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The Vision for Space Exploration is the
United States space policy announced on
January 14, 2004 by U.S. President George W.
Bush. It is seen as a response to the Space
Shuttle Columbia disaster, the state of human
spaceflight at NASA, and a way to regain
public enthusiasm for space exploration.
The Vision calls for the space program to:
Complete the International Space Station by
2010
Retire the Space Shuttle by 2010
Develop the Orion spacecraft (formerly known
as the Crew Exploration Vehicle) by 2008, and
conduct its first human spaceflight mission
by 2014
Develop Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicles
Explore the Moon with robotic spacecraft
missions by 2008 and crewed missions by 2020
Explore Mars and other destinations with
robotic and crewed missions
When the Vision was announced in January
2004, the U.S. Congress and the scientific
community gave it a mix of positive and
negative reviews. For example, Rep. Dave
Weldon (R-Fla.) said, "I think this is the
best thing that has happened to the space
program in decades," while physicist and
outspoken manned spaceflight opponent Robert
L. Park said that robotic spacecraft "are
doing so well it's going to be hard to
justify sending a human."
Others, such as the Mars Society have argued
that it makes more sense to avoid going back
to the Moon and instead focus on going to
Mars first.
In a position paper issued by the National
Space Society (NSS), a return to the Moon
should be considered a high space program
priority, in order to begin development of
the knowledge and identification of the
industries unique to the Moon. The NSS
believes that the Moon may be a repository of
the history and possible future of our
planet, and that the six Apollo landings only
scratched the surface of that treasure.
According to NSS, the Moon's far side,
permanently shielded from the noisy Earth, is
an ideal site for future radio astronomy.
Unique products may be producible in the
nearly limitless extreme vacuum of the lunar
surface, and the Moon's remoteness is the
ultimate isolation for biologically hazardous
experiments.
Lunar resources include most if not all raw
materials available on Earth. The Moon can
serve as a proving ground for a wide range of
space operations and processes, including
developments toward In-Situ Resource
Utilization or "living off the land" (i.e.,
self-sufficiency) for permanent human
outposts. This has various benefits.
Initial return missions as recently proposed
by the U.S. President and NASA can be done
through space operations using the existing
launch infrastructure and assets developed by
the shuttle and International Space Station
programs, plus existing expendable launch
vehicles, with a minimum of new research and
development programs. The lessons learned
from international cooperation during ISS
construction and operations can be improved
upon and extended to human missions to the
Moon, Mars and elsewhere.
Initial missions could place scientific
equipment on the Moon and return samples from
areas never explored, such as the polar
regions. Extent of water and other volatiles
important to lunar industrialization could be
determined. As future reusable launch systems
begin operations, reducing cost and enabling
higher flight rates, Earth-Moon traffic can
become routine. With humans on the Moon
again, NASA's space activities would take on
new vigor and public interest.
Throughout much of 2004, it was unclear
whether the U.S. Congress would be willing to
approve and fund the Vision for Space
Exploration. However, in November 2004,
Congress passed an omnibus spending bill
which gave NASA the $16.2 billion that
President Bush had sought to kick-start the
Vision. According to then-NASA chief Sean
O'Keefe, that spending bill "was as strong an
endorsement [of the space exploration vision]
as any of us could have imagined." In 2005,
Congress passed S.1281, the NASA
Authorization act of 2005, which explicitly
endorses the Vision.
The current NASA Administrator, Michael
Griffin, who took office in April 2005, is a
big supporter of the Vision, but has also
modified it somewhat, saying that he wants to
reduce the four year gap between the
retirement of the Space Shuttle and the first
manned mission of the Crew Exploration
Vehicle.
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