President Barack Obama shared his vision of the future goals and plans for NASA at a gathering of the space community at Kennedy Space Center this afternoon.
He began by reassuring those assembled that US leadership in manned spaceflight is an endeavor that he intends to make a priority, even in these challenging economic conditions. To that end, he first announced an immediate first year increase in NASA budget of $6B.
He then announced the new mission of NASA and the benchmarks that will need to be met to accomplish the overall objective.
The overall mission of NASA’s manned space program is to achieve manned deep-space missions within 25 years.
Specific milestones that he outlined included:
- To continue scientific work on the International Space Station for the next ten years, with astronauts and cargo making the journey to low earth orbit on vehicles designed and built by private sector contractors under NASA’s direction
- To build a heavy lift capacity rocket system to take human crews and cargo into deep space missions
- To land robotic and human missions on asteroids or other solar system bodies
- To achieve manned orbiting missions of Mars in 20 years
- To achieve manned landings on Mars in 25 years
This requires a quantum leap forward in propulsion, guidance and materials; ways to protect astronauts against extended periods of exposure to space radiation; building sustainable colonies on Mars that are able to use materials found there and to stay for extended periods.
This path begins with increased research on manned space flight, manufacturing and other technological innovations in space, and agriculture in space, all to be done on the ISS.
The useful lifetime of the ISS is extended by at least 5 years compared to previous plans for the ISS.
NASA will rely on private industry to compete in the design, manufacturing, and delivery of vehicles to allow US control of sending astronauts to, and returning them from, the ISS.
The larger mission will require a heavy lift vehicle that can be large enough, safe enough and versatile enough to carry a multi-person crew and sustainable structures on deep space flights. Again, this vehicle will be built by private sector contractors, just as the rockets and crew capsules of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo were.
This overall mission, and the specific benchmark accomplishments needed to keep it on track (The Flexible Path), looks very much like Option 5.B of the Augustine report that also recommended abandonment of the Constellation Program whose objective was to return to the moon for long missions there.
The President reassured NASA employees that many involved in the Shuttle program will be retrained to help in the engineering of a new, 21st Century spaceport at Kennedy, as well as working either for NASA or its contractors on key systems for the long range mission.
The President closed by stating the space program will, without question, bring advances in technology that will affect everyone in America and the world, while continuing US leadership in mankind’s most inspiring endeavor, to extend mankind’s reach off the planet.
This news is a mixed bag for the future of NASA. It’s disappointing to see yet another major program be canceled after several years of development. However there is validity to focusing on technology development, especially when relying on government funding which can change with every new administration. I’m concerned that without a more specific goal in mind (saying “deep space exploration” is not specific enough) the programs will stagnate. Eventually the government will have to take a stand and keep a single program alive long enough to come to fruition.