A/T OU's SPS AFF

INHERENCY BLOCK (Aggressively pushing space exploration/colonization

now)___________________
PLAN TEXT (...Glaser...) _________________________________________________________________
AT: GET OFF ROCK ____________________________________________________________________
AT: HEG _______________________________________________________________________________
Inherency
Ext.____________________________________________________________________________

Plan text is to have the USFG "launch an SPS satellite by 2010" as per Glaser. Case is full of old cards and
every card is very very vague on what SPS model is to be used. (It doesn't help that the Affs running it have
no idea that there are a dozen different models.)
In any other league, Japan DA, Japan CP, and an Econ DA would be the strat. If we construct decent shells,
go for those and ammend this file. It would be a much better strat than to diffuse the impacts through
inherency. The Heg turns are what win the debate.

NOTE: PLAN TEXT SAYS THAT THEY "LAUNCH AN SPS SATELLITE." NO MANDATE FOR ITS
USE OR PROTECTION IS MADE IN PLAN. If they haven't changed their text yet, it ought to be an easy
and cheap win.
INHERENCY BLOCK
1. NASA Lunar Testbed Program Yields Aggressive, Sustainable Space Exploration and New Tech.
Sean O'Keefe,Chief NASA Administrator February 2004. "The Vision for Space Exploration"
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/55583main_vision_space_exploration2.pdf
NASA will begin its lunar testbed program with a series of robotic missions. The first, an orbiter to confirm
and map lunar resources in detail, will launch in 2008. A robotic landing will follow in 2009 to begin
demonstrating capabilities for sustainable exploration of the solar system. Additional missions, potentially up
to one a year, are planned to demonstrate new capabilities such as robotic networks, reusable planetary
landing and launch systems, pre-positioned propellants, and resource
extraction. A human mission to the Moon will follow these robotic missions as early as 2015. The Moon will
provide an operational environment where we can demonstrate human exploration capabilities within
relatively safe reach of Earth. Human missions to the Moon will serve as precursors for human missions
to Mars and other destinations, testing new sustainable exploration approaches, such as space resource
utilization, and human-scale exploration systems, such as surface power, habitation and life support, and
planetary mobility. The scope and types of human lunar missions and systems will be determined by their
support to furthering science, developing and testing new approaches, and their applicability to supporting
sustained human space exploration to Mars and other destinations. The major focus of these lunar activities
will be on demonstrating capabilities to conduct sustained research on Mars and increasingly deep and more
advanced exploration of our solar system. Additionally, these robotic and human missions will pursue
scientific investigations on the Moon, such as uncovering geological records of our early solar system.
2. Orion Spacecraft key to space exploration and tech leadership
NASA Press Release August 31, 2006 “NASA Selects Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle Prime Contractor”
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/aug/HQ_06305_Orion_contract.html
NASA selected Thursday Lockheed Martin Corp., based in Bethesda, Md., as the prime contractor to design,
develop, and build Orion, America's spacecraft for a new generation of explorers. Orion will be capable of
transporting four crewmembers for lunar missions and later supporting crew transfers for Mars missions.
Orion could also carry up to six crew members to and from the International Space Station. The first Orion
launch with humans onboard is planned for no later than 2014, and for a human moon landing no later than
2020. Orion will form a key element of extending a sustained human presence beyond low-Earth orbit to
advance commerce, science and national leadership.
3. NASA Went Through Incredible Restructuring- Funding, Research, Tech Development all
committed to Space Exploration and Tech Development. ALL of this postdates every card in case. The
6 goals explained…
NASA “NASA Strategic Plan 2006”
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/142302main_2006_NASA_Strategic_Plan.pdf
On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush announced A Renewed Spirit of Discovery: The President’s
Vision for U.S. Space Exploration, a new directive for the Nation’s space program. The fundamental goal of
this directive is “to advance U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests through a robust space
exploration program.” In issuing it, the President committed the Nation to a journey of exploring the solar
system and beyond: returning to the Moon in the next decade, then venturing further into the solar system,
ultimately sending humans to Mars and beyond. He challenged NASA to establish new and innovative
programs to enhance understanding of the planets, to ask new questions, and to answer questions that are as
old as humankind.
NASA enthusiastically embraced the challenge of extending a human presence throughout the solar system
as the Agency’s Vision, and in the NASA Authorization Act of 2005, Congress endorsed the Vision for Space
Exploration and provided additional guidance for implementation.
NASA is committed to achieving this Vision and to making all changes necessary to ensure success and a
smooth transition. These changes will include increasing internal collaboration, leveraging personnel and
facilities, developing strong, healthy NASA Centers, and fostering a safe environment of respect and open
communication for employees at all levels. NASA also will ensure clear accountability and solid program
management and reporting practices.
Over the next 10 years, NASA will focus on six Strategic Goals to move forward in achieving the Vision for
Space Exploration. Each of the six Strategic Goals is clearly defined and supported by multi-year Outcomes
that will enhance NASA’s ability to measure and report Agency accomplishments in this quest. (For a
complete list, see Appendix: NASA’s Strategic Goals and Outcomes.)

