Many folks would like to see us back on the Moon and developing its resources.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

NASA UNVEILS STRATEGIC SPACE TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT PLAN

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Feb. 11, 2013

David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730
david.steitz@nasa.gov


RELEASE: 13-039

NASA UNVEILS STRATEGIC SPACE TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT PLAN

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan has been posted to the agency's website. The comprehensive strategic plan prioritizes space technologies essential to the pursuit of NASA's mission and achievement of national goals.

The NASA Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan was created following development of a series of agency draft Space Technology Roadmaps. After careful review of the roadmaps by the National Research Council, with input from the public and key stakeholders, NASA finalized this new investment plan. It provides guidance for NASA's space technology investments during the next four years, within the context of a 20-year horizon. The plan will be updated approximately every two years, as appropriate, to meet agency and national needs.

"Technology enables discovery and advancement," NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck said. "We look forward to working with our stakeholders to grow our technological base and take the journey to expand scientific understanding, explore the universe, and make a positive impact on the lives of all."

In 2010, the president and Congress unveiled an ambitious new direction for NASA, which includes renewed investment in space
technology to align mission directorate activities, increase capabilities, lower mission costs and support long-term needs. The result has been an aggressive and prioritized technology investment by NASA that enables exploration and science missions while also supporting other government and commercial space activities. The plan is based on a four-pillar system of goals to ensure NASA investments optimize the benefits of key stakeholders, other U.S. government agencies, the private sector and the national economy.

NASA recognizes the importance of a balanced portfolio of technology development at all stages of technology maturity. Using the Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan, NASA will continue to invest in revolutionary concepts that help develop the nation's work force and provide transformative and crosscutting technology breakthroughs to enable our missions and benefit the commercial sector.

To review the Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan and learn more about NASA's investment in space technology, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/oct

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Spaceref excerpts of the 92 page document. Go to their web link and read the words. I have just coped the principal header topics.
- LRK -

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NASA Releases Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan
NASA today released its strategic space technology investment plan. The plan, outlined in a 92 page document, is meant to be a comprehensive strategic plan prioritizing technologies for NASA to achieve its mission.

"Technology enables discovery and advancement," NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck said. "We look forward to working with our stakeholders to grow our technological base and take the journey to expand scientific understanding, explore the universe, and make a positive impact on the lives of all."

Excerpted from the document:

Principles of Investment and Execution

The following six principles guide NASA's space technology investment strategy and portfolio execution, with the objectives of optimizing investments, maintaining a balanced portfolio, using developed technologies, and providing transparency to the American public.

1) NASA will balance investments across all 14 Space Technology Areas in the Roadmaps.
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2) NASA will balance investments across all levels of technology readiness.
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3) NASA will ensure developed technologies are infused into Agency missions.
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4) NASA will develop technologies through partnerships and ensure developedtechnologies are infused throughout the domestic space enterprise
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5) NASA will use a systems engineering approach when planning technology investments.
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6) NASA will reach out to the public and share information about its technology investments.
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Another link to the 92 page document - read on - and on. Please excuse my lack of enthusiasm.  

In the 20 years I spent at NASA Ames, I saw too many plans and slick publications on where we were going to go, up, up, and away, until budget cuts tore them to shreds. Posters of a large space station replaced with a postage stamp size ISS and a shuttle. Now shuttle gone and discussions about when to put the postage stamp into the ocean. 

Sorry, don't listen to me, getting too old, too fast, read on.  NASA now unveils the December 5, 2012 document.
- LRK -

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NASA Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan

“Future leadership in space requires a foundation of sustained technology advances that can enable the development of more capable, reliable, and lower-cost spacecraft and launch vehicles.” – America’s Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs, National Research Council

December 5, 2012
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Office of the Administrator
Washington, DC 20546-0001

Investment in space technologies is key to leadership in space and in supporting the economy; however, NASA for years did not have a strong focus on technology. In 2010, the President and Congress unveiled an ambitious new direction for NASA which included renewing investment in space technology. This new path forward calls for NASA to maintain an Agency space technology enterprise that aligns mission directorate investments, increases capability, lowers mission cost, and supports long-term needs. It also directs aggressive and prioritized technology investments that will support NASA's exploration and science missions and will also support other Government and commercial space activities.

