Stepping-Stones to the Future of Space Exploration A Workshop Report (2004) / Chapter Skim
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3 Rationale for Human and Robotic Space Exploration
3 Rationale for Human and Robotic Space Exploration
Pages 10-17
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From page 10... ...
Chamber of Commerce Space Enterprise Council David Logsdon; NASA's Space Architect Gary Martin; and former Mars Exploration Program manager for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Donna Shirley, director of the Experience Science Fiction Museum. Neil Armstrong opened his remarks with a quote from the 5th century B.C.
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From page 11... ...
Answering a question from moderator Charles Walker about the relative roles of government and industry, Armstrong observed that while industry is willing to engage in enterprises incurring very short-term financial losses, it does so only if it sees those losses leading to longer-term profitability,which limits the role it can perform. Perhaps not-forprofit corporations can exercise somewhat more business flexibility, he suggested, but the principle is similar.
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From page 12... ...
He said that the Lewis and Clark analogy doesn't quite work because expanded human understanding of the solar system can occur without human missions. While concluding that this rationale needs more thought, Goldston said that Congress and the public may find it difficult to prioritize a mission motivated primarily by "human destiny." Goldston continued by addressing the question of appropriate roles for human and robotic exploration.
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From page 13... ...
Wesley Huntress began his remarks by defining robots as tools. He referred to the Mars exploration rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, now operating on the surface of Mars, and suggested that they would be ten times more effective if there were a human operator controlling them from Mars orbit providing virtually instant feedback rather than from Earth, with delays of more than 10 minutes.
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From page 14... ...
Logsdon replied that the Commercial Space Act legislation applied. Panelist David Goldston added that the House Science Committee added amendments in February 2004 to ensure that industry is not jeopardized.
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From page 15... ...
He listed other important technologies such as bioastronautics and heavy-lift space transportation. On the respective roles of government and industry, Martin said the government's is to make the large investments and take the big technology risks, thereby enabling science.
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From page 16... ...
Shirley specifically named Paul Allen of Scaled Composites, Elon Musk of SpaceX Dennis Tito, and the investors in Armadillo Aerospace. She noted that Federal Aviation Administration licensing of human spaceflight is an enormous hurdle for private companies, and the regulations are arcane.
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From page 17... ...
Goldston, observing that when Congress considers the budget, NASA competes with other federal science institutions like the National Science Foundation, asked for public input on the proposition that we need human spaceflight for its own sake and on the value that should be attached to such flight. Neil Armstrong then opined that had the space station program been allowed to proceed as originally planned, without congressional delays, the station would now be complete and at a fraction of the present cost.
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