An Insecure Forecast for Continuity of Climate and Weather Data: The NPOESS Weather Satellite Program

Opening Statement By Chairman Nick Lampson

Good morning.  We once again meet to keep abreast of the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System.  When launched, NPOESS will be the primary source of information the National Weather Service uses to make its long-range forecasts.  Our military services will need NPOESS data to plan operations around the globe.  This Committee has given sustained attention to this program because it is so vital to our daily lives.

NPOESS is having a difficult birth.  The Government Accountability Office once more has to report that instability continues to beset the program.  Last year GAO recommended that the program managers needed to complete the basic planning and management documents to assure that everyone understands the schedule, objectives and resources.  It's a year later and GAO still has to recommend getting this basic task done.  The Under Secretary for Defense for Acquisitions, Logistics and Technology, Mr. John Young, has ordered these to be finished by the end of August or funding will be cut off.  Admiral Lautenbacher will assure us most strenuously that this time the paperwork will get finished.  I want to discuss that with him later.

I would like to have had Mr. Young here to talk about his memorandum and his views on the management of the NPOESS program.  Unfortunately, it wasn't until last week that we knew it had been issued.  I hope Admiral Lautenbacher will explain why a memo he received in May did not reach us until June, and then from GAO.  This Committee, under both Democratic and Republican leadership, has done its utmost to assist NOAA in keeping this program on track.  The Committee has always expected to be kept fully and completely informed and I expect Admiral Lautenbacher to assure us that will always be the case.

Costs for this program are still not under control.  Despite assurances that the program was adhering to its $12.5 billion life-cycle cost estimate, GAO believes that we can expect another increase of $1.1 billion.  Some $300 million represents the cost of recovery from the problems with the VIIRS and CrIS sensors last year.

Technical problems are still not resolved.  A week ago today NOAA informed us that some of the screw heads on the VIIRS instrument were found to be sheared off as it was being prepared for testing.  Early indications are that the posts into which the screws are driven were improperly made.  In the worst case, the VIIRS unit will have to be completely disassembled to replace all of these so-called "jack posts."  Doing so will mean yet another delay in launching the NPP precursor mission.  While NOAA hopes that this won't be required, the history of VIIRS argues that the worst case is only half as bad as what will finally come to pass.

This is not the situation we hoped to be in at this point in time.  I have grave concerns about this program.  The Executive Committee must expeditiously make decisions and act to resolve these problems.  The risk of a data gap is growing along with the cost of this program.  This Committee wants to know how these problems are going to be resolved and when we can expect some good news.

I welcome back our witnesses, Mr. Powner and Admiral Lautenbacher, for whom this is familiar ground, and recognize Mr. Inglis for his opening statement.

Witnesses

Panel

1 - Mr. David Powner
Director, Information Technology Management Issues Government Accountability Office Government Accountability Office
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2 - Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher
Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Department of Commerce Administrator, National Ocea
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