WASHINGTON - The task force that delivered a blistering assessment last year of NASA's International Space Station program now has much greater confidence in the project, the panel's chairman said yesterday.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has made changes to the program's budget, management structure and team, and taken steps to determine which on-board experiments hold the most scientific promise. The combination impressed the task force, said Thomas Young, a former president of aerospace contractor Martin Marietta who led the group.

"The right things have been done to make it a credible program," Young said during a presentation to the NASA Advisory Council.

In November 2001, Young's panel issued a scathing report on the $96 billion program, saying that poor management and shoddy accounting had left the project's books in such disarray that NASA couldn't even come up with a solid budget figure.

At the time, the agency was scrambling to deal with cost overruns and the ire of its 15 international partners, who were angry after President Bush lopped several major components from the station.

Since then, NASA has shuffled the station's management team and used a study by a panel of distinguished scientists to outline the research activities to be conducted in orbit.

Last month, the agency announced a revamped 2003 budget that would redirect money over the next several years into the development of a small, orbital space plane to ferry astronauts to the station, as well as upgrade the shuttle fleet. At the same time, NASA said it had arrived at a firm dollar figure needed to complete the crucial foundation phase of the space station: $6.6 billion between 2003 and 2007.

That number was based on estimates done by the agency and the Department of Defense.

Congress must approve the changes - and Young said the task force's newly positive feelings are dependent upon that happening.

A year ago, the panel recommended halting construction of the space station after the completion of the basic foundation - known as "core complete" - if NASA did not make major strides. Late last week, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and the heads of the space agencies of Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe agreed to work toward a larger station.

Gwyneth K. Shaw writes for the Orlando Sentinel, a Tribune Publishing newspaper .