DOCSLIB.ORG

Exploring the Moon and Mars: Choices for the Nation

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Exploring the Moon and Mars: Choices for the Nation Exploring the Moon and Mars: Choices for the Nation July 1991 OTA-ISC-502 NTIS order #PB91-220046 Recommended Citation: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology AssessmenT Exploring the Moon andMars: Choices for the Nation, OTA-ISC-502 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, July 1991). For sale by the Superintendent of Documents U.S. Government Printing 0ffice, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (order form can be found in the back of this report) Foreword The United States has always been at the forefront of exploring the planets. U.S. space- craft have now journeyed near every planet in the solar system but Pluto, the most distant one. Its probes have also landed on the Moon and Mars. Magellan, the most recent of U.S. interplan- etary voyagers, has been returning thought-provoking, high-resolution radar images of the sur- face of Venus. Scientifically, the prospect of returning to the Moon and exploring Mars in greater detail is an exciting one. President George Bush’s proposal to establish a permanent lunar base and to send human crews to explore Mars is ambitious and would engage both scientists and engi- neers in challenging tasks. Yet it also raises a host of issues regarding the appropriate mix of humans and machines, timeliness, and costs of space exploration. This Nation faces a sobering variety of economic, environmental, and technological challenges over the next few decades, all of which will make major demands on the Federal budget and other national assets. Within this context, Congress will have to decide the appropriate pace and direction for the President’s space exploration proposal. This report, the result of an assessment of the potential for automation and robotics tech- nology to assist in the exploration of the Moon and Mars, raises a number of issues related to the goals of the U.S. civilian space program. Among other things, the report discusses how greater attention to automation and robotics technologies could contribute to U.S. space explo- ration efforts. In undertaking this report, OTA sought the contributions of a broad spectrum of knowl- edgeable individuals and organizations. Some provided information, others reviewed drafts. OTA gratefully acknowledges their contributions of time and intellectual effort. /J’&# AM--+-f 2 JOHN H. GIBBONS Director . 111 Workshop on the Robotic Exploration of the Moon and Mars, Feb. 20,1991 Alan Shaw, Chair Manager International Security and Commerce Program Office of Technology Assessment Ronald Brunner Henry Lum Professor Chief Department of Political Science Information Sciences Division University of Colorado NASA Ames Research Laboratory Boulder, CO Moffett Field, CA Michael H. Carr Carle Pieters Geologist Associate Professor United States Geological Survey Department of Geosciences Branch of Astrogeology Brown University Menlo Park, CA Providence, RI Ben Clark Paul Spudis Technical Director Staff Scientist Martin Marietta Corp. Lunar and Planetary Institute Denver, CO Houston, TX Lynn Conway Alan Stem Associate Dean Research Scientist College of Engineering Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy University of Michigan University of Colorado Ann Arbor, MI Boulder, CO Michael Duke Carol Stoker Deputy for Science Lunar and Research Scientist Mars Exploration Program Office NASA Ames Research Center NASA Johnson Space Center Moffett Field, CA Houston, TX Giulio Varsi Matthew P. Golombek Manager Research Scientist Space Automation and Robotics program Jet Propulsion Laboratory Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, CA Pasadena, CA Noel Hinners William L. Whittaker Vice President and Chief Scientist Director Civil Space and Communications Field Robotics Laboratory Martin Marietta Corp. Carnegie Mellon University Bethesda, MD Pittsburgh, PA Eugene Levy Chairman Department of Planetary Science Lunar and Planetary Laboratory University of Arizona Tucson, AZ NOTE: OTA appreciates and is grateful for the valuable assistance and thoughtful critiques provided by the workshop participants. The participants do not, however, necessarily approve, disapprove, or endorse this report. OTA assumes full responsibility for the report and