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"Human Beings Are Headed Into The Cosmos"
January 14th: [Updated]
U.S. President George W. Bush
today announced a new vision for
human space exploration meant to refocus NASA and
resume the human exploration of space beyond low earth orbit for the
first time since Apollo 17 returned from the Moon in 1972.
Bush's announcement was made at NASA Headquarters and the President was
introduced by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and International Space Station
Mission Commander
Michael Foale who was onboard the ISS. Also present at the event were Gene
Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, several members of Congress, and
several current NASA astronauts.
Details of the Announcement
The central focus and enabling piece of Bush's vision is development
of a new
Crew Exploration Vehicle, the "first of its type since the Apollo Command Module",
with a test flight by 2008 and availability for operational use by 2014. The
CEV will also satisfy the requirements of the Orbital Space Plane, which was
planned to replace the Space Shuttle in transporting crew to the International
Space Station. The CEV will be designed to allow astronauts to venture
outwards to the Moon, Mars, and "worlds beyond".
Bush's announcement set the goal for NASA to return to the Moon by 2020,
most likely around 2015. The purpose of a return to the Moon is to
mine resources such as water and Helium-3; also to develop
skills and technologies for future human exploration beyond the Moon.
Missions to the moon will begin with short stays, much like Apollo, but gradually
extend into longer periods until the first permanent base is constructed and
inhabited.
The Space Shuttle will be retired by 2010, after the construction of the
International Space Station is complete. The mission of the ISS will be refocused
to highlight the biological research of the human body needed for
extended trips into space. At some point not specified in the announcement,
the U.S. participation in the ISS will be scaled back or even ended to focus
more on exploration beyond low earth orbit.
Robotic exploration missions will be expanded under the new initiative, with
a robotic lunar landing mission scheduled for 2008. Other orbiter, lander, and
rover missions will be sent as "trailblazers" to Mars and other destinations.
More specific details on these missions will likely be released over
the coming months.
Missing Manned Mars Mission
The President didn't discuss specific details of a
mission sending Humans to Mars,
although he recognized that future advances in lunar settlements would
allow NASA to launch "human missions to Mars & worlds beyond" more cheaply
than from Earth.
The earliest timeframe for a manned mission to Mars falling into the
vision would be around 2020, roughly twenty years from now. Yet
some administration officials have stated in press reports that it won't
happen until 2030 at the earliest. This will be
a disappointment for many advocates of Mars exploration. The Mars Society's
Dr. Robert Zubrin advocates the Mars Direct plan, a fast-track mission plan which could
result the first human explorers landing on Mars in less than a decade.
NASA's Next Steps
The President directed NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe to review "all current space flight and exploration" projects
so they can be focused toward the new initiative.
A formal Commission on the Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy,
with both public and private representatives, will be chaired
by former astronaut Pete Aldridge and will release its first report of an
implementation plan for the initiative within four months.
NASA's current budget of $15.5 billion per year will receive a modest increase
of $1 billion, spread over the next five years. However, most of the money
used to pay for the new initiative will come from within NASA's current budget,
by reallocating $11 billion over the next five years from current programs.
Transcript of Bush's Remarks (Text)
President Bush Announces New Vision for Space Exploration Program
is
a news release from the White House which includes details of the announcement.
A Renewed Spirit of Discovery - Further Info from the White House
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