2013 Key Issues Review: Enabling Sustained Deep Space Exploration with a Broad Vision

1. 2013 Key Issues Review:Enabling Sustained Deep Space Exploration with a Broad Vision Phil Hattis, Space Policy Subcommittee Chair Congressional Visits Day Preparatory Briefing Teleconferences

2. The Issue The Orion Vehicle will support resumed human operations beyond Earth orbit • Human and robotic exploration beyond Earth orbit has great scientific, technological, and cultural significance • Leadership inspires STEM careers and technology advancements with economic, national security, and social benefits • Sustaining leadership requires on-going achievements in which each generation can take some ownership • Continued exploration success requires that the following challenges be tackled cost-effectively • Reliable and progressively more capable transportation • Fully synergistic human and robotic operations • Means to counter adverse effects on humans of space radiation and micro-gravity de-conditioning • Power generation to meet deep space exploration needs • Resources made available for deep space exploration must be wisely applied toward well-conceived goals NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) will evolve to enable progressively more ambitious missions The long-term goal is to add footprints to the rover tracks already on Mars Pictures Courtesy NASA

3. AIAA Recommendations • Address both fundamental science and human aspirations • Pursue long-term, visionary objectives • Have meaningful milestones every decade that each result in significant achievements • Complete development of launch systems that enable human access beyond low Earth orbit • Allocate some resources to advancing in-space propulsion • Enable more efficient cargo delivery • Facilitate faster human crew transits • Apply synergistic robotic/human capabilities to push the exploration envelope • Develop a spectrum of power generation technologies for deep space missions • Resume Pu-238 production to power future outer-planet missions - combine this with advanced Stirling-cycle radioisotope generators that use much less Pu-238 • Fully address radiation and micro/partial gravity challenges that impact human deep space missions • Investigate counter measures and mitigation methods • Pursue productive international collaborations • Sustain US exploration leadership in key areas including for technologies with national security benefits

4. 2013 Key Issues Review:Complete Public/Private Human Earth-Orbit Access Programs in a Timely Manner Phil Hattis, Space Policy Subcommittee Chair Congressional Visits Day Preparatory Briefing Teleconferences

5. The Issue The SpaceX Dragon would launch crews using the Falcon 9 • The US has no current means to launch people to Earth orbit from its own territory • Only the Soyuz now provides US crew access to the International Space Station (ISS) - at rising costs with each access purchase cycle • The cost of Soyuz use is now approaching $70 million per seat • NASA resources are now being cost shared with commercial crew vehicle development teams under Public/Private Partnerships (PPPs) • The Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) program began in late 2012 with about $1 billion of NASA money being applied over close to two years and spread over three vehicle developers • Nearly $30 million was also recently awarded to address crew safety certification • Each vehicle developer is putting in large financial contributions of its own • Congressional funding constraints on the commercial crew initiative led NASA to limit the current program to completion of critical design reviews rather than running through initial vehicle flight demonstration • Another development phase after the current CCiCap contracts will be needed to get to a commercial crew flight capability • The program completion schedule will be driven by available sponsorship resources Courtesy SNC The SNC Dream Chaser and Boeing CST-100 would launch crews using the Atlas 5 Courtesy SpaceX Courtesy Boeing

6. AIAA Recommendations • Enough government resources should be applied each year to the PPPs to enable operational commercial crew vehicles by 2017 • Further delay of the initial commercial crew operations is false economy because of the continued, and rising costs to the government of using Soyuz • Well-conceived human rating/licensing requirements/regulations should be formulated to assure safety while accommodating design and testing innovation • Imposing traditional “human rating” processes may preclude development and operational cost efficiencies that can be enabled by innovative commercial practices • Congress should facilitate sustained protection of commercial crew developers’ proprietary information to maximize incentives for private investment in the commercial development of human Earth orbit access