the accuracy of its contents. iv OTA Project Staff – Exploring the Moon and Mars Lionel S. Johns, Assistant Director OTA Energy, Materials, and International Security Division Alan Shaw, International Security and Commerce Program Manager Ray A. Williamson, Project Director Conttibutor Victoria Garshnek, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University Administrative Staff Jacqueline R. Boykin Madeline Gross Louise Staley Acknowledgments This report has benefited from the advice of many individuals from the government and the pri- vate sector. OTA especially would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance and sup- port. The views expressed in this report, however, are the sole responsibility of the Office of Technology Assessment. Arnold D. Aldrich Stephen J. Hoffman NASA Headquarters Science Applications International Corp. Washington, DC Houston, TX Dale Andersen G. Scott Hubbard Lockheed Corp. NASA Ames Research Center Washington, DC Moffett Field, CA Phillip Ballou Eric Krotkov Deep Ocean Engineering The Robotics Institute San Leandro, CA Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA Roger Bedard Jet Propulsion Laboratory Louis J. Lanzerotti Pasadena, CA AT&T Bell Laboratories Murray Hill, NJ Geoffrey Briggs Center for Earth and Planetary Studies Paul Lowman National Air and Space Museum NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Smithsonian Institution Greenbelt, MD Washington, DC Michael Malin Robert Cannon Arizona State University Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Tempe, AZ Stanford University Harry McCai.n Stanford, CA NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Leonard David Greenbelt, MD Space Data Resources and Information Wallace A. McClure Washington, DC Westminster, CA Kevin Dowling Chris McKay Robotics Institute NASA Ames Research Center Carnegie Mellon University Moffett Field, CA Pittsburgh, PA Terry Finn John Menkins NASA Headquarters NASA Headquarters Washington, DC Washington, DC Herbert Frey Lt. Col. Eric Mettala NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Greenbelt, MD U.S. Department of Defense Washington, DC Peter Friedland Intelligent Systems Research Division David Moore NASA Ames Research Center Congressional Budget Office Moffett Field, CA Washington, DC Louis D. Friedman Douglas B. Nash The Planetary Society Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, CA Pasadena, CA vi Acknowledgments (continued) Carl B. Pilcher David R. Scott NASA Headquarters Scott Science and Technology Washington, DC Los Angeles, CA Donna Pivirotto Steven Squyres Jet Propulsion Laboratory Cornell University Pasadena, CA Ithaca, NY Ian Pryke European Space Agency Delbert Tesar University of Texas at Austin Washington, DC Austin, TX Don Rea Mitre Corp. Paul Uhlir McLean, VA National Research Council Washington, DC Eberhardt Rechtin University of Southern California Jannelle Warren-Findley Los Angeles, CA Falls Church, VA Sally Ride California Space Institute Jerry Wasserburg La Jolla, CA California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA Carl Ruoff Jet Propulsion Laboratory Dietmar Wurzel Pasadena, CA German Aerospace Research Establishment Jeffery Rosendahl and German Space Agency NASA Headquarters Washington, DC Washington, DC Maria Zuber Harrison Schmitt NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Albuquerque, NM Greenbelt, MD vii.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Mini-RF: Imaging Radars for Exploring the Lunar Poles
    Mini-RF: Imaging Radars for Exploring the Lunar Poles Ben Bussey, Paul Spudis, Keith Raney, Helene Winters JHU/APL Stu Nozette, Chris Lichtenberg, Bill Marinelli NAWC 1 Mini-RF Organization, Science and Resource Evaluation Objectives • Mini-RF is a suite of radar instruments funded by NASA (SOMD & ESMD) and DoD. • Search for areas near the lunar poles that have the anomalous radar reflectivity signatures (high radar albedo and Circular Polarization Ratios) that differentiate volumetric water-ice deposits from more typical lunar surfaces • Map the morphology of permanently dark regions near the poles 2 Search for Ice • The case for water-ice can be resolved only if robust and repeatable data of the lunar polar regions support that conclusion. This rigorous standard can be met only by a dedicated polar-orbiting radar. • Mini-RF will use a unique hybrid polarity architecture to look