NASA’s Strategic Goals

Strategic Goal 1: Fly the Shuttle as safely as possible until its retirement, not later than 2010.
Strategic Goal 2: Complete the International Space Station in a manner consistent with NASA’s International
Partner commitments and the needs of human exploration.
Strategic Goal 3: Develop a balanced overall program of science, exploration, and aeronautics consistent
with the redirection of the human spaceflight program to focus on exploration.
Strategic Goal 4: Bring a new Crew Exploration Vehicle into service as soon as possible after Shuttle
retirement.
Strategic Goal 5: Encourage the pursuit of appropriate partnerships with the emerging commercial space
sector.
Strategic Goal 6: Establish a lunar return program having the maximum possible utility for later missions to
Mars and other destinations.

4. International Space Stations Missions Will Yield Tech Advances and Space Exploration
NASA, 2006. "NASA Strategic Plan 2006."
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/142302main_2006_NASA_Strategic_Plan.pdf
Missions to the International Space Station are yielding much information about the human impacts of long-
duration space exploration. NASA and the International
Partners are using this information to set the standards for longer missions to the Moon and Mars. Techniques
demonstrated in robotics, assembly, and maintainability on the International Space Station will guide
development of next-generation space vehicles that will fly farther, faster, and for longer duration.
NASA’s lunar plans are coming into focus through the Exploration Systems Architecture Study. NASA soon
will select a prime contractor to develop, test, and produce the Crew Exploration Vehicle. This vehicle will
provide access to low Earth orbit and exploration destinations beyond for up to six people in a safe,
affordable manner. The Crew Launch Vehicle project is developing the crew and cargo rockets of the future.
In 2004, the President charged NASA with the responsibility for planning and implementing an integrated,
long-term robotic and human exploration program structured with measurable milestones and executed on
the basis of available resources, accumulated experiences, and technology readiness. Congress endorsed this
directive with two appropriations and the NASA Authorization Act. NASA will focus on six major Strategic
Goals over the next 10 years to achieve this Vision of extending humankind’s presence across the solar
system, developing
innovative technologies and promoting international and commercial participation
in exploration to further U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests.
PLAN
1. Glazer assumes international cooperation, international funding
INSERT CARD ....Actually, it's Solvency 1 in their 1AC
2. No working model for SPS. All affirmative evidence speaks on competing models from the past 4
decades among the US, Europe, and Japan. The fact is that there are over a dozen different models for
what KIND of SPS satellite could exist because a working SPS has never existed.
3. Timeframe for development of technology, consensus on a model, actual construction, launch, and
assembly in space is decades at best. There's no timeframe which even guarantees that.
4. "SPS 2000" isn't a real satellite. It's a "straw man" used in Japanese research and the Affirmative is
misusing it as a working option.
INSERT CARD
GET OFF THE ROCK
1. Glaser doesn't say that THIS plan will work. Remember that he's talking about a globally-initiated
and maintained endeavor and not a domestic policy.
2. Cross Apply the Inherency arguments. There is aggressive space exploration and colonization work
right now. The status quo is dedicated to Getting Off the Rock and none of their scenario assumes this.
3. Two Problems with Getting off the rock.
A. Conception in space might be impossible.
B. Even if CONCEPTION is possible, safe birth and livelihood are problematic. Both deny scenarios
of
civilizations “off the rock”
Woodmansee, Laura. August 2006
“Sex in Space: Imagine the Possibilities” Space.Com
http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_sexinspace_060804.html
On a cautionary note, men and women in their childbearing years will need to be careful not to conceive a
child while in space since it may be dangerous to the mother and baby. Based on animal experiments, we
know that fetal development is affected in space. Bones, muscles (including the heart), and neurology, will
simply not develop properly without Earth gravity. We also know that human hormones and even sperm
motility are affected by the lack of gravity. Radiation is a serous problem too, even in Earth orbit where our
magnetic field protects us somewhat. What we don't know is how conception may be affected in humans.
There are so many questions that need to be answered. For example, is human conception in space even
possible? Will a fertilized embryo attach properly to the uterus wall? Are life-threatening ectopic pregnancies
more likely in weightlessness? How will reentry acceleration affect a mother and fetus? Are the higher
radiation levels of Earth orbit likely to cause problems with the first cell divisions? It may be perfectly safe to
conceive in orbit, but we just don't know enough to take that chance with the health and happiness of a child.

