Back in August, we wrote about the perverse incentives of government space programs, in which projects that underperform or overrun their budgets are rewarded with more money.

A new report by the NASA Inspector General, reported by the IEEE Spectrum, indicates the problem is worse than we thought. Perverse incentives are now so common in NASA programs that managers have internalized them:

Many project managers we spoke with mentioned the “Hubble Psychology” – an expectation among NASA personnel that projects that fail to meet cost and schedule goals will receive additional funding and that subsequent scientific and technological success will overshadow any budgetary and schedule problems. They pointed out that although Hubble greatly exceeded its original budget, launched years after promised, and suffered a significant technological problem that required costly repair missions, the telescope is now generally viewed as a national treasure and its initial cost and performance issues have largely been forgotten.

IEEE Spectrum points out that the same psychology permeates the Defense Department as well.

“Help us, private sector. You’re our only remaining hope.”