $174.9
Life and Microgravity Sciences and           206.5     228.1     115.1
 Applications
MTPE                                         379.6     341.3     280.4
Aeronautical Research and Technology            \a        \a        \a
Space Access and Technology                  102.8       1.3        \a
Academic Programs                            112.6      79.8      74.9
Mission Communications Services                7.9        \a        \a
======================================================================
Total                                     $1,206.9  $1,029.4    $645.2
                                                \b
======================================================================
Total                                     $1,336.8  $1,052.1    $646.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
\a Indicates that a program's carryover balance was less than the
3-month threshold. 

\b Includes $72.7 million for launch services in fiscal year 1995. 
After fiscal year 1995, NASA's budget does not include a separate
line for launch services. 


--------------------
\1 The Management and Liquidation of Budget Authority:  Issues and
Recommendations Associated With Recent Growth in Unliquidated Budget
Authority, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (June 5,
1996). 

\2 In addition to unobligated funds and uncosted obligations, total
unliquidated budget authority includes accounts payable where work
has been performed and costed, but not yet paid for. 


      NASA'S COMPTROLLER WILL
      REVIEW JUSTIFICATIONS FOR
      CARRYOVER BALANCES
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :4.2

The NASA Comptroller is planning to review carryover balances in each
program.  According to the Comptroller and program financial
managers, carryover balances have always been considered a part of
the budget formulation process, but factoring them into the process
is difficult since budget submissions must be prepared well before
the actual carryover balances are known.  For example, NASA's fiscal
year 1997 budget request was prepared in the summer of 1995 and
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget in the fall.  At
that point, NASA's appropriations for fiscal year 1996 were not final
and costs for 1996 could only be estimated. 

Until now, appropriate levels of carryover and justifications for
carryover have not been reviewed in depth.  The NASA Comptroller
included the following guidance on carryover balances in his April
1996 letter to program associate administrators on preparation of the
fiscal year 1998 budget: 

     Estimates of budget authority, obligations, and accrued costs of
     program activities will be specifically scrutinized to ensure
     that the timing of the budget authority to accrued costs is
     consistent with minimal, carefully justified balances of
     uncosted budget authorities at fiscal year end.  Carryover of
     uncosted balances in excess of eight weeks of cost into the next
     fiscal year will have to be specifically justified. 

The carryover referred to by the Comptroller is the equivalent of 8
weeks, or 15 percent, of the next fiscal year's cost.  For example,
the fiscal
year 1996 budget, factoring in carryover from the prior years, should
include enough budget authority to cover all costs in 1996 plus 8
weeks of costs in fiscal year 1997.  The Comptroller stressed that he
was not attempting to set a threshold for the appropriate level of
carryover, but instead was setting a criteria beyond which there
should be a strong justification for carryover.  The Comptroller also
told us that although the guidance specifically addressed preparation
of the fiscal year 1998 budget, he has asked programs to justify
carryover balances in excess of 8 weeks starting with the end of
fiscal year 1996. 

Table 5 compares program carryover balances at the end of fiscal
years 1995, 1996, and 1997 to the 8-week criteria.  NASA was not able
to provide cost plan data for fiscal year 1998.  To approximate the
1997 carryover balances in excess of 8 weeks, we used the fiscal year
1997 cost plan.  If a program cost plan for 1998 is higher than 1997,
the 8-week criteria would also be higher and the carryover in excess
of 8 weeks would be lower.  On the other hand, a lower cost plan in
1998 would result in a higher balance in excess of 8 weeks.  As shown
in table 5, significant amounts of carryover funding would have to be
justified.  In fiscal year 1995, $1.9 billion would have had to be
justified.  In fiscal years 1996 and 1997, the amounts requiring
justification are estimated at $1.5 billion and $1 billion,
respectively. 



                                Table 5
                
                 Carryover in Excess of 8 Weeks at the
                End of Fiscal Years 1995, 1996, and 1997

                         (Dollars in millions)


                                                      Fiscal    Fiscal
                                            Fiscal      year      year
                                              year      1996      1997
                                              1995  estimate  estimate
                                            actual         d         d
----------------------------------------  --------  --------  --------
Human Space Flight
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Station                                $35.7        \a        \a
U.S.-Russian Cooperative Program              99.4     $18.9        \a
Space Shuttle                                   \a        \a        \a
Payload Utilization and Operations            62.2      44.8     $24.6
======================================================================
Total                                       $197.4     $63.6     $24.6

Science, Aeronautics, and Technology
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Science                               $477.5    $558.0    $316.3
Life and Microgravity Sciences and           252.3     256.5     146.0
 Applications
MTPE                                         496.3     434.6     411.7
Aeronautical Research and Technology          78.3      72.2        \a
Space Access and Technology                  136.9      57.0      41.0
Academic Programs                            117.3      89.0      83.8
Mission Communications Services               52.7      11.2        \a
======================================================================
Total                                     $1,743.4  $1,478.5    $998.7
                                                \b
======================================================================
Total                                     $1,940.8  $1,542.1  $1,023.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
\a Indicates that a program's carryover balance was less than the
8-week criteria. 

\b Includes $132.2 million for launch services in fiscal year 1995. 
After fiscal year 1995, NASA's budget does not include a separate
line for launch services. 


   AGENCY COMMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :5

We discussed a draft of this report with NASA officials and have
incorporated their comments where appropriate. 


   SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :6

We reviewed carryover balances for programs in the Human Space Flight
and Science, Aeronautics, and Technology appropriations as of
September 30, 1995, and estimated balances as of September 30, 1996,
and 1997.  We relied on data from NASA's financial management systems
for our analyses and calculations and did not independently verify
the accuracy of NASA's data.  We reviewed budget and cost plans and
discussed carryover balances with NASA's Chief Financial Officer;
NASA's Comptroller and his staff; and with financial management staff
for the MTPE, Space Science, Space Station, Space Shuttle, and
Aeronautics programs.  We also reviewed NASA's internal study of
carryover balances and discussed the study with the NASA staff
responsible for preparing it.  We performed our work at NASA
headquarters, the Goddard Space Flight Center, the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, the Johnson Space Center, and the Marshall Space Flight
Center.  We conducted our work between April 1996 and July 1996 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 


---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :6.1

As arranged with your office, unless you publicly announce this
report's contents earlier, we plan no further distribution of the
report until 10 days after its issue date.  We will then send copies
to the Administrator of NASA; the Director, Office of Management and
Budget; and other congressional committees responsible for NASA
authorizations, appropriations, and general oversight.  We will also
provide copies to others on request. 

Please contact me at (202) 512-4841 if you or your staff have any
questions concerning this report.  Major contributors to this report
are listed in appendix I. 

Sincerely yours,

Thomas J.  Schulz
Associate Director
Defense Acquisitions Issues


MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS REPORT
=========================================================== Appendix I

NATIONAL SECURITY AND
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS DIVISION,
WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Frank Degnan
Vijay Barnabas
James Beard
Richard Eiserman
Monica Kelly
Thomas Mills

*** End of document. ***