4. No scenario. There's no when or where. Just like you can't weigh a speculative war between two
imaginary countries that might never exist in the distant future, you can't weigh a vapid impact
scenario that has no details of something actually happening.

HEG
1. Status Quo solves. Cross apply the inherency evidence that all says the last 2 years of NASA have
been nuts for tech development.
2. Plan gives no tech development. The aff argues the tech is already here. That means that they don't
give the tech leadership to solve.
3. JAPAN
A. Japan has had the leading tech on SPS for decades
P Glaser, 1993, "Japan - The 21st Century's Global Energy Supplier?", Published in the Journal of
Practical Applications in Space
http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/japan_the_21st_centurys_energy_supplier.shtml
In parallel with technical studies of SPS, the "Microwave Country" project, as a follow-on to the "Microwave
Garden," will beam 10 kW of microwaves from a microwave antenna installed on a tower to a receiving
antenna to study ecological effects of microwaves, influence of weather conditions on microwave reflection
from the ground surface, and development of elements of the transmitting antenna.
In addition, the project "Microwave Power Transmitting Experiment to a Mountain" is in the planning stage,
with the objective to perform functional tests on the transmitting and receiving antennas, and to promote
public recognition of the benefits of WPT. The transmitting antenna is to be located 12 km from the summit
of Mt Fuji and designed to beam 100 kW over a distance of 12 km to a receiving antenna on the summit.
The Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry, as quoted in the Sankei Shimbun, Tokyo,
announced in February 1993 that in accordance with the "New Sunshine Plan," a global SPS system is to be
in place by 2040. Several of the government agencies and industrial organizations previously mentioned will
study the viability of this project based on the output of previous studies and results of ground and space
flight tests already completed and planned. WPT is an enabling technology for utilizing renewable and
inexhaustible energy sources on Earth and in space to meet projected electrical energy demands in the 21st
century on a global scale. Achieving per capita increases in energy use without adversely affecting Earth's
ecology will be a significant influence on reductions in the rate of population growth without draconic
measures. Increasing living standards have led to reductions in birth rates in developed countries as a
byproduct of industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries (14). Global electric power production is about a
$1 trillion per year market currently, and represents the largest market on Earth. Penetration of this market by
gradually substituting WPT to access renewable and inexhaustible energy sources anywhere on Earth and in
space is an opportunity that Japan has recognized.
Japan has the capability to develop and apply the required technologies to develop the WPT systems for
several applications. Japan can gain access to space either with its own launch vehicles or by utilizing the
launchers developed by other countries to meet launch requirements. Low-cost access from Earth to space
may be of reduced importance in the 21st century for large-scale engineering projects, when extraterrestrial
material resources can be obtained from the Moon or asteroids for construction of power relay satellites and
solar power satellites in Earth orbits or on the Moon.
B. Japan's led the world in SPS tech for decades with no impact on US Heg.
Either :
1. Tech leadership has no impact on heg or
2. SPS tech isn't important to our tech leadership. Either way, the scenario has been denied.

