NASA 153784main Mars Society 080306
NASA 153784main Mars Society 080306
NASA 153784main Mars Society 080306
at the
3 August 2006
Good morning, and thank you very much for inviting me to be the
But before we get to that, let me say that it’s good to be among
fellow space travelers like the Mars Society. You all want to turn the
engineers and scientists with whom I share a common passion, for which
the Crew Exploration Vehicle, and the Ares crew and heavy-lift launch
vehicles, are only the first steps on a long journey to the Moon, Mars,
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journey. I know that some of you are frustrated by how arduous our
journey has been even to this point, and by the many challenges we still
who has devoted his career to the space business, I share these
perspective serves me well today. There are many disparate goals held
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If the blunt truth be told, prior to the loss of the Space Shuttle
Columbia a few years ago, NASA suffered from a long period of benign
spaceflight. NASA’s last mission to the Moon was in 1972, and our
itself to low Earth orbit ever since. As I have said on many, many
We have come a long way since the dark days of the Columbia
firmly believe that the Vision is the proper lasting legacy for the
space for our generation and, indeed, future generations. The law
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sustained human presence on the Moon, including a robust precursor
make the United States, once again, a spacefaring nation. Nothing more
The law charges NASA to carry out certain specific programs with
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With this, NASA’s stakeholders at the White House and Congress
have provided clear direction on the policies and programs that the
Agency must carry out. And so, while some of you might wish it to be
focused upon Mars. We are charged with carrying out a broad portfolio
next five years, properly balanced with our other national priorities of
the Space Shuttle to the CEV, and to commercial cargo and crew
award a contract for the design and development of the CEV next
month, and in the coming weeks ahead, we hope to enter into Space Act
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Agreements with commercial firms to demonstrate Space Station re-
several years is the safe and effective transition to the new Exploration
LEO. We now have a clear goal for the future. Our current activities
can and must be focused to advance that goal. The remaining ISS
And, more broadly, I believe that the most important aspect of the
International Space Station is the tried and tested partnership that has
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Russia, and the United States. This partnership has endured tremendous
architecture with the CEV, the crew- and heavy-lift launch vehicles, and
a lunar lander, as the first critical elements, with the hope that
Moon, and I hope that we’ll collaborate on even more missions to the
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and utilizing the Moon. I hope to issue a plan later this fall based on the
feedback from those workshops. One of the main reasons why these
so fruitful is that, despite many trials and tribulations, the United States
Also this year, we’ve celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Viking
mission, and begun to lay the groundwork for the robotic missions to
Mars in the next decade, building on the results from the Mars Rovers
Williams and German astronaut Thomas Reiter are preparing for a six-
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hour spacewalk to install equipment and experiments around the outside
Commander Pavel Vinogradev who will remain onboard the ISS and
easy…perhaps even too easy, to those who are not steeped in the risks of
challenging project, and this spacewalk is one small step forward toward
exploration.
The ISS is a scientific and engineering test bed that we must use
Federal agencies, like NSF, NIH, and the DoD, and commercial entities
who would use the ISS for their own experiments while NASA focuses
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For example, we know that a crew on such a long journey to Mars
the ISS, the future logistics resupply required will be significantly less.
Likewise, learning to use resources on the Moon and Mars must prove
journey.
help sustain this Vision for Space Exploration, and they are all being
The priorities for NASA are clear. In the wake of the Columbia
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And I must ask each of you this: Is it possible to envision a future in
and do conduct exploration and research on the Moon, Mars and beyond,
The ultimate goal of the Vision for Space Exploration is not to impress
can conceive.
dream.
Thank you.
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