for ice deposits • Transmit circular polarization (e.g. right-circular polarization RCP) • Receive coherent orthogonal polarizations • Derive Stokes parameters of the received signal • Use Stokes parameters to reconstruct and investigate the nature of the backscatter field. Distinguish between surface (roughness) and volume (ice) scattering 3 Top-level Radar Overview Parameter Chandrayaan-1 LRO • Frequency S-band S-band and X-band • Polarization Tx RCP Rx H & V • Scatterometry S-band (none) • Imager Regional maps Site-specific selections • Resolution (m/pixel) 75 75, 7.5 azimuth x 15 range • Looks 16 16 or 8 • Swath (km) 8 6 or 4 • Altitude (km) 100 50 • Incidence
    [Show full text]
  • Lunar Sourcebook : a User's Guide to the Moon
    4 LUNAR SURFACE PROCESSES Friedrich Hörz, Richard Grieve, Grant Heiken, Paul Spudis, and Alan Binder The Moon’s surface is not affected by atmosphere, encounters with each other and with larger planets water, or life, the three major agents for altering throughout the lifetime of the solar system. These terrestrial surfaces. In addition, the lunar surface has orbital alterations are generally minor, but they not been shaped by recent geological activity, because ensure that, over geological periods, collisions with the lunar crust and mantle have been relatively cold other bodies will occur. and rigid throughout most of geological time. When such a collision happens, two outcomes are Convective internal mass transport, which dominates possible. If “target” and “projectile” are of comparable the dynamic Earth, is therefore largely absent on the size, collisional fragmentation and annihilation Moon, and so are the geological effects of such occurs, producing a large number of much smaller internal motions—volcanism, uplift, faulting, and fragments. If the target object is very large compared subduction—that both create and destroy surfaces on to the projectile, it behaves as an “infinite halfspace,” Earth. The great contrast between the ancient, stable and the result is an impact crater in the target body. Moon and the active, dynamic Earth is most clearly For collisions in the asteroid belt, many of the shown by the ages of their surfaces. Nearly 80% of the resulting collisional fragments or crater ejecta escape entire solid surface of Earth is <200 m.y. old. In the gravitational field of the impacted object; many of contrast, >99% of the lunar surface formed more than these fragments are then further perturbed into 3 b.y.
    [Show full text]
  • Surveyor 1 Space- Craft on June 2, 1966 As Seen by the Narrow Angle Camera of the Lunar Re- Connaissance Orbiter Taken on July 17, 2009 (Also See Fig
    i “Project Surveyor, in particular, removed any doubt that it was possible for Americans to land on the Moon and explore its surface.” — Harrison H. Schmitt, Apollo 17 Scientist-Astronaut ii Frontispiece: Landing site of the Surveyor 1 space- craft on June 2, 1966 as seen by the narrow angle camera of the Lunar Re- connaissance Orbiter taken on July 17, 2009 (also see Fig. 13). The white square in the upper photo outlines the area of the enlarged view below. The spacecraft is ca. 3.3 m tall and is casting a 15 m shadow to the East. (NASA/LROC/ ASU/GSFC photos) iii iv Surveyor I: America’s First Moon Landing by William F. Mellberg v © 2014, 2015 William F. Mellberg vi About the author: William Mellberg was a marketing and public relations representative with Fokker Aircraft. He is also an aerospace historian, having published many articles on both the development of airplanes and space vehicles in various magazines. He is the author of Famous Airliners and Moon Missions. He also serves as co-Editor of Harrison H. Schmitt’s website: http://americasuncommonsense.com Acknowledgments: The support and recollections of Frank Mellberg, Harrison Schmitt, Justin Rennilson, Alexander Gurshstein, Paul Spudis, Ronald Wells, Colin Mackellar and Dwight Steven- Boniecki is gratefully acknowledged. vii Surveyor I: America’s First Moon Landing by William F. Mellberg A Journey of 250,000 Miles . December 14, 2013. China’s Chang’e 3 spacecraft successfully touched down on the Moon at 1311 GMT (2111 Beijing Time). The landing site was in Mare Imbrium, the Sea of Rains, about 25 miles (40 km) south of the small crater, Laplace F, and roughly 100 miles (160 km) east of its original target in Sinus Iridum, the Bay of Rainbows.
