iscover
Space
0 comment
Us Declares New National Space Policy to Extend Manned Flights to Planets
In a major decision, US President Ronald Reagan has endorsed a new National Space Policy which will see the US reassert itself as the leader in manned spaceflight and also lead to manned flights to Mars by early next century. The policy document released in late January reaffirms NASA’s role as a civilian agency and is seen as a major win for the agency which has been experiencing numerous difficulties over the last decade. Commercialisation of space is to receive maximum support by NASA although no direct federal subsidies will be provided. Specific policy objectives are aimed at providing NASA with a clear sense of direction and a set of tasks to accomplish culminating in long range manned flights into the solar system. The planned NASA space station becomes a critical technical milestone and a physical staging point in the long-term exploration plan. Lunar missions are envisaged, including the establishment of a manned lunar base; these would be followed by a manned landing on Mars. NASA have established an Office of Exploration which will organise the agency’s various resources in order to define specific lunar and Mars missions. The Johnson Space Center will assess both lunar and Mars mission scenarios and review surface operations, the Goddard Space Flight Center will examine the scientific potential of the possible missions, Marshall Space Flight Center will assess orbital transfer vehicles and propulsion while the Langley Research Center will concentrate on the applications of the Space Station as a node in a transportation network. By late January the Johnson Center had begun the definition of a lunar base and a Martian base with the outlook that a lunar site could be used for supporting a Mars mission. Mission requirements will be determined first, followed by an evaluation of what technical capabilities need to be developed to support the requirements. An initial lunar mission has been defined; it would begin with a series of robot vehicles which would provide data for the selection of a base site during the 1990s allowing then a series of manned missions. These would involve several landings with large vehicles carrying 48,000lb of cargo to establish the base. A second phase of the program would follow through to 2010 and see the development of lunar resources and the deployment of a substantial scientific infrastructure.
Us$100M Mars and Lunar Technology Program Initiated
In support of the proposed missions, NASA is about to commence a joint technology development program involving both US universities and aerospace manufacturers. The Pathfinder project will concentrate on technology areas specific to the lunar and Mars missions, including robotic roving vehicles, automated orbital rendezvous and docking of probes, new propulsion systems, aerobraking techniques and new power generation and communications technologies. The current $1,000m budget is the first in a planned multiyear $1,000m expenditure. The nature of the lunar and Mars missions will demand a considerable amount of information gathering prior to the landing of manned missions and this would largely be accomplished with robotic planetary rover vehicles. These vehicles would recce possible landings and sample surface materials. The roo vehicle is expected to have the ability to autonomously in simples, crush, saw or core them and store some samples for return to orbit and timely Earth. This would require staring gathered samples in an ascent vehicle which than dock in orbit with a larger vehicle that is capable of retum fight to Ear orbit. The large propagation delay in the transmission of mes sages from Mars to Earth necessitates fully autonomous machines.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
