Spacesuits are vital to International Space Station (ISS) operations and NASA’s journey to the Moon and beyond. However, the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuits that astronauts wear during ISS spacewalks were designed more than 50 years ago and have far…

Beckley, West Virginia—Ryan Keith Bailey, 47, of Beaver, was sentenced today to one year and two months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,134,900 in restitution for theft of government money.…

Houston, Texas—A Missouri City couple have admitted to their roles in orchestrating a fraudulent financing and refinancing mortgage loan scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. Noreen Khan aka Noreen Khan-Mayberry, 52, and her husband Christopher Mayberry, 53, pleaded guilty…

NASA’s Dragonfly mission will explore Saturn’s largest moon Titan, collecting data and seeking signs that the unique environment could support life. Today, the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report examining the Agency’s management of this ambitious project.…

Huntington, West Virginia—Tanisha Wooding, 46, of Huntington, pleaded guilty today to theft of government money. Wooding fraudulently obtained $91,664 in COVID-19 loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for…

Charleston, West Virginia — James Lomax, 34, of Hurricane, was sentenced today to three years of federal probation, including four months on home detention, and ordered to pay $13,312 in restitution for theft of public money, property or records. Lomax…

To date, NASA has allocated more than $26 billion in government property to contractors in support of six Artemis programs. Today, the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a memorandum examining how the Agency is managing this significant investment.…

As of February 2025, NASA had allocated over $26 billion in government property to contractors in support of six Artemis programs. Although NASA has policies in place to manage its government property, the Agency can strengthen its oversight by ensuring…

NASA missions are dependent on infrastructure, including testing facilities, laboratories, and launch pads, that face the threat of extreme weather events. To address weather-related vulnerabilities of its infrastructure, NASA has integrated resilience efforts into existing processes across various Agency programs.…

Standing Review Boards (SRB) conduct independent assessments of programs and projects and offer recommendations to improve performance and reduce risk. However, the SRB process lacks Agency-level oversight, improved SRB composition and training can add greater value to the assessments, improvements…

The Federal Information Security Modernization Act requires the Office of Inspector General to conduct an annual evaluation of NASA’s information security program. For fiscal year 2025, we rated NASA’s information security program at a Level 3—meaning policies, procedures, and strategies…

To propel Americans to the Moon and beyond, NASA has made significant investments that fuel innovation here on Earth. Each year, the Agency offers grants and cooperative agreements that support research at institutions across the United States. In order to…

Today, the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a new audit report assessing the Agency’s planetary defense strategy. Asteroids and comets that come within 30 million miles of the Earth’s orbit are known as near-Earth objects (NEO). To protect…

NASA leads the nation’s planetary defense efforts to address the potential hazards of asteroids and comets impacting Earth. While the Agency has made significant progress in its planetary defense mission, multiple challenges hinder its ability to fully execute its planetary…

Defendant Converted $1.4 Million from Business Loan for Personal Use Beckley, West Virginia—Ross Jay Bailey, 50, of Cool Ridge, pleaded guilty today to theft of government money. Bailey obtained a $2 million loan through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic…

Today, the NASA Office of Inspector General (OlG) released its Spring 2025 Semiannual Report to Congress, which highlights the OlG’s accomplishments between October 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025. During this reporting period, the OIG focused on three key challenges…

As required by the Inspector General Act of 1978, the NASA Office of Inspector General issues its Semiannual Report to Congress summarizing the OIG’s activities and accomplishments from October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.

As NASA continues its journey to the Moon and beyond, equipment quality could make the difference between mission success or failure. That’s why a top priority at the Office of Inspector General (OIG) is investigating defective, substituted, untested, counterfeit, or…

The Payment Integrity Information Act was enacted to improve efforts to identify and reduce federal improper payments—payments the federal government should not have made or made in an incorrect amount under statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements. NASA…

Company’s Prompt Self-Disclosure and Extraordinary Cooperation Led to Employee’s Successful Prosecution for Unlawfully Exporting Software to a Restricted Chinese University The Justice Department today announced that it has declined the prosecution of Universities Space Research Association (USRA) after it self-disclosed to the Department’s…

Charleston, WV — James Lomax, 33, of Hurricane, pleaded guilty today to theft of public money, property or records. Lomax admitted that he fraudulently obtained $13,312 in unemployment benefits, including COVID-19 supplementary funds.

How do you communicate with a spacecraft 15 billion miles away from Earth? NASA launched the historic Voyager 1 probe nearly half a century ago, and since then it has ventured farther than any other mission. Today, it takes over…

The Office of Investigations pursues allegations of cybercrime, fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct related to NASA’s programs, personnel, and resources.

Zero trust architecture (ZTA) is a cybersecurity approach based on continual verification of each user, device, application, and transaction to protect critical systems and data. NASA has made progress implementing ZTA across its corporate systems (managed by the Office of…

Preview our planned 2025 audit reports as we continue our objective oversight of NASA’s major programs, projects, and partnerships.

New Bern, NC — A Snow Hill man was sentenced to 50 months in prison for Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud related to Covid-19 loans.  In March of 2024, Tyreek Rasheed Exum, 26, was charged in a multi-count indictment alleging…

The Office of Inspector General is closing its audit of NASA’s awards to small disadvantaged businesses due to the rescission of an executive order issued by the Biden administration in 2023, which formed the basis for our work.

Orlando, FL—United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the filing of a criminal information charging Xiao Guang Pan (71, Canada) with three counts of using an unmanned aircraft to photograph vital defense installations and equipment without authorization. If convicted, Pan faces a maximum penalty…

Sacramento, CA — Anton Andreyevich Iagounov, 38, of South Lake Tahoe, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta to two years and three months in prison for four counts of impersonating a federal officer, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele…

The NASA Authorization Act of 2000 directs the NASA Office of Inspector General to annually assess the Agency’s compliance with federal export control laws and reporting requirements regarding cooperative agreements between NASA and China or any Chinese company.