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NASA's Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus NASA's Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus NASAs Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus Committee on NASAs Strategic Direction Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS Washington, D.C. www.nap.edu PREPUBLICATION COPYSUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. NASA's Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This study is based on work supported by Contract NNH10CC48B between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency that provided support for the project. International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-XXXXX-X International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-XXXXX-X Copies of this report are available free of charge from: Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences National Research Council 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu. Copyright 2012 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America PREPUBLICATION COPYSUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. NASA's Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academys purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. www.nationalacademies.org PREPUBLICATION COPYSUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. NASA's Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. NASA's Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus COMMITTEE ON NASAS STRATEGIC DIRECTION ALBERT CARNESALE, University of California, Los Angeles, Chair RONALD M. SEGA, Colorado State University and Ohio State University, Vice Chair MARK R. ABBOTT, Oregon State University JACQUES E. BLAMONT, Centre National dEtudes Spatiales JOHN C. BROCK, Northrop Grumman Space Technology (retired) ROBERT L. CRIPPEN, Thiokol Propulsion Group (retired) JOSEPH S. HEZIR, EOP Group, Inc. ANN R. KARAGOZIAN, University of California, Los Angeles MARK J. LEWIS, Institute for Defense Analyses Science and Technology Policy Institute MARCIA S. SMITH, Space and Technology Policy Group, LLC MICHAEL S. TURNER, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago WARREN M. WASHINGTON, National Center for Atmospheric Research Staff DWAYNE A. DAY, Senior Program Officer, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, Study Director MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Director, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and Space Studies Board ALAN C. ANGLEMAN, Senior Program Officer, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board DAVID H. SMITH, Senior Program Officer, Space Studies Board CATHERINE A. GRUBER, Editor, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and Space Studies Board AMANDA R. THIBAULT, Research Associate, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board ANDREA M. REBHOLZ, Program Associate, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board LINDA WALKER, Senior Program Assistant, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board DANIELLE PISKORZ, SSB Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Intern PREPUBLICATION COPYSUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION v Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. NASA's Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. NASA's Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus Preface The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is widely admired for astonishing accomplishments since its formation in 1958. These include, for example, setting the (still-standing) world speed record for a piloted aircraft (1967), landing 12 humans on the Moon and returning them safely to Earth (1969 to 1972), exploring all giant planets with Voyager (launched in 1976, still operating), launching the (still-operating) Hubble Space Telescope (1990), establishing the International Space Station (2010), and achieving the soft-landing on Mars of an automobile-sized robotic rover (2012). These missions and many others have dramatically changed our understanding of our universe, our solar system, and our planet. This list constitutes only a small sample of NASA successes over its half-century history. Looking ahead over a comparable period of time, what can the United States and the world expect of NASA? What will be the agencys goals and objectives, and what will be the strategy for achieving them? More fundamentally, how and by whom will the goals, objectives, and strategy be established and subsequently modified to reflect changes in science, technology, national priorities, and available resources? In late 2011, the Congress directed the NASA Office of Inspector General to commission a comprehensive independent assessment of NASAs strategic direction and agency management. Subsequently, NASA requested that the National Research Council (NRC) conduct this independent assessment. In the spring of 2012, the NRC Committee on NASAs Strategic Direction was formed and began work on its task. (The full statement of task appears in Appendix A.) The committee was charged to address the evolution of NASAs goals, objectives, and strategies, including in particular those set forth in the 2011 NASA Strategic Plan; the relevance of NASAs strategic direction to achieving national priorities; the viability of NASAs plans in the context of constrained budgets consistent with continuing deficit reduction; the appropriateness of resource allocations among NASAs various programs; NASAs organizational structure and potential changes to improve efficiency and effectiveness; and ways in which NASA could establish and effectively communicate a common unifying vision of the future that encompasses the agencys full array of missions. It is worth noting that the committee was not asked to opine on what should be NASAs goals, objectives, and strategy. Neither was it expected to provide a comprehensive summary of past work that was relevant to NASAs strategic direction. Rather, the committee was asked for recommendations on how the goals might best be established and communicated, and that is indeed the focus of this report. The 12-member committee met as a group five timesthree meetings in Washington, D.C.; one in Irvine, California; and one in Los Angeles, California. (See Appendix B for a list of meetings
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