Special Report: Scoping Out The New Space Vision Inside Project Constellation Big Booster Options July/August/September 2004 $4.95 SpaceShip wonderful! THE FIRST PRIVATE SPACESHIP AND PILOT SOAR INTO SPACE PAYLOAD SPACE BIRD Hailed as a modern-day Charles Lindbergh, test pilot Mike Melvill ventures beyond the wild blue yonder for a few minutes of space wonderland. Volume 16, Number 3 July/August/September 2004 6 Special Report MOON, MARS AND BEYOND: SPACE EXPLORATION FOR A NEW ERA THE U.S. BLUEPRINT FOR SPACE EXPLORATION BY JEFF FOUST S4 MODULES FIRST MAN ON THE MOON LOOKS FOWARD TO OTHERS’ RETURN 3 Launch Pad BY NEIL ARMSTRONG S7 4 Mission Control INSIDE PROJECT CONSTELLATION Space Beat BY FRANK SIETZEN, JR. S9 S3 Countdown LAUNCH OPTIONS LOOM LARGE FOR NASA’S NEW MISSION 41 Space Community BY WILLIAM HARWOOD S13 48 Lifting Off ONE WAY TO MARS BY LUCIAN SAMOSATA S18 ON THE COVER: Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipOne THINK SMALL returns from its short but historic venture into space. BY JEFF FOUST S23 Photo: Jeff Foust Outlook: The Real Cost of the New Space Plan BY TAYLOR DINERMAN S26 Outlook: Bush’s Stepping-stones to Space AD ASTRA, which means “to the stars” in Latin, is the motto of the National Space Society, an international BY JOHN H. MARBURGER III S28 membership group dedicated to furthering the explo- ration and development of space. Our quarterly maga- Outlook: Common Goal Unites Space Advocates zine AD ASTRA is only one of many NSS activities aimed at creating a spacefaring civilization. For more informa- BY JIM BANKE S29 tion on NSS call 1-202-429-1600 or visit www.nss.org/ Outlook: The 11th Commandant of Space BY CLIFFORD R. MCMURRAY S30 Governance 1620 I Street NW Suite 615 Officers Washington, DC 20006 Hugh Downs, Chairman of the Board of Governors Ⅲ Kirby Ikin, Chairman of the Board of Directors Ⅲ (202) 429-1600 www.nss.org Cliff McMurray, Executive Vice President Ⅲ Greg Allison, Chairman of the Executive Committee Ⅲ Jeffrey Liss, Senior Vice President Ⅲ Greg Rucker, Vice President of Projects Ⅲ George T. Whitesides Jay Wittner, Vice President of Membership Ⅲ Frank Braun, Vice President of Public Affairs Ⅲ Executive Director Jim Plaxco, Vice President of Chapters Ⅲ Mark Hopkins, Secretary Ⅲ Darren Arnold Joe Redfield, Treasurer Ⅲ Harry Reed, Assistant Secretary Ⅲ Program Manager Bob Goetz, Assistant Treasurer Ⅲ Keil Ritterpusch, General Counsel Scott Farrow Membership Director Directors Laurence Ahearn David Baxter Ⅲ Marianne Dyson Ⅲ Robby Gaines Ⅲ Rich Godwin Ⅲ Francis Govers Ⅲ Bruce Janele Dana Johnson Ⅲ Alan Ladwig Ⅲ Ronnie Lajoie Ⅲ Bruce Mackenzie Ⅲ Stewart Nozette Ⅲ Robert Pearlman Ⅲ Membership Services Manager Seth Potter Ⅲ Harry Reed Ⅲ Peter Vajk Ⅲ Charles Walker Ⅲ Elaine Walker Ⅲ Alan Wasser Ⅲ Melanie Weiner Wayne White Ⅲ Philip Young Director of Meetings Caroline Cromeline, Advisors Jared Hall, Brian Olds C. J. Cherryh Ⅲ David Criswell Ⅲ Jerry Grey Ⅲ Joe Haldeman Ⅲ Eleanor Helin Ⅲ Mark Holthaus Ⅲ Interns Barbara Marx Hubbard Ⅲ Margaret Jordan Ⅲ Florence Nelson Ⅲ Scott Pace Ⅲ Glenn Reynolds Ⅲ Stanley G. Rosen Ⅲ Stanley Schmidt Ⅲ Craig Ward JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2002 $4.95 to the stars Governors Mark J. Albrecht Ⅲ Buzz Aldrin Ⅲ Norman R. Augustine Ⅲ Majel Barrett-Roddenberry Ⅲ Alan B. Binder Ⅲ THE MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY Frank Borman Ⅲ Ben Bova Ⅲ Bruce Boxleitner Ⅲ Gerald