    [Show full text]
  • Expert Perspectives on Nasa's Human Exploration
    CHARTING A COURSE: EXPERT PERSPECTIVES ON NASA’S HUMAN EXPLORATION PROPOSALS HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION February 3, 2016 Serial No. 114–58 Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 20–828PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., ZOE LOFGREN, California Wisconsin DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois DANA ROHRABACHER, California DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ERIC SWALWELL, California MO BROOKS, Alabama ALAN GRAYSON, Florida RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois AMI BERA, California BILL POSEY, Florida ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky MARC A. VEASEY, Texas JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts RANDY K. WEBER, Texas DONALD S. BEYER, JR., Virginia BILL JOHNSON, Ohio ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan PAUL TONKO, New York STEPHEN KNIGHT, California MARK TAKANO, California BRIAN BABIN, Texas BILL FOSTER, Illinois BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia GARY PALMER, Alabama BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana DRAIN LAHOOD, Illinois SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE HON. BRIAN BABIN, Texas, Chair DANA ROHRABACHER, California DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland FRANK D.
    [Show full text]
  • LRO Instrument Suite and Measurements
    The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – Instrument Suite and Measurements Presented for the LRO team by Stephanie Stockman, LRO EPO lead Vision For Space Exploration Jan. 14 2004 – The President announced a new vision for space exploration that included among its goals “… to return to the moon by 2020, as the launching point for missions beyond. Beginning no later than 2008, we will send a series of robotic missions to the lunar surface to research and prepare for future human exploration.” Vision implies extended periods in space Unknown terrain, poor maps Radiation Environment Long Cold Nights and Warm Days Daytime 400 K (266 F) Nighttime 100 K (-280 F) Long Way From Home Exploitable Resources? - Water - Shelter - Energy LRO Objectives • Safe Landing Sites • Locate potential • Space – High resolution resources Environment imagery – Water at the lunar – Energetic – Global geodetic poles? particles grid – Continuous source – Neutrons • Topography of solar energy • Rock – abundances Mineralogy • New Technology – Advanced Radar LRO Follows in the Footsteps of the Apollo Robotic Precursors • Apollo had three (Ranger, Lunar Orbiter and Surveyor) robotic exploration programs with 21 precursor missions from 1961-68 1. Lunar Orbiters provided medium & high resolution imagery (1-2m resolution) which was acquired to support selection of Apollo and Surveyor landing sites. 2. Surveyor Landers made environmental measurements including surface physical characteristics. 3. Ranger hard landers took the first close-up photos of the lunar surface • Exploration needs the above information to go to new sites and resource data to enable sustainable exploration. Lunar Orbiter ETU in Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Washington DC NRC Decadal (2002) lists priorities for the MOON (all mission classes thru 2013) : NRC Priority Investigation NRC approach LRO measurements Geodetic Topography Altimetry from Global geodetic (crustal evolution) orbit (with topography at ~100m precision orbits) scales (< 1 m rms) Local Geologic Studies Imaging, Sub-meter scale In 3D (geol.
    [Show full text]
  • Lunarprobereadytobitethedust
    NATURE|Vol 442|31 August 2006 NEWS MOON SPECIAL Check the website from 1 September for slideshows, NASA features and more. www.nature.com/ specials Lunar probe ready to bite the dust After nearly three years in space, Europe’s Moon mission is out of fuel. On 3 September the spacecraft SMART-1 will smash into the lunar surface near the Lake of Excellence in ESA/SPACE-X the Moon’s mid-southern latitudes. Astrono- mers hope the dust kicked up from the rocky site will provide information about the Moon’s composition and impact history. Researchers at the European Space Agency (ESA) are very happy with what the mission has achieved. The craft was the agency’s test- bed for a new type of thruster called an ion engine. SMART-1 is the second such engine to be used in space — the first was on board NASA’s comet-chaser Deep Space 1. Ion engines work by accelerating a stream of ionized atoms through an electric field. The one on SMART-1 provides about as much force as a postcard resting in the palm of your hand. That made its journey painfully slow: it took 14 months and a roundabout trip of 84 million kilometres for it to spiral out of Earth’s orbit and reach the Moon. In contrast, Apollo 11’s conventional propellants allowed it to travel a roughly 400,000-kilometre line between Earth and the Moon in just over 3 days. The upside is that SMART-1’s journey used around 70 kilograms of fuel, about ten times less than would have been needed with regular pro- pellants.
