NASA has showcased a rocket engine verification test to more than 1,500 visitors during an open house event at Stennis Space Center on Thursday.

The agency said Friday it tested the RS-25 engine E2063, which is one of four RS-25 engines that will power the crewed and uncrewed flights of the Space Launch System rocket.

NASA engineers will use data from the verification test to certify the engine for use on an actual SLS mission.

During the test, NASA fired and throttled the anchored engine in the same way and length of time that will be performed on an actual launch.

Engine E2063 will be used on the second integrated flight test of SLS and the Orion crew vehicle, dubbed Exploration Mission-2, that will carry astronauts to space.

The Stennis Founders Day Open House event marked the 56th founding anniversary of the center and showcased NASA’s deep space plans as well as space-related exhibits.

Stennis has been assigned to test the rocket engines and stages for the SLS Program.

NASA‘s office of inspector general has urged the space agency to address the chief information officer’s limited control and visibility over information technology investments.

The OIG said in a report published Thursday that the decentralized and autonomous nature of operations across NASA mission directorates and centers restrict the OCIO’s oversight of nearly $1.4 billion in annual agency IT budget.

NASA’s mission directorates controlled 53 percent or $739 million of the agency’s IT funding in fiscal year 2017, while centers oversaw 22 percent or $311 million, the report revealed.

The OCIO’s inadequate insight and authority over the IT budget hampers NASA’s efforts to consolidate IT spending, achieve cost savings and optimize IT services delivery, the OIG noted.

Auditors also found that NASA’s enterprise architecture remains “immature” and that IT managers do not fully understand the roles of three top-level IT governance boards in the agency.

The OCIO has yet to finalize the roles and responsibilities of positions within NASA’s IT governance structure, which is a critical component of the agency’s Business Services Assessment Implementation Plan, the report said.

The OIG added that NASA’s IT security posture is negatively affected by uncertainty about security roles across the agency; substandard IT inventory practices; and high turnover of senior IT managers.

The report recommended NASA to give the OCIO sufficient visibility and authority over IT assets through a reassessment and modification of the Annual Capital Investment Review, which the agency established in 2016 to boost the CIO’s approval authority over IT acquisitions.

NASA’s CIO should also finalize charters for IT governance boards and educate employees on board functions; execute the BSA Implementation Plan steps related to IT roles and responsibilities; and address dispersed security responsibilities and long-standing security vulnerabilities facing the agency, the OIG said.

Jeff Pon, the White House’s nominee for the director post at the Office of Personnel Management, has said he plans to prioritize the recruitment of information technology experts once confirmed to help build up OPM’s cybersecurity posture and response to cyber threats, Federal News Radio reported Wednesday.

“This is my number one priority to make sure that we have security, not only information security but personal security, making sure that we have a safe workplace,” Pon said during his Senate nomination hearing.

“It is unacceptable to me to have people who are not trained in the current ways in which we protect our data,” he added.

Pon said he intends to expedite the federal recruitment process and streamline processes across the agency.

“It’s actually making sure that we execute on putting things together and simplifying things and making sure that the transactional data, not just paper, but transactional data that you need, can actually be transacted in an efficient and effective manner,” he said.

He also answered questions from Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee members about OPM’s role in the Office of Management and Budget’s government reorganization initiative and the upper chamber’s request for documents related to OPM’s Affordable Care Act ruling in 2013.