Author Topic: NRC Briefing on "Pathways to Exploration" - 4 Jun @ 1100 EDT/1500 UTC  (Read 116143 times)

Offline Proponent

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The NRC will hold a public briefing on its report Pathways to ExplorationRationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration at 1500 UTC (1100 EDT*).  The briefing will be webcast live: see http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DEPS/ASEB/DEPS_069080.

The report is the outcome of the review of US human spaceflight that twas mandated in the NASA Authorization Act of 2010.  Curiously, the Act stipulated that the review not begin until FY 2012.


* Actually, the NRC's website specifies EST, but it seems likely that EDT is intended!

Offline rdale

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From the NAS:

This Wednesday, June 4th, at 11:00 am EDT, sees the releases of an important new report from the National Research Council, Pathways to Exploration: Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration. This report examines the rationales for human spaceflight beyond low Earth orbit and develops recommendations that could guide the U.S. human spaceflight program in a sustainable manner. After the briefing on Wednesday, the full report will be available to read or download on http://NAP.edu.

Since you've indicated an interest in Space and Aeronautics titles, we invite you to register to attend the report release briefing on Wednesday. Registration information is available at the site for the Committee on Human Spaceflight at http://nas.edu/humanspaceflight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD7yRMazGHU&utm_medium=etmail&utm_source=The%20National%20Academies%20Press&utm_campaign=2014-06-03+Human+Spaceflight+no+titles&utm_content=&utm_term=


Offline Chris Bergin

Merged threads.

We'll need to give this good coverage.
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Offline Chris Bergin

The report, which is *massive*, should be coming out of embargo soon.

The Flexible Path report is still the best for presentation of plans in my opinion, but this one is really heavy. Going to take a lot of people to pick out the interesting parts.

I'll probably note it's out, some quotes and go after Mars stuff, for an article.

Should be back home for the webcast, but let's make sure at least someone is here and covering, regardless.
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Offline yg1968

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I was under the impression that the Report is an answer to why we need to explore. I don't think that it was meant to second guess the flexible path or the Augustine committee.

Offline Chris Bergin

I was under the impression that the Report is an answer to why we need to explore. I don't think that it was meant to second guess the flexible path or the Augustine committee.

Didn't suggest it was! :)

I was just a big fan of all the pretty pictures and graphs from that presentation. This one is like a billion words long!
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Online AnalogMan

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These are the original terms of reference that the NRC were asked to work to:

Study Statement of Task:

In accordance with Section 204 of the NASA Authorization Act 2010, the National Research Council (NRC) will appoint an ad hoc committee to undertake a study to review the long-term goals, core capabilities, and direction of the U.S. human spaceflight program and make recommendations to enable a sustainable U.S. human spaceflight program.

The committee will:

1.   Consider the goals for the human spaceflight program as set forth in (a) the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, (b) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Acts of 2005, 2008, and 2010, and (c) the National Space Policy of the United States (2010), and any existing statement of space policy issued by the president of the United States.

2.   Solicit broadly-based, but directed, public and stakeholder input to understand better the motivations, goals, and possible evolution of human spaceflight--that is, the foundations of a rationale for a compelling and sustainable U.S. human spaceflight program--and to characterize its value to the public and other stakeholders.

3.   Describe the expected value and value proposition of NASA's human spaceflight activities in the context of national goals--including the needs of government, industry, the economy, and the public good--and in the context of the priorities and programs of current and potential international partners in the spaceflight program.

4.   Identify a set of high-priority enduring questions that describe the rationale for and value of human exploration in a national and international context.  The questions should motivate a sustainable direction for the long-term exploration of space by humans.  The enduring questions may include scientific, engineering, economic, cultural, and social science questions to be addressed by human space exploration and questions on improving the overall human condition.

5.   Consider prior studies examining human space exploration, and NASA's work with international partners, to understand possible exploration pathways (including key technical pursuits and destinations) and the appropriate balance between the "technology push" and "requirements pull". Consideration should include the analysis completed by NASA's Human Exploration Framework Team, NASA's Human Spaceflight Architecture Team, the Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans (Augustine Commission), previous NRC reports, and relevant reports identified by the committee.

6.   Examine the relationship of national goals to foundational capabilities, robotic activities, technologies, and missions authorized by the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 by assessing them with respect to the set of enduring questions.

7.   Provide findings, rationale, prioritized recommendations, and decision rules that could enable and guide future planning for U.S. human space exploration.  The recommendations will describe a high-level strategic approach to ensuring the sustainable pursuit of national goals enabled by human space exploration, answering enduring questions, and delivering value to the nation over the fiscal year (FY) period of FY2014 through FY2023, while considering the program's likely evolution in 2015-2030.

