2. Beyond LEO: The Role of the ISS in Exploration
MODERATED BY
MARY LYNNE DITTMAR, NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES SPACE STUDIES BOARD AND
SR. POLICY ADVISOR, CASIS
DAVA NEWMAN, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, NASA
ELLEN STOFAN, CHIEF SCIENTIST, NASA
DAVID MILLER, CHIEF TECHNOLOGIST, NASA
3. Dr. Dava Newman
NASA CHIEF SCIENTIST
Dr. Ellen Stofan
Dr. David Miller
NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR
NASA CHIEF TECHNOLOGIST
7. Forging the Technology Tools
EVA Systems
Refueling
Habitation Structures
Fire Safety
In-Space Manufacturing
Zero Boil-Off Cryo
Fluid Storage
Next Generation
Solar Arrays
Humanoid Robotics
[ERS] Left to Right: Curiosity, Odyssey, Spirit, Pathfinder, Viking 2
[ERS] The ISS allows astronauts to conduct research necessary to study various aspects of human space exploration program development close to Earth.
American astronauts currently aboard the ISS are learning the fundamental lessons necessary to safely execute extended missions deeper into space.
NASA is working towards continuing ISS operations until 2024 for expanded research opportunities with support from American and international partners.
Examples of recent research by NASA astronauts on recent missions
Rick Mastracchio works with an experiment studying how different substances burn in microgravity with benefits for combustion on Earth and fire safety in space.
Michael Hopkins is supporting petroleum research to help lead to more efficient extraction of oil resources.
Karen Nyberg is working with a plant experiment, studying the adaptation of plants in microgravity.
This is a key area of research both for Earth and long duration deep space exploration
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We’ve been on ISS since 1998
We’re about to do a 1 year rotation with the Kelly brothers
Mars will need 3 years
The ISS is our 10th center.
[DWM] ISS is our workshop where we forge the technology tools needed for the Journey to Mars. It has unique access to all of the environments that characterize space: vacuum, thermal, radiation, orbital dynamics, micro-gravity and the large field of view. Those technologies that are susceptible to these environments can be tested under nominal as well as off-nominal conditions to understand if they’ll work and how close they are to not working. This allows us to make them more robust. In the development of technology, the only tests that fail are those from which we fail to learn.
[DWM] ISS is not only a unique place to conduct experiments, it is an experiment in its own right. It is an experiment in logistics, assembly, international and inter-agency collaboration, operations, long-duration spaceflight, maintenance, and many other capabilities needed for the Human Journey to Mars. In many ways it provides us with an analog to the the Mars Transit Habitat where we can develop procedures for asynchronous communications, self sufficiency, and anomaly resolution as well as technologies for improving inventory, maintenance, and workload. While we can rely on Earth to help resolve emergencies in minutes to hours, we have the opportunity to emulate much longer delays in access to Earth and thereby refine procedures and technologies needed for the Journey to Mars.
[DJN] International cooperation is directed by the Space Act that created NASA and continues to be part of the National Space Policy
Off the Earth, for the Earth (T. Cremins, Gerst paper)
Since 1958 NASA has established over 4000 agreements with more than 120 nations
Currently, NASA has over 700 active international agreements supporting all 4 of NASA’s Mission Directorates
International Space Station cooperation is a premier example involving Europe, Japan, Canada and Russia
Over 1500 studies by researchers from 83 countries
HTV cargo delivery, fall 2015, plenty of water
The majority of NASA’s space and Earth science activities involve international cooperation, including all of NASA’s Mars missions, New Horizons??, JWST (Arienne), Hubble, Cassini, GRACE and the Global Participation Mission
Other examples include:
Orion Service Module: Built in Europe
First flight: EM-1
International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG): Global Exploration Roadmap
Collaboratively planning the future
for human space exploration
Aeronautics Research, including air traffic management, alternative fuels and aircraft icing
Space communications global network (TDRS…)
[DWM] When I think of about the Journey to Mars, I start with exploration followed by pioneering. The commercial sector plays an essential role in this journey because it is uniquely suited to bring efficiency to the process by identifying and rectifying low value activities as well as increasing capacity by creating and servicing related markets. Early ocean explorers like Magellan did not build their own ships, stock them with food that they grew, managed the port from which they sailed, nor transported their supplies to that port on roads and vehicles that they owned. Neither should this be the case for space exploration. I like to think of the outer edge of the harbor as the place where commercial activities end and exploration begins. For those of you in this audience that are mountain climbers, you likely did not throw your pack on your back and walk the entire way to the peak and back. Instead, you probably rode in some form of transportation built by the commercial sector until you reached the trailhead or base camp and your exploration journey started from there. During the Apollo Program, this outer edge was on the ground at the Kennedy Space Center. In our current Earth Reliant phase, we are working hard to move this edge to Low Earth Orbit through the commercial crew and cargo programs as well as commercial activities on ISS. As the Journey to Mars progresses, we need to move this edge to cis-Lunar space and beyond. Throughout history we have been confronted with crossing great rivers, traversing high mountains, and sailing vast oceans. Each time we have accepted that challenge, civilization has benefitted enormously. This benefit has always had a strong economic component making it essential that the commercial sector be a part of the Journey to Mars.
