In
response to growing concern over the posture and long-term direction of the
U.S. civilian space program, NASA Administrator Dr. James Fletcher formed
a task group to define potential U.S. space initiatives, and to evaluate them
in light of the current space program and the nation’s desire to regain and
retain space leadership. The objectives of the study were to energize a discussion
of the long-range goals of the civilian space program and to begin to investigate
overall strategies to direct that program to a position of leadership.
The
task group identified four candidate initiatives for study and evaluation. Each
builds on NASA’s achievements in science and exploration, and each is a bold,
aggressive proposal which would, if adopted, restore the United States to a
position of leadership in a particular sphere of space activity. The four
initiatives are: (1) Mission to Planet Earth, (2) Exploration of the Solar
System, (3) Outpost on the Moon, and (4) Humans to Mars. All four initiatives
were developed in detail, and the implications and requirements of each were
assessed.
This
process was not intended to culminate in the selection of one initiative and
the elimination of the other three, but rather to provide four concrete
examples which would catalyze and focus the discussion of the goals and
objectives of the civilian space program and the efforts required to pursue
them.
When
this activity began, several studies relevant to NASA’s long-range goals and
its ability to achieve those goals were already in progress. Some of these
studies were being conducted by agencies external to NASA; others were internal
NASA studies. This task group became familiar with those efforts, and sponsored
others in areas not already covered. Additional information on all these
studies is provided at the end of this report. The interested reader is
referred to the published reports for detailed recommendations.
The
major milestones of all relevant studies were plotted on a timeline, shown in
Figure 1. This proved to be a useful summary for identifying the activities and
their projected completion dates. A similar overview timeline should continue
to be produced and revised, since it raises awareness of existing studies and
coordinates related efforts.
This
is not a final report. Rather, it is a status report describing the work
accomplished to date, and how this work will continue. The report discusses
long-term goals of the civilian space program, current posturing required to
attain these goals, and the need for a continuing process to define, refine,
and assess both the goals and the strategy to achieve them.
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Figure 1. NASA Strategic/Long-Range
Planning Activities
UNA-USA United
Nations Association of the United States of America
SPC Strategic
Planning Council
NAC NASA
Advisory Council
AIA Aerospace
Industries Association of America, Inc.
NCOS National
Commission on Space
AIAA American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
NAS
National Academy of Sciences
OSTP Office
of Science and Technology Policy
NSTSS National
Space Transportation and Support Study
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