P. Carr Ⅲ Sir Arthur C. Clarke Ⅲ Tom Cruise Ⅲ Publisher Michael DeBakey Ⅲ Hugh Downs Ⅲ K. Eric Drexler Ⅲ Freeman J. Dyson Ⅲ Edward R. Finch Ⅲ Aaron Freeman Ⅲ National Space Society Don Fuqua Ⅲ Newt Gingrich Ⅲ Peter E. Glaser Ⅲ John H. Glenn Ⅲ Tom Hanks Ⅲ Shelley A. Harrison Ⅲ Robert Jastrow Ⅲ John H. Johnson Ⅲ Arthur Kantrowitz Ⅲ John S. Lewis Ⅲ James A. Lovell Ⅲ Robert T. McCall Ⅲ Editor-in-Chief Irene Mona Klotz Marvin Minsky Ⅲ Kenneth Money Ⅲ Nichelle Nichols Ⅲ Frederick I. Ordway III Ⅲ William R. Pogue Ⅲ Harrison Schmitt Ⅲ Frederick Seitz Ⅲ Michael Simpson Ⅲ John B. Slaughter Ⅲ Anthony J. Tether Ⅲ Senior Contributing Editor John Kross James A. Van Allen Ⅲ Maria von Braun Ⅲ Glen P. Wilson Ⅲ Simon P. Worden Ⅲ James B. Wyeth Copy Editor Jonathan Aretakis Visionary Donors Photographer B UZZ A LDRIN C OUNCIL I NDIVIDUALS Joe Marino Majel Barrett-Roddenberry Edward Apke Ⅲ Jack Bader Ⅲ Richard F. Beers Ⅲ Michael Cronin Art Direction and Graphic Design Paul Canolesio Stephen R. Donaldson Ⅲ Michael Downey Ⅲ Hugh Downs Ⅲ Leonard D. Righter Lars S. Easterson Andrew S. Ladson Vernon Edgar Ⅲ Steven Goddard Ⅲ David R. Hamlin Robert Edwards David Hampton Ⅲ Mark Herrup Ⅲ Adrian S. Hooper Production Services Gregg Foote Ⅲ Ⅲ Mercury Publishing Services, Inc. Dana Johnson Hugh Hotson, Jr. Robert Hunter Dave Jacques http://www.mercurypubs.com David Peter Kapelanski William Jaeger Ⅲ Randy D. Kelley Ⅲ Don Kimball Ad Astra (ISSN 1041-102X) is published J. Michael Lekson Jeffrey Kodosky Georgette Koopman Ⅲ Ronnie LaJoie Ⅲ quarterly by the National Space Society. Charles T. Lenzmeier Evan Malone Ⅲ Eugene Montgomery Ⅲ James O’Neil Ⅲ Editorial offices are located at 1620 I Street, Dean E. London Frederick I. Ordway III Ⅲ Christopher Pancratz Ⅲ Ed Post Ⅲ Suite 615, Washington, DC 20006. No mate- Mary Morss rial in this magazine may be reproduced Guilermo P. Rodriquez Ⅲ Greg Rucker Ⅲ Randall Skinner Ⅲ without permission. Periodicals postage John H. McQuilkin Charles E. Stauble Ⅲ Mike Symond Ⅲ John A. Swanson paid at Washington, DC, and additional Stanley J. Novak entry. Membership inquiries ($45/yr, $20/yr Allan M. Schiffman & Phylis Ooi Eric W. Tilenius Ⅲ Adrian Tymes Ⅲ Jeffrey C. Walker for students under 22) should be sent to the Eric Tilenius Glen P. Wilson Ⅲ Jay Wittner National Space Society, 1620 I Street, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20006. Postmaster: Send C ORPORATIONS address changes to Ad Astra, 1620 I Street, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20006. Fisher Space Pen Ⅲ Lockheed Martin Ⅲ Raytheon Ⅲ SGI Ⅲ Space Adventures 2 july Ⅲ august Ⅲ september 2004 Ad Astra to the stars launch pad MODULESa On May 17 an amateur group, the Civilian Space Exploration Team, led by SAVING EARTH Ky Michaelson sent a rocket into space on a suborbital trajectory. The next month Burt Rutan and his company Scaled Composites did the same with a THROUGH SPACE person. Only a few decades ago it would have taken a superpower nation to attempt such feats. I congratulate both teams for their efforts. Maybe one day such groups can actually reach for orbit. The advance of technology enables small groups to accomplish imponderable things more and more with each passing day. That has an upside, but it has a Greg Allison downside, too. Biotechnology is both advancing and spreading the world over. Chairman of the Unfortunately nuclear weapons technology is spreading as well. NSS Executive Just