Report of the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States: Space Exploration Policy A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover
Download full report (2.2mb)
Executive Summary
On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush announced a new vision for America’s civil space
program that calls for human and robotic missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This vision set
forth goals of: returning the Space Shuttle safely to flight; completing the International Space
Station (ISS); phasing out the Space Shuttle when the ISS is complete (about 2010); sending a
robotic orbiter and lander to the Moon; sending a human expedition to the Moon as early as 2015,
but no later than 2020; conducting robotic missions to Mars in preparation for a future human expedition;
and conducting robotic exploration across the solar system. Such a focus for the American
space program has not existed since the Apollo era and establishes a much-needed direction and purpose for our national space efforts.
While discovery is the goal of space exploration, the Commission is certain that the benefits here
on Earth will make the journey at least as important as the destination.
The long-term, ambitious space agenda advanced by the President for robotic and human
exploration will significantly help the United States protect its technological leadership,
economic vitality, and security. This ambitious path of exploration and the achievements made
along the way will inspire the nation’s youth, yield scientific breakthroughs, create high technology
jobs, improve our industrial competitiveness, demonstrate America’s leadership, and improve
prosperity and the quality of life for all Americans.
To sustain this program over many Presidential Administrations and Congressional sessions, our
leaders must routinely explain and demonstrate the value, affordability, and credibility of the program
to all Americans so that they accept ownership of it. The President has projected the annual
resources available to NASA at roughly the same level as in the past, growing only slightly in the
coming years. Within these annual levels, the journey will need to be managed within available
resources using a “go as you can pay” approach, which allows specific exploration goals to be
adjusted as technology advances and periodic milestones are achieved.
Successful implementation of the national space exploration vision will require significant cultural
and organizational changes in the federal government’s approach to managing the effort, and bold
transformation initiatives must be undertaken. The Commission has developed the following findings
and recommendations for a sustainable, affordable, and credible program:
shared commitment of the President, Congress, and the American people. The
Commission recommends:
The President establish a permanent Space Exploration Steering Council, reporting
to the President, with representatives of all appropriate federal agencies, and
chaired by the Vice President or such other senior White House executive that the
President may designate. The council shall be empowered to develop policies and
coordinate work by its agencies to share technologies, facilities, and talent with
NASA to support the national space exploration vision.
and management processes – all largely inherited from the Apollo era – must be
decisively transformed to implement the new, multi-decadal space exploration vision.
The Commission recommends:
NASA recognize and implement a far larger presence of private industry in space
operations with the specific goal of allowing private industry to assume the primary
role of providing services to NASA, and most immediately in accessing low-Earth
orbit. In NASA decisions, the preferred choice for operational activities must be competitively
awarded contracts with private and non-profit organizations and NASA’s
role must be limited to only those areas where there is irrefutable demonstration that
only government can perform the proposed activity;
NASA be transformed to become more focused and effectively integrated to implement
the national space exploration vision, with a structure that affixes clear
authority and accountability;
NASA Centers be reconfigured as Federally Funded Research and Development
Centers to enable innovation, to work effectively with the private sector, and to stimulate
economic development. The Commission recognizes that certain specific functions
should remain under federal management within a reconfigured Center;
the Administration and Congress work with NASA to create 3 new NASA organizations:
- a technical advisory board that would give the Administrator and NASA leadership independent and responsive advice on technology and risk mitigation plans;
- an independent cost estimating organization to ensure cost realism and accuracy; and
- a research and technology organization that sponsors high risk/high payoff technology advancement while tolerating periodic failures; and
NASA adopt proven personnel and management reforms to implement the national
space exploration vision, to include:
- use of “system-of-systems” approach;
- policies of spiral, evolutionary development;
- reliance upon lead systems integrators; and
- independent technical and cost assessments.
attainment of exploration objectives within reasonable schedules and affordable costs.
The Commission recommends:
NASA immediately form special project teams for each enabling technology to:
- conduct initial assessments of these technologies;
- develop a roadmap that leads to mature technologies;
- integrate these technologies into the exploration architecture; and
- develop a plan for transition of appropriate technologies to the private sector.
industry that will contribute to national economic growth, produce new products
through the creation of new knowledge, and lead the world in invention and innovation.
This space industry will become a national treasure. The Commission recommends:
NASA aggressively use its contractual authority to reach broadly into the commercial
and nonprofit communities to bring the best ideas, technologies, and management
tools into the accomplishment of exploration goals; and
Congress increase the potential for commercial opportunities related to the national
space exploration vision by providing incentives for entrepreneurial investment
in space, by creating significant monetary prizes for the accomplishment of space
missions and/or technology developments and by assuring appropriate property
rights for those who seek to develop space resources and infrastructure.
implementing the space exploration vision, and tapping into the global marketplace is
consistent with our core value of using private sector resources to meet mission goals.
The Commission recommends:
NASA pursue international partnerships based upon an architecture that would
encourage global investment in support of the vision.
and will enable compelling scientific opportunities to study Earth and its environs, the
solar system, other planetary systems, and the universe. The Commission recommends:
NASA seeks routine input from the scientific community on exploration architectures
to ensure that maximum use is made of existing assets and emerging capabilities;
NASA ask the National Academy of Sciences to engage the scientific community
in a re-evaluation of priorities to exploit opportunities created by the space exploration
vision. In particular, the community should consider how machines and
humans, used separately and in combination, can maximize scientific returns; and
a discovery-based criterion to select destinations beyond the Moon and Mars that
also considers affordability, technical maturity, scientific importance, and emerging
capabilities including access to in-situ space resources.
science, and engineering excellence for America’s students and teachers – and
to engage the public in a journey that will shape the course of human destiny. The
Commission recommends:
The Space Exploration Steering Council work with America’s education community and state and local political leaders to produce an action plan that leverages the exploration vision in support of the nation’s commitment to improve math, science, and engineering education. The action plan should:
- increase the priority on teacher training;
- provide for better integration of existing math, science, and engineering education
- initiatives across governments, industries, and professional organizations; and
- explore options to create a university-based “virtual space academy” for training
- the next generation technical work force.
Industry, professional organizations, and the media engage the public in understanding why space exploration is vital to our scientific, economic, and security interests.
The Commission unanimously endorses this ambitious yet thoroughly achievable goal of space
exploration. This will require a steady commitment from current and future Administrations,
Congresses, and the American people. Reasonable risk must be accommodated, along with some
failures. Our journey will require the government to embrace fundamental changes in its management
and organization. This exploration vision must be discovery driven – and it must certainly
necessitate placing greater reliance on the private sector. We should take advantage of this unique
opportunity to inspire our youth, motivate our teachers and improve math, science, and engineering
education for our future workforce. In fact, we must do all of these things to succeed.
