A challenge has been presented to the scientific community to apply “first principles” to the understanding, prediction, and control of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) processes and applications. The success of the program is evident in the attention of new researchers and in the diversity of scientific specializations that have been directed to NDE problems. Critique of the program has been in awareness of existing technology and in focus of resources. An approach based on “lessons learned” is suggested for meeting continuing challenges and projected challenges of the future. “Lessons learned” from NDE reliability assessment programs are reviewed. Quantitative NDE performance as a function of signal-to-noise ratio is discussed. Focus of future efforts on signal-to-noise improvements in production and maintenance environments is proposed.