The human exploration of space: Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee

Over the last year, it was realized that the nation was facing important decisions on the future of human spaceflight. Will astronauts leave the close proximity of low-Earth orbit, and explore the solar system, charting a path for the eventual expansion of human civilization into space? If so, how will we ensure that our exploration delivers the greatest benefit to the nation? Can we explore with reasonable assurances of human safety? And, can the nation marshal the requried resources? In part to answer these questions, the White House and NASA chartered the U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, chaired by Norm Augustine, in the summer of 2009. The specific task of the Committee was to identify and evaluate options for the future of the program. The Committee observed that a human spaceflight program should begin with a choice about its goals- rather than a choice of possible destinations. Destinations should derive from goals, and alternative architectures may be weighed against those goals. From these deliberations, the Committee developed five integrated alternatives for the U.S. human spaceflight program. This presentation will discuss these alternatives in light of the President's 2011 Budget.