An Interim Report on NASA's Draft Space Technology Roadmaps (2011) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 5-13
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From page 5... ...
Stability is important in the short term to avoid disrupting individual programs and in the long term to ensure that other federal agencies, industry, academia, and foreign organizations recognize NASA as a reliable partner. Disruptions caused by reduced budgets and changing goals of space technology programs within NASA and other federal agencies can cascade from one agency to another.
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From page 6... ...
.1 Looking ahead, new solar-electric propulsion missions are likely to become feasible as the photovoltaic power output per unit mass increases. Conversely, some of the game-changing goals established in the draft roadmaps, such as the development of long-life rechargeable batteries with a power-to-mass ratio of 500 watt-hours per kilogram, are so advanced relative to the state of the art that no technological approach to this goal has been identified.
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From page 7... ...
Flight test programs also provide powerful opportunities to train new members of the workforce. Flight technology demonstrations give new systems engineers and instrument scientists hands-on experience across the full span of spaceflight mission phases, encompassing design, development, fabrication, testing, integration, launch, flight operations, and data analysis over a relatively short time span and in risk-tolerant environments.
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From page 8... ...
This cooperation could enable NASA to achieve more of its technological goals with available funding, in part by drawing on the available specialized expertise and prior investments made elsewhere. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM RECENT DECADAL SURVEYS Some of the draft roadmaps refer to decadal surveys that provide guidance to NASA space science programs.
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From page 9... ...
Precision Landing Systems The ability to set down at a precise, pre-selected location on a planetary surface and to avoid hazards that are detected in the landing area during descent is essential to enable advanced exploration and planetary science missions at reduced risk. Precision landing and assured hazard avoidance capabilities do not yet exist, and as a result, several missions have come very close to failure during the landing process.
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From page 10... ...
. An integrated approach is needed in the following technology areas to meet this and related challenges associated with space radiation: • TA02 and TA03: coordination with radiation protection measures for nuclear propulsion and power systems; • TA03: survivability of solar power cells and other power system components in extreme radiation environments; • TA06: astronaut health; • TA08: instrumentation for particles, fields, and waves; • TA10: use of boron nitride nanotubes for protection against radiation; and • TA12: materials and structures for radiation shielding.
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From page 11... ...
However, there are few opportunities to collect flight data in relevant environments. Even when a mission opportunity arises, there is an understandable tendency for mission designers and managers to avoid the extra risk, weight, and power demands of instrumentation that does not directly support their mission objectives.
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From page 12... ...
It might also be worthwhile to integrate human factors requirements and experience into roadmap TA04 Robotics, TeleRobotics, and Autonomous Systems (for human-robot compatible designs) , TA06 Human Health, Life Support, and Habitation Systems, and TA07 Human Exploration Destination Systems.
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From page 13... ...
2010b. Controlling Cost Growth of NASA Earth and Space Science Missions.
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