C. Turn- Case uses "available technology." Since that's Japan's, case uniquely entrenches the US in
a
scenario of tech DEPENDENCE on Japan...which is exactly the scenario that their link card is
actually talking
about...

4. THE PRICE TAG

A. Us Economic Heg has not been threatened by economic and political turbulance over the past
decade. We
have a $12 Trillion economy and it would take something drastic to destabilize it...
Gerard Baker April 25, 2006 The Times http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13129-2150167,00.html
BARRING some wholly unexpected statistical oddity, we will get another spectacular signal of the health of
the American economy this Friday.
The gross domestic product figures for the first quarter are expected to show that America’s output expanded
at an annual rate of about 5 per cent in real terms in the three months to the end of March. In this age of
exaggerated gloom about the condition of the world, with all its imbalances, inequalities and uncertainties, it
is worth pausing for a moment simply to reflect on the scale of US economic success.
Given that the United States is a $12 trillion ($6,700 billion) economy, the new data mean that in the first
quarter the US added to global output an amount that, if sustained at that pace for a year, would be about
$600 billion — roughly the equivalent of adding one whole new Brazil or Australia to global economic
activity every year, just from the incremental extra sweat and heave and click of 300 million Americans.
Think of it another way. In an era in which China embodies the hopes and fears of much of the developed
world, the US, with a growth rate of half that of China’s, is adding roughly twice as much in absolute terms
to global output as is the Middle Kingdom, with its GDP (depending on how you measure it) of between $2
trillion and $4 trillion and its growth of about 10 per cent.
Even when you account for the fact that US growth is not going to continue at 5 per cent, but will revert to its
trend of more like 3.5 per cent per year, you are still talking about an economy adding more than $400 billion
in inflation-adjusted terms every year (not quite Brazil or Australia, but significantly bigger than Switzerland
or Belgium) .
That means that, on current trends, for at least the next decade the US will actually keep growing in total
dollar or yuan numbers by a larger amount than will China (even if the yuan is substantially revalued, by the
way). And beyond that ten-year horizon, can anybody really be confident that China will maintain its current
rate of growth? (We haven’t even talked here about per capita GDP, where the US advantage will remain
unapproachable for decades.) Think of it yet another way: at current economic and population growth rates,
the United States — now about 30 per cent larger than the eurozone in GDP — will be twice the size of
Europe’s economy in less than 15 years.
I give you this little statistical litany not just for its own intrinsic appeal, but as a healthful antidote to some of
the wishful thinking about America’s inevitable decline you can read in the rest of the media.
Historically speaking, indeed, America’s economic hegemony has never been greater. However messy Iraq
and Afghanistan get, it would be unwise to bet that the US will not continue to be Top Nation for quite a
while yet.
What could undermine long-term US dominance? Some fret that the precarious American fiscal position
could do it. However, this is mostly hyperventilation. The fiscal deficit, at a cyclically adjusted 2.5 per cent
of GDP, is on the large side, but American public debt as a proportion of GDP — at less than 70 per cent —
still puts the United States comfortably among the more frugal of the world’s big nations.
The inevitable unravelling of global financial imbalances could certainly harm US demand growth in the
short term, as both public and private sectors increase savings, but, assuming these extra savings are
efficiently allocated by America’s highly flexible capital markets, they might even end up improving long-
run potential.
The ageing population will surely crimp American economic activity. Most economists expect trend growth
to slip a bit in the early part of the next decade as the proportion of the population in work begins to drop. Yet
relative to the rest of the world this may not matter that much. America’s demographics — a reasonable birth
rate and strong immigration flows — are actually rather better than for most other industrialised countries. A
century ago, China’s population was almost six times that of the US. In 50 years’ time, on current trends, it
will be less than three times the size.