    [Show full text]
  • The Aldridge Commission Report
    Order Code RS21866 Updated June 22, 2004 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Space Exploration: Report of the Aldridge Commission on Implementation of President Bush’s Exploration Initiative Marcia S. Smith Specialist in Aerospace and Telecommunications Policy Resources, Science, and Industry Division Summary When President George W. Bush announced new exploration goals for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on January 14, 2004, he also said he would establish a commission to provide advice on how to implement the initiative. Chaired by Edward C. “Pete” Aldridge, Jr., the commission submitted its report on June 16, 2004. Four of its recommendations may frame congressional debate on the report: to convert NASA’s field centers into Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), to create a White House Space Exploration Steering Council, to increase the role of the private sector in space activities, and to set certain conditions for international participation. This report will not be updated. Background and Commission Members On January 14, 2004, President Bush made a major space policy address in which he directed NASA to focus its activities on returning humans to the Moon by 2020, and someday sending them to Mars and “worlds beyond.” The initiative involves both human and robotic space missions, and the President invited other countries to participate. See CRS Report RS21720 for more information on the President’s new exploration initiative. The President simultaneously announced that he would create a commission to make recommendations on implementing the vision, and that it would be chaired by Edward C. “Pete” Aldridge, Jr., former Secretary of the Air Force.
    [Show full text]
  • PSD Capability Management Rall V8
    Planetary Science Division Research Capability Management Jonathan A. R. Rall Planetary Research Director Charge Coordinated with • Ames Research Center • Glenn Research Center • Goddard Space Flight Center • Jet Propulsion Laboratory • Johnson Space Center • Marshall Space Flight Center 2 Why Planetary Science? Ascertain the content, origin, and evolution of the solar system and the potential for life elsewhere • Explore and observe the objects in the solar system to understand how they formed and evolve • Advance the understanding of how the chemical and physical processes in our solar system operate, interact and evolve • Explore and find locations where life could have existed or could exist today. • Improve our understanding of the origin and evolution of life on Earth to guide our search for life elsewhere • Identify and characterize objects in the solar system that pose threats to Earth, or offer resources for human exploration Understanding the Planetary System Strategies for Exploring the Solar System Planetary Decadal Reports from the National Academy of Science Next update: Mid-Term Report late 2017/Planning for 2021 Decadal Survey 5 Overview (1 of 2) • Planetary Science Division (PSD) R&A program has broad objectives – Spans many disciplines (atmosphere, magnetosphere, geology, geophysics, geochemistry/composition, physics/dynamics, astrobiology; …) – PI-led/team focused research, experimental/laboratory, sample science, analogue field campaigns, modeling, data analysis, facilities and instrument development, … – Vibrant in-house
    [Show full text]
  • Geoscience and a Lunar Base a Comprehensive Plan for Lunar Exploration
    NASA Conference Publication 3070 Geoscience and a Lunar Base A Comprehensive Plan for Lunar Exploration Edited by G. Jeffrey Taylor Institute of Meteoritics University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico Paul D. Spudis U.S. Geological Survey Branch of Astrogeology Flagstaff, Arizona Proceedings of a workshop sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C., and held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute Houston, Texas August 25-26, 1988 N/\S/\ National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Management Scientific and Technical Information Division 1990 PREFACE This report was produced at the request of Dr. Michael B. Duke, Director of the Solar System Exploration Division of the NASA Johnson Space Center. At a meeting of the Lunar and Planetary Sample Team (LAPST), Dr. Duke (at the time also Science Director of the Office of Exploration, NASA Headquarters) suggested that future lunar geoscience activities had not been planned systematically and that geoscience goals for the lunar base program were not articulated well. LAPST is a panel that advises NASA on lunar sample allocations and also serves as an advocate for lunar science within the planetary science community. LAPST took it upon itself to organize some formal geoscience planning for a lunar base by creating a document that outlines the types of missions and activities that are needed to understand the Moon and its geologic history. The committee wrote a draft of the report between February and June, 1988, with the help of two other scientists (listed below) and then organized a workshop to gather the thoughts and opinions of a broad spectrum of lunar scientists on the science opportunities and technical challenges posed by a lunar base program.
