The Future of Space Exploration: Government versus Commercial Stacey Thompson Government America is looking forward to a future in space exploration as remarkable as it’s past. Obama laid out milestones for NASA’s designers develop spacecraft, to extend the frontier of human space exploration including developing a spacecraft for human transport, and an emergency return spacecraft for the astronauts currently on board the International Space Station (ISS). Some of the additional funding will go into research and development for a heavy-lift rocket. The plan is to add more than 2,500 jobs along the Space Coast in the next two years and he expects to see a plan for all this on his desk by August of 2015. (Siceloff)i These developments are expected to pave the way for crewed missions beyond the moon and push the boundaries of humanities reach. Since Obama has been re-elected the plans set forth for NASA in his 2010 speech at Kennedy Space Center will proceed as planned with the target date of the year 2025. NASA has yet to determine the asteroid that will be visited. A deep space station has long been proposed where both at Earth-moon L1, where the gravitational pull of both is cancelled. The idea has been in the making since 1999 by the Decadal Planning Team (DPT), and remained more or less intact until 2005 when President Bush appointed Mike Griffin as NASA Administrator; due to the lack of adequate funding this plan has not been especially fruitful. Returning to the moon would require the development of a lander which would limit the availability of funds for other projects. Senator Bill Nelson is likely to be the space policy leader in the Senate, since the retirement of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. So the plan is to subsidize commercial companies. The biggest concerns remain to be crew safety, though the budget for planetary missions was slashed by the Obama administration. (Whittington)ii The 2006 Space Act Agreement was designed to engage entrepreneur(s) in a way that allows commercial industry to take hold was first initiated by President George W. Bush in 2004. The NASA Authorization Act also paves the way for advancements in space commerce through the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Program. The idea of the program was to free up funding to go beyond exploration in low-earth orbit and should be more affordable than government programs. The constellation program was behind schedule at the time of president Obama’s speech in 2010, and he said it would be faster for private companies to develop the spacecraft necessary. Commercial In 2006, nearly 100 companies expressed interest, while only 20 companies submitted proposals. Space X and Rocketplane-Kistleriii were awarded unprecedented funding from NASA in order to create a competitive market for supply flights to the International Space Station (ISS). They have developed vehicles for human transport, but those have not yet been tested.

Forward thinking, gutsy entrepreneurs and adventurers are encouraged to obtain private funding and the option to market space transportation services. It is anticipated that new markets will open up in space including tourism, manufacturing, and biotechnology. They include Virgin Galactic, Space Adventures, and SpaceX.

Benefits of Space Exploration We already know that space exploration brings us satellite TV, radio, and internet. Much of the digital age has been fueled by it too. Some spinoffs that have come from space exploration but may not appear to be obviously connected include: the artificial heart that has since been received by 200 patients, the rescue tool to rescue people from wrecked vehicles that requires no auxiliary power or hoses, a life

saving light for children with brain tumors that was developed for the growth of plants on the space station, a heat shield to protect NASCAR drivers from the heat that comes from the vehicles engine during a race, a landmine removal device that uses the same rocket fuel to propel shuttles to destroy landmines, a firefighting handheld infrared camera that can be used to locate the hot spots in a forest fire, home insulation, prosthesis material, and video stabilization software, and green lubricants. These are some of the recent outcomes of space exploration more than 1,600 of them have been developed since 1976 and more are continually being developed as we continue to explore low earth orbit and prepare for deep space orbits.iv