as we build rockets in our garages and aim for space today we also will Committee find groups building weapons of mass destruction in their garages and shops. The people who bring you Internet viruses today may bring you the real thing tomorrow. You will not need organized terror networks such as Al Qaeda to do the dirty work. Small groups, or even embit- tered loners, will be able to cook up horrible nightmares. In his book Our Final Hour, British astronomer Sir Martin Rees gives odds of no better than 50 percent that our civilization will sur- vive until the end of this century. At the International Space Development Conference over the Memorial Day weekend Canadian astronaut and NSS board member Dr. Ken Money described the neural mechanism for group conflict. This is an actual mental switch that enables people to commit atrocious acts against people whom they do not consider to be part of their “group.” On Earth we all live in one biosphere. One can think of our world as a really large fish bowl. We are all swimming around in it together. The accidental release of some nasty pathogen, what Sir Rees calls bio-error, or bio-terror, could be devastating. Especially when one considers the nature of the hardy, super virulent bugs that weapon scientists devised before the advent of genet- ic engineering. If we can survive long enough there is nanotechnology that could turn our whole world into gray goo. Space exploration and settlement offers multiple means to address these vexing problems. The obvious one is getting all of our eggs out of the single basket of Earth by building new baskets in the heavens. Then we are not all just swimming around together in one fish bowl. Dr. Money sug- gests that we need something constructive to channel our energies. Less obvious, but more powerful than the goal of saving Earth itself, is the idea discussed in Frank White’s book The Overview Effect. Astronauts who fly in space, especially out to the moon, are emotionally moved by the view of Earth from space. From the moon one sees the small pale blue Earth contrast against the black night of the void. From this vantage point it becomes obvi- ous how precious and fragile our world is. The atmosphere is thinly spread over the 8,000-mile diameter rock we call Earth. They notice the lack of borders. From space it becomes obvious that we are all one, one group. What this world needs is a lot of people seeing that view and bringing this message back home, spreading it through communities around the world. If we are to survive we must use this as one of our tools to eliminate hatred and bond our world together. If we all work together we can save the Earth through space. Let’s do it! Greg Allison to the stars Ad Astra july Ⅲ august Ⅲ s e p t e m b e r 2004 3 MODULESa MOON LURES NEW EXPLORERS obtain high-resolution geological, min- could cross paths with our planet, caus- As the European Space Agency’s eralogical and topographical maps of ing a close encounter of the worse kind. MISSION Smart-1 probe spirals out to the the moon’s surface. Eight proposals With that in mind, Apollo-veteran moon, work has accelerated on have been received so far, including Rusty Schweickart and former ISS crew- CONTROL NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance concepts from the ESA, Israel and a pri- man Edward Lu are pushing for launch of Orbiter, which could wield powerful vate laboratory in the United States.