The future of NASA and other space progams: what's next?

THE FUTURE OF NASA AND
OTHER SPACE PROGRAMS:
WHAT’S NEXT?

By Allaire, Marissa, Maggie, and Kristie

“WELL, SPACE IS
THERE, AND WE’RE
GOING TO CLIMB IT.”

A History of
the National
Aeronautics
and Space
Administration

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS: THE NACA
 In 1915, the United States government established the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, otherwise
known as the NACA. It was signed into law by President
Woodrow Wilson.
 Initially formed as a federally -funded agency for “emergency
measures” during WWI, the NACA focused its energy on
coordinating research and industrialization of flight -projects
for the war ef fort abroad.
 Throughout its 43-year history, NACA funded research for the
improvement of flight safety, and whether the question of
flight into space was even possible.

THEN AND NOW: NACA (1915) & NASA (1958)

A RACE TO SPACE: THE USSR
CHALLENGES THE US
 On October 4, 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik into space,
making it the first object ever to be successfully launched and
make a complete (unmanned) orbit around Earth.
 Less than even a month later, the USSR outdid its astounding
progress when, on November 3, 1957, it launched a second
unmanned satellite into orbit around the Earth – this time,
carrying a dog, Laika. Sputnik II proved , beyond the limited
capability of laboratory, that a living creature could sustain
life while in space, a fact heretofore unknown.
 The success of the first two Sputnik missions dawned the
beginning of a new era, the race to the moon against the
United States. A race that the USSR was already winning.

A TIN CUP AND A SPACE PUP: SPUTNIK I
& LAIKA

A RACE TO SPACE, CONTINUED: THE US
PLAYS BALL WITH THE SOVIETS
 After the unprecedented success of the Sputnik missions in the
autumn of 1957, the US government felt threatened by the
USSR’s progress that far outpaced the grounded efforts of the
NACA.
 And so, in the following January, the US – using rocket technology
that had been developed over a decade earlier, during WWII launched Explorer I, a 30-lb spacecraft that, while in orbit,
discovered what are now known as the Van Allen radiation belts.
 Explorer I was followed closely by the US Navy’s launch of the
three-lb. Vanguard craft. Both missions, while not as spectacular
as the showier Sputnik missions, nonetheless proved that the US
was as capable of pursuing a space program – and thus Cold Warera tensions began to be played out among the stars.

“FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL MANKIND:”
THE BIRTH OF NASA
 After the success of independently -funded US endeavors to
space, NACA was deemed too -small an agency to keep up with
the Soviets, who were already looking to skies again – this
time, with men at the helm.
 Thus, on July 26, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower
signed into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act , which
would fund all of the United States’ future space endeavors.
 Yet the congressional act brought up a question that left
many in the States divided: Should flight to space –
and, perhaps, even space itself – be a military controlled
entity, or a civilian one?

“FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL MANKIND:”
THE BIRTH OF NASA
 This question was answered when, on October 1 , 1958, the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration – or NASA, was
of ficially formed as a federally -funded civilian agency.
 NASA absorbed the NACA , along with its 8,000 employees,
and was initially awarded a 100 million -dollar annual budget
by Congress, along with three major laboratories as its base
of operations.
 In an open letter written entitled “Introduction to Outer
Space,” President Eisenhower outlined his own goals for what
such an ambitious agency should be to the United States,
eight months before NASA was formed, giving the fledgling
agency its motto…

“These opportunities
reinforce my conviction that
we and other nations have
a great responsibility to
promote the peaceful use
of space and to utilize the
new knowledge obtainable
from space science and
technology for the benefit
of all mankind.”

MARCH
26, 1958
E x c e rp t f r o m
“ I n t r o d uc t i o n to
O u te r S p a c e , ”
by President
E i s e n h owe r.

FLY ME TO THE MOON: THE MERCURY,
GEMINI, & APOLLO PROJECTS
 When the young, charismatic President John F. Kennedy was
sworn into of fice on January 20, 1961 , his administration
would usher in a new, ambitious era for NASA.
 During his short tenure as President of the United
States, Kennedy made NASA and the future of space flight
among his top priorities, seeing it as an opportunity to spread
democracy even into the outer reaches of space.
 For JFK, ensuring the United States’ superiority in space flight
technology and progress in space over the Soviet Union would
mean a victory of democracy over communism – thus
extending the Cold War from the Earth, to the moon…

“First, I believe that this
nation should commit itself
to achieving the
goal, before this decade is
out, of landing a man on
the moon…But in a very
real sense, it will not be
one man going to the
moon…it will be an entire
nation. For all of us must
work to put him there.”

