Vision for Space Exploration

Humans need to learn deep space travel, as well as living in space. There is no way around this if the species is to survive. Although such endeavors may still seem to be science-fiction, the ultimate scope of all these endeavors is the survival of the species by means of colonizing other celestial bodies. Exploring the Moon and Mars are definitely the correct destinations, and explain the reasons behind Visions of Space Exploration.

Visions of Space Exploration came in a moment of stagnation in the U.S. space program, with the goal to advance the scientific, security, and economic interests of the United States by the means of space exploration. [1] With the space shuttle fleet grounded for almost a year by the time Visions of Space Exploration was proposed, its immediate scope was to encourage the return of the STS to flight, complete the building of the ISS, and then retire the fleet. The larger scope of the President’s Vision was to propose the extension of robotic exploration in the solar system, but also extending human space flight by eventually returning to the Moon in 2015, and no later than 2020, and use the knowledge gained during the lunar missions to further travel to Mars and beyond. [2]

The main event that caused this aggressive and audacious change in the U.S. space policy was the Columbia accident in February of 2003. After this unfortunate event, some people suggested grounding the shuttle fleet until the fall of the same year. At that time, the lengthy grounding after the Challenger disaster was discussed, and NASA, underlined that a second suspension for a long period of time was not desirable. However the accident raised serious doubts about the viability of the shuttle, and some people asked for a definitive STS retirement. The President’s Visions of Space Exploration came as an encouragement to get going, and restart using the fleet. With an unfinished ISS in orbit and no spectacular plans for the space program, this vision was a necessary push. However, the shuttle remained initially grounded until 2005, and since problems occurred again during STS-114, the shuttle was grounded until 2006. [3]

Let us all remember the Sixties, and the impact that the short presidential deadline for landing a man on the moon and returning him safe to Earth had on the U.S. space program. Such pushes have proved to be very fruitful, and this is why the aggressive change intended by Visions of Space Exploration was necessary in times of stagnation. Crisis was overwhelming NASA in 2004. Having to deal with the aftermath of the Shuttle Columbia’s accident, with the only means to reach LEO grounded for unlimited time, unfinished business left in orbit with no means to reach it, and no plans for the future, the entire space program was in free fall. It seems to me that by proposing Visions of Space Exploration, the President hoped for a reinvigoration of the space program, and tried to re-bring the spirit of the Apollo program upfront. 

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Notes:

[1] NASA. 2004. The Vision for Space Exploration, 5.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Launius, Roger, D. Frontiers of Space Exploration. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004, 55-56.

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References

Launius, Roger, D. Frontiers of Space Exploration. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004.

NASA. 2004. The Vision for Space Exploration. https://edge.apus.edu/access/content/group/178054/Readings/NASAVisionforSpaceExploration.pdf (accessed April 5, 2012).