The VC applauds the steps taken during the past year to increase the travel budget for scientists, but we note that this increase has been at the expense of travel funds for other required activities in Code 600. We recommend that GSFC management further increase travel budgets for Code 600 staff to attend scientific meetings. Office and Laboratory Environment Experimental science requires laboratory space. We note that crowding at GSFC has led to situations where a scientist, called from their laboratory to work for several months on a flight project, returns to find their lab occupied by others. Whereas space should not go under-utilized during prolonged absences, planning and scheduling must proceed to ensure that valuable research time is not lost.
Any work requires reasonable office space.
While GSFC scientists have become used to working in small overcrowded offices, the Visiting Committee notes that during the past year some have had very uncomfortable situations of office temperatures well above normal for extended periods. It is hard to imagine efficient work under such conditions. The Committee noted cases of needed renovation of laboratory space being deferred because of constraints on the capital budget. The VC also suggests that resources be made available to assure a continuation, and even an enhancement, of the support of pre-proposal research and development. This form of capital investment has been the basis for much of the success of flight programs at the Center.