WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- One of NASA's headlining programs is the Space Launch System, a giant rocket program aimed at eventually delivering astronauts to the moon, Mars, asteroids and the deep space beyond. The space agency signed a long-term deal with Boeing earlier this summer to continue work on the mission.
But a new report by federal auditors at the Government Accountability Office say NASA and its contracting partners are unlikely to meet their goal of a December 2017 test flight. Officials with the federal watchdog agency claim NASA's allotted spending figures aren't realistic, and that the mission likely needs at least another $400 million to reach its initial 2017 launch date on time.