National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2011 NASA Strategic Plan www.nasa.gov The future of aeronautics and space exploration is built on sound strategic planning and the commitment of our employees and partners. The images on the cover show activities that contribute to achieving our strategic goals, artist concepts of future missions or innovative ideas, and our education efforts. Aerospace engineer Rod Chima works with the Large-Scale Low-Boom supersonic inlet model in the Glenn Research Center’s 8' x 6' Supersonic Wind Tunnel. Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation and the University of Illinois–Urbana Champaign partnered with Glenn to test the model with micro-array flow control to try to alleviate the thunder-like sonic booms produced by supersonic aircraft. (Credit: NASA/B.R. Caswell) On May 17, 2010, NASA Astronaut Steve Bowen, STS-132 mission specialist, participates in the mission’s first session of extravehicular activity as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. Dr. Heather Oravec, a postdoctoral researcher at the Glenn Research Center, works with a new device developed there that tests lunar soil strength. Called a vacuum bevameter, the device measures the characteristics of lunar soil simulants, or lunar regolith, in a vacuum chamber at specific temperatures while accounting for lunar gravity. The system may be used to predict strength characteristics of lunar regolith in previously unexplored regions of the Moon. (Credit: NASA/M.M. Murphy, Wyle Information Systems, LLC) Leland Melvin, Associate Administrator for the Office of Education and former astronaut, high-fives fifth- through 12th-graders at the Minor- ity Student Education Forum. The forum was part of our Summer of Innovation initiative and the Federal Educate to Innovate campaign to increase the number of future scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. (Credit: NASA/C. Huston) Our heavy-lift rover Tri-ATHLETE, or All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer, carries a logistics module mockup during the summer 2010 DesertRATS field test. The spider-like Tri-ATHLETE can roll or climb over uneven terrain to deliver a load to its destination. Desert- RATS, or Research and Technology Studies, offers a chance for a team of engineers, astronauts, and scientists to conduct technology development research in the Arizona desert, a good stand-in for destinations for future planetary exploration missions. (Credit: NASA) An engineer works with the fully functional, one-sixth scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope mirror in the optics testbed. This large, infrared-optimized telescope will search for the first galaxies that formed in the early universe. It will peer through dusty clouds to see the birth of stars and planetary systems. (Credit: NASA) A crew member from STS-132 photographed the International Space Station on May 23, 2010, after the Space Shuttle undocked and began separation. (Credit: NASA) An artist’s concept of the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity (left), compares it with the much-smaller Spirit, one of the twin Mars Exploration Rovers. Mars Science Laboratory, in development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life. (Credit: NASA/JPL–Caltech) Solar Probe Plus, its primary solar panels retracted into the shadows of its protective solar shield, approaches the Sun in this artist’s con- cept. Managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar Probe Plus will repeatedly sample the near-Sun environment, revolutionizing our knowledge and understanding of coronal heating and the origin and evolution of the solar wind. (Credit: NASA/JHU–APL) Kenneth Silberman, an engineer at the Goddard Space Flight Center (right), guides a student from the Maryland School for the Blind through an exploration of one of several tactile, scale models. During the visit to NASA Headquarters, one of several events sponsored by the Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management Division during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, students from the school met with representatives from each Mission Directorate. (Credit: NASA/P.E. Alers) Life aboard the International Space Station always requires the crew members to put our core values—safety, integrity, teamwork, and excellence—into action. The International Space Station brings together people from many backgrounds and nations in a relatively small working and living environment to achieve a wide variety of science and engineering goals. In this photo Naoko Yamazaki, Japan Aero- space Exploration astronaut (center), joins NASA astronauts T.J Creamer (back left), Alan Poindexter (STS-131 commander, back right), and Stephanie Wilson (lower right) in the busy Destiny Laboratory. (Credit: NASA) The SUGAR Volt is a twin-engine ultra-fuel efficient aircraft concept with a hybrid propulsion system that combines gas turbine and battery technology, a tube-shaped body and a truss-braced wing mounted to the top of the aircraft. This aircraft is designed to fly at Mach 0.79 carrying 154 passengers 3,500 