This ambitious new direction requires a sustainable plan that integrates NASA's technology activities while contributing to the Nation's innovation economy. The following Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan provides the guidance for NASA's space technology investment during the next four years, within the context of a 20-year horizon.
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NASA's legacy continues today through a balanced portfolio of technology development at all stages of technological maturity. Using  this plan, NASA will continue to invest in revolutionary concepts that help develop the Nation's workforce and innovation community. We will generate transformative and crosscutting technology breakthroughs that enable our missions and benefit the commercial sector. And we will collaborate with others to create new ideas and markets that strengthen our economy and contribute to U.S. technological global leadership.

Technology enables the journey of discovery and advancement. We look forward to working with the Nation to grow our technological  base and take the journey to expand scientific understanding, explore the universe, and make a positive impact on the lives of all of those around us.

[signature - LRK -]
Charles F. Bolden Jr.
Administrator
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International Astronautical Federation - Connecting space people -
There is an interest in developing the use of space.
- LRK -

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International Astronautical Federation - Connecting space people
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Looking for information relative to going to the Moon.
Just one of the abstracts.  Too bad I wasn't there or a member.
- LRK -

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HUMAN EXPLORATION OF THE MOON AND MARS SYMPOSIUM (A5)
Near Term Strategies for Lunar Surface Infrastructure (1)
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LUNAR IN-SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATION IN THE ISECG HUMAN LUNAR EXPLORATION REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE

In May 2007, the "Global Exploration Strategy (GES): The Framework for Coordination" document was published, signed by 14 international space agencies to present a vision for a coordinated approach to robotic and human space exploration, with a focus on destinations within the Solar System where humans may one day live and work. Later the same year, and based on this document, these fourteen space agencies established the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) - a voluntary, non- binding international coordination mechanism with the intention of providing a framework to coordinate space exploration efforts across the globe. In July of 2008, the members of the ISECG agreed to collectively explore ideas and plans for human exploration of the Moon as a first step in jointly defining objectives and mission scenarios, with the goal of defining a global reference architecture for human lunar exploration by mid 2010. In support of this effort, a Campaign Integration Team and a number of Function Teams were established by the ISECG under the auspices of an International Architecture Working Group (IAWG), consisting of representatives of interested space agencies, to define the purpose, critical functions and technologies, incorporating strategic guidelines, and hardware elements needed to meet the goals and objectives for human exploration of the Moon established by the ISECG. This paper will present an overview of In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) development activities and areas of interest of the international space agencies participating in the ISECG process. A brief summary of the ISECG Reference Architecture for Human Lunar Exploration will also be given highlighting the common goals and strategic guidance which drove the architecture development. The main focus will be on the approach followed to incorporate ISRU into the lunar exploration campaign, detailing the various key considerations, including the rationale for demonstration, pilot and full implementation system deployment,with the overall objective being to enable long-term sustainability. A description of the ISRU elements under consideration will also be given. Finally, the various options possible for international collaboration will be reviewed, together with past and previous ISRU-related analogue field  testing and possible future robotic precursor flight opportunities.
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The Global Exploration Strategy - The Framework for Coordination- April 2007
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The Global Exploration Strategy - The Framework for Coordination- April 2007

Space exploration enriches and strengthens humanity’s future. Searching for answers to fundamental questions such as: ‘Where did  we come from?’ ‘What is our place in the universe?’ and ‘What is our destiny?’ can bring nations together in a common cause, reveal new knowledge, inspire young people and stimulate technical and commercial innovation on Earth.