    [Show full text]
  • The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon
    Committee on the Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon Space Studies Board Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, N.W. 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 the Contract NASW-010001 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 author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency that provided support for the project. International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-10919-2 International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-10919-1 Cover: Design by Penny E. Margolskee. All images courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Copies of this report are available free of charge from: Space Studies Board National Research Council 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001 Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet, http://www.nap. edu. Copyright 2007 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Lunar Science As a Window Into the Early Evolution of the Solar
    Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Geophysics The use of Extraterrestrial Resources to Facilitate Space Science and Exploration Ian A. Crawford1, Martin Elvis2 and James Carpenter3 1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck College, London, UK; 2Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; 3ESA-ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands. -------- Meeting Report: Ian Crawford, Martin Elvis and James Carpenter summarize a Royal Astronomical Society Specialist Discussion Meeting which examined how science will benefit from the use of extraterrestrial resources. To-date, all human economic activity has depended on the resources of a single planet, and it has long been recognized that developments in space exploration could in principle open our closed planetary economy to external resources of energy and raw materials. Recently, there has been renewed interest in these possibilities, with several private companies established with the stated aim of exploiting extraterrestrial resources. Space science and exploration are among the potential beneficiaries of space resources because their use may permit the construction and operation of scientific facilities in space that will be unaffordable if all the required material and energy resources have to be lifted out of Earth's gravity. Examples may include the next generation of large space telescopes, sample return missions to the outer Solar System, and human research stations on the Moon and Mars. These potential scientific benefits of extraterrestrial resource utilisation were the topic of a Specialist Discussion meeting held at Burlington House on 8 April 2016. Martin Elvis (Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) got the meeting underway by asking “What can space resources do for astronomy?” Martin made the point that in order to observe the distant Universe, or make detailed studies of planets around other stars, astronomers will require larger telescopes in space across the electromagnetic spectrum, but these are currently unaffordable.
    [Show full text]
  • Science and Exploration
    Science and Exploration Michael D. Griffin Administrator National Aeronautics and Space Administration American Geophysical Union 6 Dec 2005 I’m here today to talk about what science at NASA means to U.S. leadership in space exploration, and in the world at large. I will also address specific components of our Science Mission Directorate plans, and discuss the opportunities in science that we expect to result from both our new exploration plan and our ongoing decadal research plans. To begin, I think that some perspective on the role of science in our national life might be in order. We are all here in San Francisco this evening because we believe that what we do is important, not only to our specific disciplines, but also to society at large. It is our good fortune to live in a society that invests in and greatly values scientific achievement. Indeed, most of us have grown up in a world in which we take it for granted that the United States government will invest significant taxpayers’ resources in scientific research. But this has not always been the case; prior to World War II, government investment in scientific research was miniscule. But the contributions of science and technology to the war effort prompted President Roosevelt to request a report from Dr. Vannevar Bush, the Director of the Office of Scientific Research, on how scientific expertise could be used in the post-war world. Bush’s report, Science: The Endless Frontier, provided the framework for much of the federal backing of scientific research of which many of us have been or currently are the beneficiaries.
    [Show full text]