Next Steps for NASA After Half Century of Achievement

July 31 - At a press conference on the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, surviving astronauts from NASA’s Apollo missions made a public statement indicating that they’d like the agency to work on taking humans to Mars, instead of focusing on a return to the moon. This return, and an eventual lunar base that would serve as a jumping-off point for further ventures into our solar system, are objectives of a space-exploration initiative established by George W. Bush.

In its 51 years, NASA has recorded a long history of achievements in space exploration. Since its inception in 1958, there have been more than 150 successful U.S. human space flights, including the Apollo moon landings, the launch of the United States' first space station, Skylab, and more than 120 flights of the space shuttle. The International Space Station was recently completed through the joint efforts of NASA and the space agencies of 14 other countries including Russia, Japan, Canada, and several European nations.

Discoveries in the first 50 years of the space age have led to an explosion of scientific and engineering knowledge and practical applications of space technology. The private sector has also been developing, fielding, and expanding the commercial use of space-based technology and systems. The National Research Council's Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board produce several reports each year to assist NASA in evaluating its projects, goals, and progress. Over the past year, some key reports include ASEB’s A Constrained Space Exploration Technology Program: A Review of NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program in 2008, which examines the program's progress in light of significant administrative and budgetary constraints; and America’s Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs, which recommends revitalizing NASA's advanced technology development program by establishing a DARPA-like organization within NASA to support priority civil and commercial space programs, and development of "dual-use" space technologies, with both civil and defense applications. In addition, SSB summarizes its extensive activities and reports in an annual report, including studies on astrophysics, earth science, planetary exploration, and more.

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