This project is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The project start date is 8/1/2012.
The estimated report delivery date is May 2014.

http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=49488

Offline Chris Bergin

Anyone else just getting this?
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Offline simpl simon

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Offline Chris Bergin

Hmmm, that's not hopeful. Will keep refreshing.....

Meanwhile, we're out of embargo:

Date: June 4, 2014

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

NASA Should Maintain Long-Term Focus on Mars as “Horizon Goal” for Human Space Exploration;
A Sustained National Commitment Will Be Needed, Report Says

 

WASHINGTON – Arguing for a continuation of the nation’s human space exploration program, a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council concludes that the expense of human spaceflight and the dangers to the astronauts involved can be justified only by the goal of putting humans on other worlds.  The report recommends that the nation pursue a disciplined “pathway” approach that encompasses executing a specific sequence of intermediate accomplishments and destinations leading to the “horizon goal” of putting humans on Mars.  The success of this approach would require a steadfast commitment to a consensus goal, international collaboration, and a budget that increases by more than the rate of inflation.

 

“The United States has been a leader in human space exploration for more than five decades, and our efforts in low Earth orbit with our partners are approaching maturity with the completion of the International Space Station.  We as a nation must decide now how to embark on human space exploration beyond low Earth orbit in a sustainable fashion,” said Jonathan Lunine, director of the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research at Cornell University and co-chair of the committee that wrote the report.

 

“The technical analysis completed for this study shows that for the foreseeable future, the only feasible destinations for human exploration are the moon, asteroids, Mars, and the moons of Mars,” Lunine added.  “Among this small set of plausible goals, the most distant and difficult is putting human boots on the surface of Mars, thus that is the horizon goal for human space exploration.  All long-range space programs by our potential partners converge on this goal.”

 

Public opinion of the space program since its inception has been generally positive, but the report found that most of the public does not pay much attention to or feel well-informed about the topic and spending on space exploration is not a high priority for most of the public.  Support for increased funding is highest among those who are interested in and well-informed about human spaceflight.  The committee conducted its own survey of stakeholders (defined as those who may reasonably be expected to have an interest in NASA programs and be able to exert some influence over its direction) and scientists in non-space-related fields. In both the public and stakeholder opinion data, the committee found there was no majority agreement on a single rationale for human spaceflight.

 

Historically, rationales used to justify a human spaceflight program have included economic benefits, national security, national stature and international relations, inspiration for science and engineering education, contributions to science and knowledge, a shared human destiny and urge to explore, and the eventual survival of the human species -- the report defines the latter two as “aspirational.”

 

The committee concluded that although no single rationale, either practical or aspirational, seems to justify the value of pursuing human spaceflight, the aspirational rationales, when supplemented by practical benefits associated with the pragmatic rationales, argue for the continuation of a U.S. human spaceflight program, provided that the program adopts a stable and sustainable pathways approach.  The aspirational rationales are also most in line with enduring questions the report identifies as motivating human spaceflight: How far from Earth can humans go? and What can humans discover and achieve when we get there?

 

“Human space exploration remains vital to the national interest for inspirational and aspirational reasons that appeal to a broad range of U.S. citizens,” said Purdue University president, former Governor of Indiana, and committee co-chair Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr.  “But given the expense of any human spaceflight program and the significant risk to the crews involved, in our view the only pathways that fit these criteria are those that ultimately place humans on other worlds.”

 

The report evaluates three different pathways to illustrate the trade-offs among affordability, schedule, developmental risk, and the frequency of missions for different sequences of intermediate destinations.  All the pathways culminate in landing on the surface of Mars -- which is the most challenging yet technically feasible destination -- and have anywhere between three and six steps that include some combination of missions to asteroids, the moon, and Martian moons.

 

The report proposes a set of principles and decision rules by which national leadership might decide on a given pathway, measure its progress, navigate moving off one pathway to another, or cease the endeavor altogether. While the committee was not asked to recommend a particular pathway to pursue, it found that a return to extended surface operations on the moon would make significant contributions to a strategy ultimately aimed at landing people on Mars, and that it would also likely provide a broad array of opportunities for international and commercial cooperation.

