In the recent years, the US space agency NASA has taken bold steps in the direction of crewed Mars exploration. But, a new audit suggested that the agency could be moving quite hastily.

Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) showcased their concerns about the viability of NASA’s Orion crew capsule and Space Launch System (SLS). As part of two government-requested audits, the GAO has raised questions regarding the ability of NASA to meet program deadlines, giving examples of lack of funding and internal management problems.

In an email to The Christian Science Monitor, Mike Gruntman, a professor of astronautics at the University of Southern California, said that the key issue was that they don’t possess a clear long-term objective for the national human spaceflight program.

The ‘Journey to Mars’ initiative of the US space agency has been generating both excitement and controversy. The Asteroid Redirect Mission, wherein NASA is going to send four astronauts to readdress an asteroid into the orbit around the moon, is scheduled to launch sometime in the next decade. It is projected to test new propulsion technology for crewed Mars missions in the coming time. NASA is hopeful of sending an Orion crew to the Red Planet in the 2030s.

The space agency is planning the completion of the first SLS launch in 2018. In the test mission known as Exploration Mission 1, the rocket is going to ferry an empty Orion into the moon’s orbit. In succeeding missions, the launch of SLS/Orion will take place with a full crew. The agency has slated Exploration Mission 2 for April 2023, but administrators are hopeful of its launch as early as 2021.

However, as per the GAO, the schedule made by the agency isn’t realistic. By attempting for earlier launch dates, the agency is only raising the inherent risk of a deep space mission. The GAO’s audit has also scrutinized NASA’s budgeting practices.