The National Vision for Space Exploration calls for sustainable and affordable human and robotic missions to explore the solar system. Sustainability requires that the program produce visible benefits to the public, along with scientific and technological advances in support of exploration that would be expected from a program of this magnitude. Affordability requires that the private sector be heavily involved, not just as contractors to NASA, but as sources of investment and direct beneficiaries of returns; in short, full participants in a long‐term program that can transform the future of mankind. In order to make the vision both sustainable and affordable, true partnerships involving industry, academia and government must exist to create Earth benefits while working on needed exploration technologies and, at the same time, provide the added investments that will inevitably be required in extended periods of fiscal restraint. Such partnership programs, embodied in the Research Partnership Centers, have long existed within NASA. They have recently been realigned to more fully support the exploration vision and brought into the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. This program and its past and potential contributions to the exploration vision will be described in detail at the conference.


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    Title :

    Toward Sustainable and Affordable Space Exploration: The Role of NASA’s Space Product Development Program


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INT.FORUM-STAIF 2005: Conf.Thermophys in Micrograv;Conf Comm/Civil Next Gen.Space Transp; 22nd Symp Space Nucl.Powr Propuls.;Conf.Human/Robotic Techn.Nat'l Vision Space Expl.; 3rd Symp Space Colon.; 2nd Symp.New Frontiers ; 2005 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)


    Published in:

    AIP Conference Proceedings ; 746 , 1 ; 1108-1114


    Publication date :

    2005-02-06


    Size :

    7 pages





    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English