Aeronautics and Space Report of the President Fiscal Year 2017 Activities Aeronautics and Space Report OF THE PRESIDENT Fiscal Year 2017 Activities The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 directed the annual Aeronautics and Space Report to include a “comprehensive description of the programmed activities and the accomplishments of all agencies of the United States in the field of aeronautics and space activities during the preceding calendar year.” In recent years, the reports have been prepared on a fiscal-year basis, consistent with the budgetary period now used in programs of the Federal Government. This year’s report covers activities that took place from October 1, 2016, through September 30, 2017. Please note that these activities reflect the Federal policies of that time and do not include subsequent Aeronautics and Space Report of the President • Fiscal Year 2017 Activities and SpaceAeronautics Report 2017 of the Year President • Fiscal events or changes in policy. On the title page, clockwise from the top left: 1. Virginia Tech students watch a Black Brant IX sound- ing rocket take off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Credits: NASA/Allison Stancil. 2. This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Mars 2020 rover exploring Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. 3. This view shows Saturn’s northern hemisphere in 2016, as that part of the planet neared its northern hemisphere summer solstice. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute. 4. NASA astronaut Jack Fischer took this photograph of an American flag in one of the windows of the International Space Station’s cupola, a dome-shaped module through which operations on the outside of the Station can be observed and guided. Credit: NASA. 5. A photo illustration shows how a team of NASA-funded scientists would take to the skies during the August 21, 2017, eclipse, using two of NASA’s WB-57 jet planes to chase the shadow of the moon for unparalleled observations of the sun and Mercury. Credits: NASA/Faroe Islands/Southwest Research Institute. 6. NASA’s 18 Earth science missions in space, supported by aircraft, ships, and ground observations, measure aspects of the environment that touch the lives of every person around the world. This visualization shows the NASA fleet in 2017, from low- Earth orbit all the way out to the DSCOVR satellite taking in the million-mile view. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Matthew R. Radcliff. TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents Table The Re-Establishment of the National Space Council . v. National Aeronautics and Space Administration . 1. Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate 1 Science Mission Directorate 23 Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate 45 Space Technology Mission Directorate 52 Department of Defense . .59 . Federal Aviation Administration . .89 . Department of Commerce. 97 Department of the Interior. 113 Federal Communications Commission . 143. U.S. Department of Agriculture . 151. National Science Foundation . .171 . Department of State . .183 . Department of Energy . .189 . Smithsonian Institution. 201 Appendices A-1 U S Government Spacecraft Record 210 A-2 World Record of Space Launches Successful in Attaining Earth Orbit or Beyond 211 B Successful Launches to Orbit on U S Vehicles 212 C Human Spaceflights 214 D-1A Space Activities of the U S Government—Historical Table of Budget Authority in Millions of Real-Year Dollars 215 D-1B Space Activities of the U S Government—Historical Table of Budget Authority in Millions of Inflation-Adjusted FY 2017 Dollars 216 D-2 Federal Space Activities Budget 217 D-3 Federal Aeronautics Activities Budget 218 E-1 Executive Order 13803 of June 30, 2017: Reviving the National Space Council 219 E-2 Remarks by the President Signing an Executive Order on the National Space Council 222 Acronyms . 225. THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE v NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL The Re-Establishment Space Council of the National On June 30, 2017, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order to rein- vigorate the National Space Council for the first time in 24 years and appointed Vice President Mike Pence to serve as the Chair. At the signing ceremony, the President remarked, “Today’s announcement sends a clear signal to the world that we are restoring America’s proud legacy of leadership in space.” The Council has 13 members: the Vice President as Chair, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Donald Trump signs an Executive Order to re-establish the National Space Council, alongside members of Congress, NASA, and commercial space companies in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Friday, June 30, 2017. Also present were Vice President Mike Pence and retired astronauts David Wolf, Alvin Drew, and Buzz Aldrin. Credit: NASA vi The Council is tasked with advising and assisting the President regarding national space policy and strategy. The Council was never formally disestablished, but it effectively ceased operation in 1993. The Council advises and assists the President regarding national space policy and strategy and is directed to review United States Government space policy and develop a strategy for national space activities. The Council also fosters close coor- dination, cooperation, and technology and information exchange among the civil, national security, and commercial space sectors. Additionally, the Council advises the President on participation in international space activities. The Council held its first meeting, titled “Leading the Next Frontier: An Event with the National Space Council,” on October 5, 2017, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. At the meeting, Vice President Mike Pence outlined the Administration’s vision to return American astronauts to the Moon and to build the foundation needed to send Americans to Mars and beyond, remarking, “Today, in the shadow of this history, we pledge to do what America has always done: We will push the boundaries of human knowledge. We will blaze new trails into that great frontier. And we will once again astonish the world as we boldly go to meet our future in the skies and in the stars.” The council heard testimony from expert witnesses representing the civil, com- mercial, and national security sectors of the space industry. On December 11, 2017, President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive–1, Aeronautics and Space Report of the President • Fiscal Year 2017 Activities and SpaceAeronautics Report 2017 of the Year President • Fiscal which amended the National Space Policy of 2010 to instruct NASA to “[l]ead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and interna- tional partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities. Beginning with missions beyond low-Earth orbit, the United States will lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations.” 1 National Aeronautics and Space Administration NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINIStrATION NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Exploration Systems Development The Exploration Systems Development (ESD) programs—Space Launch System (SLS), Orion, and Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO)—are on track to serve as the foundation of U.S. human exploration and will ensure continued U.S. space leadership for decades to come. The systems development, fabrication, assembly, and testing efforts performed today are establishing the foun- dation for a series of missions that will lead to the moon, Mars, and beyond. Orion Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, pro- vide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel, and provide safe reentry from deep space return velocities. Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the SLS. The Orion Program made substantial progress in 2017. The Orion Program completed and shipped the European Space Agency (ESA) Service Module (ESM) Structural Test Article (STA) from NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The Program completed a successful hot fire test of the attitude control motor (HT-11) in April 2017 and a successful test of the launch abort system abort qualification motor 1 in June 2 2017. ESA’s ESM Propulsion Qualification Module was installed at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) in February, and the first hot fire test of the Reaction Control System thrusters for Orion’s ESM was conducted. The Program con- ducted several successful Orion parachute tests at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona, to qualify the Orion capsule for human flight. Engineers at the Space Power Facility at Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, conducted acoustic testing on the ogive panels. The ogive panels protect Orion’s crew module from harsh acoustic conditions at launch and in case of an abort. The Exploration Mission–1 (EM-1) Crew Module (CM) and Crew Module Adapter (CMA) pro- duction at the KSC Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Center has made significant progress; both the CM and the CMA have completed initial power-on. During the initial power-on tests, engineers and technicians connected the vehicle management computers to Orion’s power and data units to ensure the systems com- municated precisely with one another to accurately route power and functional commands throughout the spacecraft for the duration of a deep space exploration mission.