 

Completing any of the described pathways requires the development of a number of mission elements and technological capabilities.  The report identifies 10 high-priority capabilities that should be addressed by current research and development activities, with a particular emphasis on Mars entry, descent, and landing, radiation safety, and in-space propulsion and power. These three capabilities will be the most difficult to develop in terms of costs, schedule, technical challenges, and gaps between current and needed abilities, the report says.

 

Progress in human space exploration beyond low Earth orbit will be measured in decades and hundreds of billions of dollars.  Although the report does not make any particular budget recommendations, it notes that there are no viable pathways to Mars under the current flat or even an inflation-adjusted budget.  The analysis does show that increasing NASA’s human spaceflight budget by 5 percent per year, for example, would enable pathways with viable mission frequency and greatly reduce technical, cost, and schedule risks.

 

“Our committee concluded that any human exploration program will only succeed if it is appropriately funded and receives a sustained commitment on the part of those who govern our nation.  That commitment cannot change direction election after election.  Our elected leaders are the critical enablers of the nation’s investment in human spaceflight, and only they can assure that the leadership, personnel, governance, and resources are in place in our human exploration program,” Daniels said.

 

The study was sponsored by NASA. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies.  They are private, independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter granted to NAS in 1863.  The National Research Council is the principal operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.  For more information, visit http://national-academies.org.  A committee roster follows.

 

Contacts:

Lauren Rugani, Media Relations Officer

Chelsea Dickson, Media Associate

Office of News and Public Information

202-334-2138; e-mail [email protected]

http://national-academies.com/newsroom

Twitter: @NAS_news and @NASciences

RSS feed: http://www.nationalacademies.org/rss/index.html

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalacademyofsciences/sets

 

 

#       #       #


NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board

Space Studies Board

 

Committee on Human Spaceflight

 

Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. (co-chair)

President

Purdue University

West Lafayette, Ind.

 

Jonathan I. Lunine1 (co-chair)

David C. Duncan Professor of Physical Sciences

Department of Astronomy

Cornell University

Ithaca, N.Y.

 

Bernard F. Burke1

Wm. A.M. Burden Professor of Astrophysics, Emeritus

Department of Physics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge

 

Mary Lynne Dittmar

President and Senior Consultant

Dittmar Associates Inc.

Houston

 

Pascale Ehrenfreund

Research Professor of Space Policy

Elliott School of International Affairs

George Washington University

Washington, D.C.

 

James S. Jackson2

Director and Research Professor

Institute for Social Research, and

Daniel Katz Distinguished University Professor of Psychology

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor

 

Frank G. Klotz (retired from the committee April 2014)

Former Senior Fellow

Council on Foreign Relations

Alexandria, Va.

 

Franklin D. Martin

President

Martin Consulting Inc.

Morrisville, N.C.

 

David C. Mowery

William A. and Betty H. Hasler Professor of New Enterprise Development, Emeritus

Walter A. Haas School of Business

University of California

Berkeley

 

Bryan D. O'Connor

Independent Aerospace Consultant

Alexandria, Va.

 

Stanley Presser

Distinguished University Professor

Department of Sociology

University of Maryland

Washington, D.C.

 

Helen R. Quinn1

Professor Emerita

Particle Physics and Astrophysics

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Menlo Park, Calif.

 

Asif A. Siddiqi

Associate Professor

Department of History

Fordham University

Bronx, N.Y.

 

John C. Sommerer

Director of Science and Technology, and

Chief Technology Officer

Applied Physics Laboratory

Johns Hopkins University (retired)

Laurel, Md.

 

Roger Tourangeau

Vice President and Associate Director

Westat Inc.

Rockville, Md.

 

Ariel Waldman

Founder

Spacehack.Org

San Francisco

 

Cliff Zukin

Professor of Public Policy and Political Science

Edward J Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Rutgers University

Highland Park, N.J.

 

STAFF

 

Sandra J. Graham

Study Director
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Offline Chris Bergin

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Offline yg1968

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The NRC Report in PDF:
« Last Edit: 06/04/2014 03:15 pm by yg1968 »

Offline Chris Bergin

Right, so the webcast isn't working. Hopefully they'll archive the meeting.
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Offline simpl simon

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YES - the webcast is working!!

Offline Chris Bergin

AH HA!! It's alive, alive I tell you! ;D
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Offline Chris Bergin

Believe they have a sustainable approach.
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Offline Chris Bergin

"This is a Pathways approach".
« Last Edit: 06/04/2014 03:14 pm by Chris Bergin »
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Offline Chris Bergin

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Offline Chris Bergin

This is pretty good, as they are summarizing.
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Offline Chris Bergin

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts (for the exploration rationale).
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