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Moon-to-Mars Commission Recommends Major Changes at NASA
Very long, hit the link for the full story. Just the first couple of paragraphs here.
A commission chartered by U.S. President George W. Bush to advise him on implementing a broad new space exploration vision is recommending streamlining the NASA bureaucracy, relying more heavily on the private sector, and maintaining more oversight of the nation’s space program at the White House. The President’s Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy is scheduled to release its final report June 16. A copy of that report, “A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover”, was obtained by Space News . The 60-page report outlines the organizational changes the commission says NASA needs to make if it is to achieve the space exploration goals laid out by Bush in January. Those goals include returning humans to the moon by 2020 in preparation for eventual human expeditions to Mars.

The nine-member commission, headed by former U.S. Air Force Secretary Edward (Pete) Aldridge, said if those goals are to be met, the nation needs to commit to space exploration for the long haul, and that the private sector must be given a much larger role in the U.S. space program. “The Commission believes that commercialization of space should become the primary focus of the vision, and that the creation of a space-based industry will be one of the principal benefits of this journey,” the report states. “Today an independent space industry does not really exist. Instead, we have various government funded space programs and their vendors. Over the next several decades -- if the exploration vision is implemented to encourage this -- an entirely new set of businesses can emerge that will seek profit in space.”
While a mission to mars sounds highly inspirational, orbiting laboratories and a lunar base are of much greater priority. Microgravity materials science research has the potential to yield fabulous new alloys and other compounds impossible to obtain in terran facilities. A mars mission would have to overcome gigantic issues involving radiation shielding, extended duration closed-cycle life support and other human factors problems. In light of China’s determination to expand its aerospace program, the United States needs to renew its commitment regarding space flight.

The solutions presented by international consortium participation are of limited use as future defense applications increasingly will rely upon LEO (low earth orbit) and other space based platforms. Novel solutions like tethered "reel-down" packages and long flight time ultralight laser and solar powered vehicles pose interesting alternatives, but space is the place and our defense capabilities should not be shackled to foreign interests. Recent funding and delivery problems with Russian modules for the ISS have made this abundantly clear.
Posted by: Zenster 2004-06-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=35462