The Global Exploration Strategy is key to delivering these benefits.
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Compelled to explore, to understand and to use the world in which we find ourselves, we have spread across continents and oceans.  We have probed the farthest reaches of the planet—the frozen poles, the deep oceans, the high atmosphere. 

With increasing intent and determination, we are resolved to explore our nearest companions—the Moon, Mars and some nearby asteroids. Our goal is not a few quick visits, but rather a sustained and ultimately self-sufficient human presence beyond Earth supported by robotic pathfinders. 

Sustainable space exploration is a challenge that no one nation can undertake on its own.

This is why fourteen space agencies1 have developed the Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination, which presents a vision for robotic and human space exploration, focussing on destinations within the solar system where we may one day
live and work. It elaborates an action plan to share the strategies and efforts of individual nations so that all can achieve their exploration goals more effectively and safely.
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1 In alphabetical order: ASI (Italy), BNSC (United Kingdom), CNES (France), CNSA (China), CSA (Canada), CSIRO (Australia), DLR (Germany), ESA (European Space Agency), ISRO (India), JAXA (Japan), KARI (Republic of Korea), NASA (United States of America), NSAU (Ukraine), Roscosmos (Russia). “Space Agencies” refers to government organizations responsible for space activities.
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23 pages - LRK -
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International Space Exploration Coordination Group
Will use for further studies
- LRK -

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International Space Exploration Coordination Group
In 2006, 14 space agencies began a series of discussions on global interests in space exploration. Together they took the unprecedented step of elaborating a vision for peaceful robotic and human space exploration, focusing on destinations within the Solar System where humans may one day live and work, and developed a common set of key space exploration themes. This vision was articulated in ‘The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination,'released in May 2007. A key finding of this Framework Document was the need to establish a voluntary, non-binding international coordination mechanism,  the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG), through which individual agencies may exchange information regarding interests, objectives, and plans in space exploration with the goal of strengthening both individual exploration programs as well as the collective effort.
The first iteration of 'The Global Exploration Roadmap', building on the ISECG lunar architecture work, was released by participating ISECG agencies in September 2011.  The Roadmap advances the Global Exploration Strategy by articulating the perspectives of participating agencies on exploration goals and objectives, mission scenarios, and coordination of exploration preparatory activities.
Comments on the Global Exploration Roadmap are welcome.  Because implementation of any aspects of the roadmap falls to individuas space agencies, your ideas are best addressed to the space agency you feel is best suited to receive your input.  Alternatively, comments may be addressed to ISECG@esa.int.
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So much to read, sorry just trying to keep you informed.  
- LRK -
The Global Exploration Road Map
September 2011

Human and robotic exploration of the Moon, asteroids, and Mars will strengthen and enrich humanity’s future, bringing nations together in a common cause, revealing new knowledge, inspiring people, and stimulating technical and commercial innovation. As more nations undertake space exploration activities, they see the importance of partnering to achieve their objectives. Building on the historic flight of Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, the first 50 years of human spaceflight have resulted in strong partnerships that have brought discoveries, innovations, and inspiration to all mankind. Discoveries we have made together have opened our eyes to the benefits of continuing to expand our reach.

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European Space Sciences Committee reacts after the 
European Space Agency Council meeting at Ministerial level
European Science Foundation's ESSC comments the decisions taken (or not) at ESA's council meeting at ministerial level.

Strasbourg - 6, February, 2013 - The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) today released its position on the perspectives for the European Space Agency's (ESA) scientific programmes. The position statement provides recommendations on the outcomes of the ESA council meeting at ministerial level, which took place on 26-27 November 2012 in Naples.

The statement comments on the impact for science-relevant ESA's programmes resulting from the decisions (or lack of) taken in the Naples meeting. They assert that despite some of the positive outcomes of the 2012 Ministerial Council, they are concerned about a number of "non-issues" discussed at the meeting. ESSC observations and recommendations of key points are listed below:

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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