B. Plan is something drastic. SPS projections add up to $25 Trillion.

Sam Dinkin "The Space Review: Out of Gas"
Monday, September 27, 2004
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/231/1
We could probably get some gains for mass production that would cancel out the costs of the rushed
semiconductor production conversion and allow us to make the solar conversion quicker if not cheaper.
If Earth-based solar is good, space-based solar could be better. Goodstein says that about 800 solar satellites
the size of Manhattan in geosynchronous orbit would do the trick. At $1,000 per kilogram we would only
need to spend $15 trillion or so on launch costs to heft 15 billion kilograms of solar cells, which would only
be about one-fourth as much as 200,000 square kilometers because there’s about four times as much light up
there with no clouds and no night. Throw in another $10 trillion for the cells and some more for the
microwave ground stations and we have a pretty good case for solar orbital. We should probably exhaust the
case for stratospheric lighter than air solar before we invest, but there are other objections.
One trouble with this plan is that oil, coal, natural gas, and oil sands are so cheap that no one will want to
switch away from fossil fuels to solar until they are closer to running out. I have been taught since I was a kid
(and Goodstein repeats) that it is better to use our finite reserve of hydrocarbons to make plastic and
pharmaceuticals instead of burn it. That makes about as much sense as conserving water. If there was a
shortage of plastics expected, the manufacturers would bid up the price of plastic. The economy works great
to use resources where they are needed most.
5. Turn- Plan mandates investment into a tech idea developed in 1968. It entrenches us in tech
reversion, not leadership.
INHERENCY EXTENSIONS
1. The programs are funded and underway! The cards are accurate! It's not another empty Bush
program!
NASA Press Release Feb 7, 2005 “NASA's Budget Enables New Age of Exploration”
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/feb/HQ_05039_ok_budget.html
Statement by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe about the Administration's fiscal year 2006 budget proposal
and the Vision for Space Exploration.
"The fiscal 2006 NASA budget reaffirms the President's commitment to the Vision for Space Exploration and
provides us the next step in implementing it. The exploration Vision provides a historic opportunity to focus
NASA for the long term, and the process is well under way. We are transforming NASA and making great
progress.
"We at NASA have embedded a safety culture that both embraces competition -- to bring out the best ideas
from industry, universities and NASA centers -- and seeks innovation, to find the best solutions to technical
and management challenges. We have enhanced our long-range planning to improve our decision making,
and we have built a sound management foundation, based on the President's Management Agenda, to
streamline our corporate structure and invigorate our field centers.
"The preparations for returning the Shuttle fleet to flight are continuing. On the International Space Station,
we are in our fifth year of continuous presence on orbit. Our programs to explore the solar system continue to
amaze us with the new and unexpected information returned from Mars, Saturn's moon Titan and other
distant points in the universe.
"We are laying the groundwork for future exploration by beginning the design competition for the Crew
Exploration Vehicle, which will have flight demonstrations in 2008. Building blocks are being placed to
return astronauts to the moon. We have awarded more than 100 contracts for exploration technologies, based
on 600 proposals and 5000 letters of interest. The more than 17 billion hits to our NASA Web site are a
testament to the intense, world-wide public interest in our activities.
"The Vision for Space Exploration remains an Administration priority even in this challenging budget
environment. The continued priority for and support of exploration has enabled a gradually growing NASA
budget over the next five years. The budget maintains resolute focus on exploration priorities and critical
milestones, based on our science priorities.
"The budget supports critical national needs and revolutionary technologies. In our Aeronautics Mission
Directorate, it protects aviation safety, security and airspace systems activities. It restructures vehicle systems
work to focus on technology breakthroughs and near-term demonstrations.
"The President's fiscal 2006 budget request for the Science Mission Directorate builds on our recent scientific
successes and projects a 23 percent increase in the total science budget by 2010. The budget proposal
maintains investments in next-generation Earth-observing satellites to support our climate research efforts. In
our education endeavors, the budget allows us to continue to inspire the next generation of explorers with
programs such as explorer schools and scholarships for service.
For the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, the request includes an 18 percent increase. The budget
supports exploration systems' research and technology to enable designs for sustainable exploration; funding
for Project Prometheus to test a nuclear reactor in 2008 and fly a demonstration mission within a decade; and
more than $800 million for human systems research and technology, directly linked to exploration
requirements for human missions to the moon and beyond.
"The budget proposal maintains the return-to-flight of the Space Shuttle fleet as our top priority, and it
includes close to $2 billion for the Space Station. This level of funding will enable NASA to meet obligations
to international partners. NASA will also proceed with plans to retire the Shuttle in 2010, while ensuring safe
missions for the life of the fleet.
"The fiscal 2006 budget assumes an ongoing effort to retool our institution based on best achieving our
priorities for the Vision for Space Exploration. This will require adjustments to work-force skill distribution,
physical capital, facilities and innovations in management structure. The end result will transform NASA
field centers for the coming decade through improved agility and competitiveness.
"The sustainable implementation of the Vision will provide our legacy to future generations. With this
budget, the torch is passed from the pioneers, who first took us to the moon, to their heirs, who will take us
into deep space to stay."

