United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office National Security and International Affairs Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1994-04-18 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:NSIAD-94-116 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-94-116 P0b002ee1803968d8 f:ns94116 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-94-116 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-94-116 NSIAD-94-116 Inventory control systems Aerospace research Laboratories Internal controls Federal property management Government owned equipment Federal employees Computer equipment management Research and development contracts Letter Report NSIAD Poor lending practices and controls at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory--the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) principal center for solar system exploration--have allowed employees to borrow NASA equipment, including computers, VCRs, and cellular phones for years at a time, and the Laboratory has written off more than $5 million worth of NASA items as lost or stolen. The Laboratory, which is federally funded but managed by Caltech, has about 6,400 employees and an annual operating budget of about $1 billion. GAO found major weaknesses in the policies, procedures, and practices for lending NASA equipment to Laboratory employees; in the identification and control of NASA equipment at Caltech; and in the Laboratory's overall property management system. The upshot is that equipment has been purchased unnecessarily, underused, lost, or stolen. By September 1992, more than 4,000 items worth about $7.6 million were on loan to Laboratory employees, mostly computer equipment. Most of the borrowed equipment was for home use and many borrowers were keeping it for lengthy periods--2 years or more was common. NASA now plans to reassess the Laboratory property system and has directed the Laboratory to do a complete inventory in 1994. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-94-116/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-94-116.htm GAO/NSIAD-94-116 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-94-116 Letter Report GAO/NSIAD-94-116; NASA Property: Poor Lending Practices and Controls at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Inventory control systems Aerospace research Laboratories Internal controls Federal property management Government owned equipment Federal employees Computer equipment management Research and development contracts