nautical miles. This concept was one of four designs presented to us in April 2010 for our NASA Research Announcement-funded studies into advanced subsonic aircraft that could enter service in the 2030 to 2035 time frame. (Credit: NASA/The Boeing Company) Two seventh grade boys conduct an experiment in the Ames Research Laboratory’s Fluid Mechanics Laboratory on the effects of airflow resistance (or drag) on automobiles. They have placed a toy truck in the tank on the right and added a dye to the water to show the flow around the vehicle. The boys were preparing for the Santa Clara Valley [California] Science Engineering Fair–2010 Synopsys Championship. (Credit: NASA/E. James) A last quarter crescent Moon above Earth’s horizon is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 24 crew member on the Inter- national Space Station on September 5, 2010. (Credit: NASA) StrategicMessage From the Administrator Plan February 14, 2011 In 2010, the President and Congress unveiled an ambitious new direction for NASA, laying the groundwork for a sustainable program of exploration and innovation. This new direction extends the life of the International Space Sta- tion, supports the growing commercial space industry, and addresses important scientific challenges while continuing our commitment to robust human space exploration, science, and aeronautics programs. The strong bipartisan support for the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 confirms our essential role in addressing the Nation’s priorities. This is a year that will see additional discoveries from our premiere science missions and advances in aviation technology. It is a year that will see the end of the Space Shuttle Program, the completed construction of the International Space Station, and progress in developing a new space transportation system. It also is a year that we are certain will see continued success in commercial space efforts to bridge the gap in U.S. human space flight to low Earth orbit. This Strategic Plan outlines our long-term goals as an agency and describes how we will accomplish these goals over the next decade or more. Our goals cover more than flagship missions and cutting-edge technology develop- ment. We are committed to working smarter, doing business differently, and being transparent in our operations. Continuous improvement in our program management, in particular, is essential to our future success, and we will keep the public’s trust through transparency and accountability for our actions. We will continue to adhere to our core values of safety, integrity, teamwork, and excellence while we foster the pioneering, innovative, and partnering spirit that drives us and continues to advance our Nation. We will continue to reach out to our international partners, educators, industry, the public, and other stakehold- ers. NASA will be a leader in research and development and in innovative business and communications practices. Overall, NASA is a multi-mission agency that addresses complex national challenges, enables new markets, performs cutting-edge research, inspires and educates, and opens new frontiers. The Nation has high expectations of NASA—as it should. That expectation is cast in the legacy of those who built, tested, and flew the missions of yesterday and is a sign of confidence in each of us here now. I am proud of what we have accomplished throughout our history as an agency, and I believe that the future holds many good things. With our past accomplishments in mind, we shift our focus forward on the bold new direction set by the President. We embrace the challenge, and we look forward to sharing this adventure with the American people. Charles F. Bolden, Jr. Administrator Photo above: Administrator Charles Bolden speaks during a ceremony for winners and participants of NASA’s 2009 Centennial Challenges, held on February 26, 2010, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The competition addresses a range of technical challenges that support our missions in aeronautics and space, with a goal of encouraging novel solutions from non-traditional sources like individual inventors, student groups, and small, private companies. (Credit: NASA/P.E. Alers) i National Aeronautics and Space Administration Table of Contents NASA: Vision, Mission, and Values . 1 Core Values . .2 Strategic Plan: Overarching Strategies . 3 Strategic Goals: 2011 Through 2021 and Beyond . 4 Strategic Goals and Outcomes . .5 Strategic Goal 1: Extend and sustain human activities across the solar system. .7 Strategic Goal 2: Expand scientific understanding of the Earth and the universe in which we live. .11 Strategic Goal 3: Create the innovative new space technologies for our exploration, science, and economic future. 16 Strategic Goal 4: Advance aeronautics research for societal benefit. 21 Strategic Goal 5: Enable program and institutional capabilities to conduct NASA’s aeronautic and space activities. 24 Strategic Goal 6: Share NASA with the public, educators, and students to provide opportunities to participate in our Mission, foster innovation, and contribute to a strong national economy.