2. International Space Station will yield all that case aims to do

NASA, 2006. "NASA Strategic Plan 2006."
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/142302main_2006_NASA_Strategic_Plan.pdf
NASA will focus future International Space Station research primarily on supporting space exploration goals,
looking particularly at how the space environment
affects astronaut health. Researchers also will use this unique, orbiting laboratory environment to validate
important science conducted in ground-based facilities. Over the next year, NASA will develop plans for
designating the U.S. segment of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. In the long term,
NASA will evaluate the costs and benefits of the International Space Station as an ongoing test bed in the
space environment for exploration technology development
and demonstration. The Agency will ensure that research on board the International Space Station matches
exploration requirements.

3. New Era of Space Exploration, Development, and Tech Brought Underway with NASA Vision
Program
Sean O'Keefe Chief NASA Administrator The Vision for Space Exploration February 2004
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/55583main_vision_space_exploration2.pdf
With last year’s budget, NASA released a new Strategic Plan outlining a new approach to space exploration
using a “building block” strategy to explore scientifically valuable destinations across our solar system. At
the same time that we released the Strategic Plan, our Nation and the NASA family also suffered the loss of
the seven brave astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. The report of the Columbia Accident
Investigation Board emphasized the need for a clearer direction from which to drive NASA’s human
exploration agenda. On January 14, 2004, the President articulated a new vision for space exploration. You
hold in your hands a new, bolder framework for exploring our solar system that builds upon the policy that
was announced by the President after months of careful deliberations within the Administration. This plan
does not undertake exploration merely for the sake of adventure, however exciting that may be, but seeks
answers to profound scientific and philosophical questions, responds to recent discoveries, will put in place
revolutionary technologies and capabilities for the future, and will genuinely inspire our Nation, the world,
and the next generation.
Our aim is to explore in a sustainable, affordable, and flexible manner. We believe the principles and
roadmap set down in this document will stand the test of time. Its details will be subject to revision and
expansion as new discoveries are made, new technologies are applied, and new challenges are met and
overcome.
This plan is guided by the Administration’s new space exploration policy, “A Renewed Spirit of Discovery:
The President’s Vision for U.S. Space Exploration,” a copy of which is provided on the following pages.
NASA is releasing this plan simultaneously with NASA’s FY 2005 Budget Justification. This plan is fiscally
responsible, consistent with the Administration’s goal of cutting the budget deficit in half within the next five
years. I cannot overstate how much NASA will change in the coming years as this plan is implemented. I also
cannot overstate how profound the rewards will be on this new course. With the support of Congress, the
science community, the NASA civil and contractor workforce, and most importantly, the American public,
we will embark on this very exciting future.
When Christopher Columbus made his voyages across the Atlantic in the 15th and 16th centuries, his ships
carried the inscription “Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World.” I look forward to joining you
as we follow the light of the planets and the stars into the new worlds of the 21st century.

Vision Ev Continued…Same Source

The President’s Vision for space exploration is bold and forward-thinking. It expands scientific discovery and
the search for habitable environments and life by advancing human and robotic capabilities across multiple
worlds. This plan provides the framework for fulfilling the President’s direction, guided by the principles on
the facing page. It is responsive to recent science findings, the NASA Strategic Plan, the report of the
Columbia Accident Investigation Board, and the new space exploration policy. It seeks to establish a
sustainable and flexible approach to exploration by pursuing compelling questions, developing breakthrough
technologies, leveraging space resources, and making smart decisions about ongoing programs. It will help
drive critical national technologies in power, computing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, communications,
networking, robotics, and materials. It will start exciting new programs now to inspire the next generation of
explorers.