MAY 25,
1961
E x c e rp t f r o m
JFK’s joint
a d d r e s s to
Congress, askin
g for additional
funds for NASA .

PROJECT MERCURY (1961-1963)
 The goal of the Mercury
single-astronaut flight
project was to investigate
whether a manned flight
would be possible.
 Over a period of two
years, a series of
experiments were carried
out to test the human body
against anti-gravity
conditions of outer space
replicated in the NASA
labs, as well as to design a
capsule (pictured to the
left) in which a human
could survive said
uninhabitable conditions.

THE MERCURY FLIGHTS
 On May
5, 1961, astronaut Alan
B. Shepard, Jr., became
the first American to fly
into space, and safely
return.
 His suborbital trip
lasted just 15
minutes, but was
crucial for it proved
that man could survive
exiting and re-entering
the earth’s atmosphere.

THE MERCURY FLIGHTS
February 20, 1962:
John H. Glenn Jr.
successfully orbits
the Earth, making
him the first US
astronaut to do so.

PROJECT GEMINI (1965-1966)
 Project Gemini
encompassed a series
of ten missions over a
year

 Focus was to send not
one, but two
astronauts into
space, and creating a
capsule large enough
for such a mission.

GEMINI 4
On June
3, 1965, astronaut
Edward H.
White, Jr., co-pilot on
the Gemini 4
flight, completed the
first spacewalk.

PROJECT APOLLO (1968-1972)
 Despite an incredible string
of successful manned
flights into space, NASA’s
mission to reach the moon
by the end of the decade
nearly came to a halt when
the program suf fered its
first major tragedy.
 On January 27, 1967,
astronauts Virgil Grissom,
Roger B. Chaf fee, and
Edward H. White, Jr., were
killed when a fire engulfed
one of the first capsules
during Apollo I.

“ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND:”
APOLLO 11
 Born out of fire and loss,
the Apollo missions would
nonetheless realize
Kennedy’s dream of
sending a man safely to the
moon and back before the
end of the decade.

 On July 20, 1969,
astronauts Neil Armstrong
and Buzz Aldrin became the
first humans to walk the
surface of the moon, with
astronaut Michael Collins
manning piloting the
successful landing on the
lunar surface.

“HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM:”
APOLLO 13
 Two ye a r s a f te r t h e s uc c e s s ful
m o o n l a n di ng o f t h e Ap o l l o 11
m i ssion, Apri l o f 1 97 0 s aw a n ot h e r
fl i g ht to t h e m o o n .
 H owever, due to a c o m pro m ise i n
t h e ox yg e n t a n k , t h e c rew o f t h e
Apo l lo 1 3 m i s sion wo ul d n eve r
m a ke i t to t h e m o o n – but t h e
“ fa i lure ” o f t h e m i s sion be c a m e a
s uc c e ss i n te rm s o f N ASA be i n g
a bl e to bri n g t h e a s t ro n a ut s h o m e
s a fe ly.
 B y t h e e n d o f t h e Apo l l o
m i ssions, o f w h i c h t h e re we re
s evente en, t h e US wo ul d l a n d t h e
m o o n fi ve m o re t i m e s.

FAILURE TO LAUNCH: THE COLUMBIA AND
CHALLENGER TRAGEDIES
Tragically, the capsule fire that killed three men
during the Apollo I mission, and the close call
with Apollo 13, would not be the only tragedies
to plague NASA. In the 1980s and early
2000s, two more missions would go
awry, taking the lives of fourteen US astronauts
and one civilian.

JANUARY 28, 1986: THE SPACE SHUTTLE
CHALLENGER DISASTER
 By the 1980s, NASA developed
a new space craf t, one that
could sustain long -term flight
and carr y a more extensive
crew: the space shuttle.
 Despite having a successful
launch in 1983, Challenger
exploded mid -flight three
years later, only 73 seconds
into the air, killing its seven
man crew, which included a
school teacher, Christa
McAulif fe.

 Af ter a formal investigation
made by NASA , it was
determined that structural
failure was to blame.

FEBRUARY 3, 2003: THE SPACE SHUTTLE
COLUMBIA DISASTER
 After a successful 28 th
mission, the space shuttle
Columbia began its reentry
into the Earth’s atmosphere
when, at 8:59am EST on
February 3, 2003, the
shuttle
disintegrated, killing its
seven-man crew.
 NASA’s investigation into
the incident revealed that a
piece of foam insulation on
the outside of the hull
became loose during its
initial
launch, compromising the
shuttle’s heat shields that
would have protected the
shuttle properly upon

DEALING WITH THE AFTERMATH OF
CHALLENGER & COLUMBIA
The Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters did much
to damage the American public’s perception of NASA. In the
decades following the initial moon landing of Apollo 11, many
Americans began to question whether manned flights into space
were worth the risk of losing anymore life.
~
Indeed, NASA’s early years were fuelled by social and political
ambitions to extend American democracy beyond earthly
borders, especially during the height of the Cold War. But after
the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, much of the old “race to
space” urgency has been lost – which has lead to a loss of
funding for the program that is, in President Eisenhower’s
words, meant “for the benefit of all mankind.”

NASA DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS

What do
you think
about the
future of
NASA?

NASA BUDGET CUTS: PUTTING THE FUTURE OF
SPACE EXPLORATION ON THE LINE?
 According to The Lamron, NASA, despite its continual
progress, such as revealing more information about our
galaxy’s origins and age via the Hubble Space Telescope – is in
danger of major budget cuts that could potentially slow or
halt such progress altogether.

 With Obama’s budget proposed for 2014 cutting NASA’s
funding by $300 million, do you think NASA is being unfairly
targeted for budget cuts? What other programs could be cut
instead?

WHAT HAS
BEEN
ALREADY
CUT?
Cassini mission

NASA’S CURRENT ENDEAVORS
 Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Of fice (C3PO)
 C3PO creates privately owned and operated space
transportation systems and NASA acts as a lead investor and
customer.
 SpaceX and Orbital

SPACEX: DRAGON
 Free flying, reusable spacecraft
 Designed to deliver both cargo and people into space
 In 2012, DRAGON became the first commercial spacecraft in
history to deliver cargo to the International Space Station and
safely deliver cargo to Earth

SPACE INVENTIONS BEING USED
ELSEWHERE
 “Space exploration and the benefits it yields – in medicine
and information technology - should not be overlooked” –Ben
Barr





Cat scans
More functional artificial limbs
Insulin pumps
Ventricular Assist Device (VADs)

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
 The ISS is an orbiting laboratory as well as space port that is
a collaborative ef fort between 16 nations
 Benefits of the ISS for civilians






Neurosurgical medical technology
Water purification technology
Agricultural monitoring
Student amateur radio interaction
Remote telemedicine

MARS EXPLORATION: CURIOSIT Y ROVER
 Curiosity Rover
 Major Objective: “Find evidence of a past environment well
suited to supporting microbial life” ( NASA.gov)
 Mission succeeded

MARS EXPLORATION: MAVEN ORBITER
 The MAVEN Orbiter was “sent to study the Red Planet’s upper
atmosphere over the course of at least one Earth year” (NBC
News)
 MAVEN: Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution
 Launched Monday, 11/18/2013

LADEE: LUNAR ATMOSPHERE AND DUST
ENVIRONMENT EXPLORER
 “LADEE is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather
detailed information about the structure and composition of
the thin lunar atmosphere, and determine whether dust is
being lofted into the lunar sky.”

HOW IS SPACE FLIGHT
CHANGING AFTER
FUNDING SHIFT?
What
now????

FAA/AST Potential Regulatory Path
-- Today Public Safety, Eventually Occupant Safety

Mission
Assurance
Occupant
Safety

Occupant
Safety

Public
Safety

Public
Safety

Public
Safety

Current
FAA
Licensing

Licensing
Human
Spaceflight

FAA
Certification
Routine
Commercial
Space Travel

Certificates
Production
Airworthiness
Air Carrier
Pilot
Instruction
Mechanic
Dispatch
Parts
Time

RLVS
Reusable Launch Vehicles

European Union “End-of-Life Vehicles
Directive”
USEPA - “Recycling
and Reuse: End-ofLife Vehicles and
Producer
Responsibility”

Currently: Space shuttle

SPACEPORTS

Spaceports or
cosmodromes
 are sites for launching
and/or receiving
spacecraft.

New common term
for sub-orbital
launch spaces