Space Operations

NASA Is Not Properly Safeguarding Valuable Data From Past Missions Gao ID: IMTEC-90-1 March 2, 1990

GAO reviewed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) management and storage of space science data.

GAO found that NASA: (1) stored space data under unsatisfactory conditions; (2) did not perform an agencywide inventory of its magnetic tapes and, consequently, did not know what data were retained or lost; (3) could not easily identify or retrieve tapes stored in its centers or at universities; and (4) did not enforce federal regulations or develop standards for minimum acceptable storage, maintenance, or inventory practices. GAO also found that: (1) storage and processing facilities did not have adequate temperature control or fire and water protection; (2) some facilities lacked security against unauthorized entry into storage areas; and (3) only one facility maintained backup files to restore data accidentally lost or destroyed.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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