VISION Ev. Continued… Same Source. Outlines Tech development, ushering new international
cooperation, and commitment to human presence in space…In other words, the SQ does more
amazing things for tech and getting off the rock
The fundamental goal of this vision is to advance U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests through a
robust space exploration program. In support of this goal, the United States will:
• Implement a sustained and affordable human and robotic program to explore the solar system and
beyond;
• Extend human presence across the solar system, starting with a human return to the Moon by the year
2020, in preparation for human exploration of Mars and other destinations;
• Develop the innovative technologies, knowledge, and infrastructures both to explore and to support
decisions about the destinations for human exploration; and
• Promote international and commercial participation in exploration to further U.S. scientific, security,
and economic interests.
The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will be responsible for the plans,
programs, and activities required to implement this vision, in coordination with other agencies, as deemed
appropriate. The Administrator will plan and implement an integrated, long-term robotic and human
exploration
program structured with measurable milestones and executed on the basis of available resources,
accumulated
experience, and technology readiness.
To implement this vision, the Administrator will conduct the following activities and take other actions as
required:
A. Exploration Activities in Low Earth Orbit Space Shuttle
• Return the Space Shuttle to flight as soon as practical, based on the recommendations of the Columbia
Accident Investigation Board;
• Focus use of the Space Shuttle to complete assembly of the International Space Station; and
• Retire the Space Shuttle as soon as assembly of the International Space Station is completed, planned
for the end of this decade;
International Space Station
• Complete assembly of the International Space Station, including the U.S. components that support
U.S. space exploration goals and those provided by foreign partners, planned for the end of this
decade;
• Focus U.S. research and use of the International Space Station on supporting space exploration goals,
with emphasis on understanding how the space environment affects astronaut health and capabilities
and developing countermeasures; and
• Conduct International Space Station activities in a manner consistent with U.S. obligations contained
in the agreements between the United States and other partners in the International Space Station.
B. Space Exploration Beyond Low Earth Orbit
The Moon
• Undertake lunar exploration activities to enable sustained human and robotic exploration of Mars and
more distant destinations in the solar system;
• Starting no later than 2008, initiate a series of robotic missions to the Moon to prepare for and support
future human exploration activities;
• Conduct the first extended human expedition to the lunar surface as early as 2015, but no later than
the year 2020; and
• Use lunar exploration activities to further science, and to develop and test new approaches,
technologies, and systems, including use of lunar and other space resources, to support sustained
human space exploration to Mars and other destinations.
Mars and Other Destinations
• Conduct robotic exploration of Mars to search for evidence of life, to understand the history of the
solar system, and to prepare for future human exploration;
• Conduct robotic exploration across the solar system for scientific purposes and to support human
exploration. In particular, explore Jupiter’s moons, asteroids and other bodies to search for evidence
of life, to understand the history of the solar system, and to search for resources;
• Conduct advanced telescope searches for Earth-like planets and habitable environments around other
stars;
• Develop and demonstrate power generation, propulsion, life support, and other key capabilities
required to support more distant, more capable, and/or longer duration human and robotic exploration
of Mars and other destinations; and
• Conduct human expeditions to Mars after acquiring adequate knowledge about the planet using
robotic missions and after successfully demonstrating sustained human exploration missions to the
Moon.
C. Space Transportation Capabilities Supporting Exploration
• Develop a new crew exploration vehicle to provide crew transportation for missions beyond low Earth
orbit;
« Conduct the initial test flight before the end of this decade in order to provide an operational
capability to support human exploration missions no later than 2014;
• Separate to the maximum practical extent crew from cargo transportation to the International Space
Station and for launching exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit;
« Acquire cargo transportation as soon as practical and affordable to support missions to and from
the International Space Station; and
« Acquire crew transportation to and from the International Space Station, as required, after the
Space Shuttle is retired from service.
D. International and Commercial Participation
• Pursue opportunities for international participation to support U.S. space exploration goals; and
• Pursue commercial opportunities for providing transportation and other services supporting the
International Space Station and exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit.