Over a half century ago, a new federal agency was created to explore and discover frontiers untapped in human history. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been responsible for such unparalleled achievements as landing human explorers on the moon, scouting the solar system with robots and making revolutionary discoveries about the nature of our universe. Fifty-one years later, on our own planet, innumerable innovative technologies derived from NASA research have improved our quality of life.

What do the visionary leaders, engineers, scientists and, of course, astronauts at NASA have in store?

In early 2004, President George W. Bush announced a new plan for NASA's future. The plan, dubbed the Vision for Space Exploration, proposes to return humans to the moon by 2018 and set up outposts as a potential resource for future missions.

The Space Shuttle will be retired next year and Orion will replace it by 2015; this vessel is capable of both docking with the International Space Station (ISS) and leaving Earth's orbit. The Vision for Space Exploration program proposes a permanent presence on the moon and using it as a stepping-off point for further space exploration, with Mars as the initial destination. Although the plan initially met with skepticism from Congress, in late 2004 Congress agreed to provide start-up funds for the first year's worth of the new space vision.

In December 2006, NASA outlined plans for a permanent base on the moon as part of preparation for a voyage to Mars. Construction of the base is scheduled to take about five years, with astronauts sent to the moon no later than 2020.

"We're going to provide NASA with what is needed to get human beings back to the moon and to stay there for an extended duration," Craig Tooley, project manager for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, told the Los Angeles Times last week, days before the scheduled launch of a robotic mission aimed at finding the best site for Earth's first off-world colony.

Nearly four decades after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, the Orbiter is expected to help identify safe landing sites for future human explorers, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment and test new technology. Using a second spacecraft, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, NASA is planning to punch holes in perpetually shadowed craters — where scientists hope to find cachés of frozen water that have been hidden for billions of years — to see what comes out.

President Barack Obama's fiscal-year 2010 budget reflects the current administration's commitment to a vigorous space program. According to the budget, NASA will receive $18.7 billion combined with $1 billion provided to the agency in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In total, this represents an increase of more than $2.4 billion from the 2008 level.

Last week, the first public meeting of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee was held at the Carnegie Institute. The NASA committee, established at the request of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), will conduct an independent review of ongoing U.S. human space flight plans and programs, as well as alternatives, to ensure the nation is pursuing the best trajectory for the future of human space flight.

The review aims to identify and characterize a range of options that spans the reasonable possibilities for continuation of U.S. human space flight activities beyond retirement of the Space Shuttle. According to the committee's statement of task, the identification and characterization of options will address: 1) expediting a new U.S. capability to support utilization of the International Space Station (ISS), 2) supporting missions to the moon and other destinations beyond low Earth orbit and 3) stimulating commercial space flight capabilities — all fitting within the current budget profile for NASA exploration activities.

Moreover, the review will consider the appropriate amounts of research and development and complementary robotic activity necessary to support various human space flight activities, as well as appropriate opportunities for international collaboration. It will also explore options for extending ISS operations beyond 2016.

In a letter asking Acting NASA Administrator Christopher Scolese to undertake the review, OSTP Director John Holdren noted that it is prudent for the Obama administration to obtain a fresh assessment of America's human space flight program given its scale and scope — especially given its importance for scientific discovery and technological innovation.

NASA's 2010 budget request, released last month, was for $18.686 billion, a five percent increase from the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, according to the budget overview. The budget supports the goal of returning Americans to the moon and exploring other destinations. Currently the request calls for $3.963 billion for exploration compared to $3.505 in the 2009 request.

As part of the effort to develop systems to return humans to the moon, NASA will stimulate private-sector development and demonstration of vehicles that will support the agency's space flight requirements.

Hoping to spur innovation from the private sector, in 2004 NASA established a series of Centennial Challenges, technology prizes for non-government teams. The Challenges include tasks that will be useful for implementing the Vision for Space Exploration, such as building more efficient astronaut gloves.

The pursuit of discovery half a century ago fueled our prosperity and our success as a nation in the half century that followed . . . "For the benefit of all."

Earlier

Things to Do on the Moon

The Right Stuff

Sweepstakes Science: Prizes for Breakthroughs

Resources

50 years, 50 Giant Leaps: How NASA Rocked our World
The Independent, July 29, 2008

The Vision for Space Exploration
NASA, February 2005

NASA Unveils Global Exploration Strategy and Lunar Architecture
NASA, Dec. 4, 2006

NASA's Mission: Can We Live on the Moon?
by John Johnson Jr.
L.A. Times, June 13, 2009

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2010 Budget
White House Office of Management and Budget

Letter from OSTP Requesting Review
Office of Science and Technology Policy, May 7, 2009

U.S. Announces Review of Human Space Flight Plans
Office of Science and Technology Policy, May 7, 2009

Human Space Flight Review Statement of Task
NASA, 2009

FY 2010 Budget Request
NASA, May 7, 2009

Message from the NASA Administrator
by Michael D. Griffin
50th Magazine (NASA), Feb. 22, 2008

Future of Spaceflight
National Geographic