NASA has spent close to $200 million on a project over the past 10 years that is nowhere near finished, USA Today reported.
Space auditors Wednesday reported the space agency had failed to make headway on creating a new spacesuit ready for deep space exploration missions despite heavy funding for the project, which continued in 2011 with additional funding after the Johnson Space Center recommended it be terminated.
"We question the agency's decision to continue to fund the contract after Johnson [Space Center's] leadership recommended its termination," auditors wrote in the 52-page report.
NASA, meanwhile, failed to focus on its current inventory of suits used for ISS spacewalks through 2024 as a result, a challenge that will "escalate significantly," USA Today reported, if the station's life is extended to 2028.