Private Investment vs. Public Funding Space access advocates continue to lobby Congress for funding, with the understanding that there are still things that NASA can do that SpaceX and other commercial organizations cannot do yet. In 2006 there was not a lot of excitement in NASA manned programs according to Art Stephenson, then Sector VP, Space Exploration Systems, Northrup-Grumman who indicated that NASA is very risk averse and the voting public does not want to lose another astronaut.v In October 2012, Space X of El Segundo, California completed its first successful mission delivering supplies to ISS and bringing supplies back. Until their flight only Russia was able to supply the ISS or send Astronauts there. The State of New Mexico has passed legislation to build a $225 million spaceport. Space Adventures sent Dennis Tito and two other space tourists to the ISS. Originally the cost of a flight was projected at $100 million in 2006 and with increased interest a single ticket is projected to cost $95,000 with Space Expedition Corporation (SXP) or $200,000 on Virgin Galactic based on an article in the Wall Street Journal vi A Transition Private entrepreneurs are proving that they can build real vehicles for tourists and cargo, and they are sharing their ideas through The International Space Development Conference (ISDC), which provides the vehicle for a Space Venturing forum where investors, entrepreneurs, aerospace professionals, and visionaries can work toward what is possible together. The 2006 conference provided sneak previews to technology like the next generation of spacecraft, showed plans for building a space elevator using a thirty-foot mock-up, and demonstrated how we plan to protect the Earth from asteroids. The ISDC also offered talks on space development, a children’s program, and a space art exhibition. Space Venturing has facilitated such achievements as suborbital flights by the SpaceShipOne team, and the Falcon delivery system by SpaceX, which proved to be a success in October 2012 in the first of 12 cargo missions. Almost overnight dozens of companies began to build markets for space tourism and the need

for annual conferences became apparent. The idea of space tourism has evolved since the early 1980’s, and it is currently entering a phase where several smart billionaires are investing their own money into it. Space Tourism 925 wealthy space enthusiasts have already made reservations to fly into space according to an article in the Business Insider.vii Human spaceflight is said to comprise 80 percent of predicted human spaceflight trips, and the number is anticipated to climb to 11,000 over the next ten years; however, even 3,600 suborbital flights would generate roughly 600 million dollars in revenue. Other projected possibilities People are now considering space hotels, treks to the Moon, and safe public space liners as part of a developing suborbital travel industry, provided that government regulations don’t stifle creativity. Many current red tape rules create a dilemma in the experimental research and development of passenger carrying space planes. Some of NASA’s efforts have been compared to Archeology by Burt Rutan, head of Mohave, California-based Scaled Composites. NASA is not creating the environment for a breakthrough, but using technology that we already know works. Risks create the space to tumble into breakthroughs. “If we copy what we had it won’t be affordable enough or safe enough for human space travel beyond low earth orbit.viii

Conclusion As we continually move forward the government funding seems to continually shrink, the military is even training people with outside companies to track space junk. I am excited that the people who have the kind of money it takes to keep space exploration going strong are getting involved and taking risks to make it an enterprise that most anyone can participate in if they have the funds. It will be pivotal to see what kind of preparation is offered to commercial passengers as opposed to astronauts,

The boring videos that are presented in order to promote safety on airplanes just won’t be enough, and I don’t think they will be able to serve drinks on board a space flight because all passengers must have a heightened awareness that is not required during a standard flight that is 10,000 feet in the air, it would also be interesting to see if “air marshals” become “space marshals.” to maintain order onboard.

References

i Siceloff S. (2010, April 15) NASA JFK Space Center, president outlines exploration goals, found online November 19, 2012 at http://www.nasa.gov/about/obamaspeechfeature.html ii Whittington M. (2012, November, 7) Yahoo News, In Obama’s second Term, NASA to maintainthe status quo. found online November 19, 2012 at www.news.yahoo.com/obamas-second-term-nasa-maintain-status-quo-191200892.htm iii NASA (2006, August 18) NASA.gov, found online November 19, 2012 at www.NASA.gov/exploration/news/COTS_selection_prt.htm ivNASA(N.d) NASA.gov, Space shuttle spinoffs found online Novemeber 21, 2012 at http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/527945main_345978main_Shuttle_spinoffs.pdf v Leahy B. (2006. May 10) Time, Space access: The private investment vs. public funding debate. found online November 19, 2012 at vi Passy, C (2012, November 12) Wall Street Journal, Market Watch, A trip to outer space—just $95,000 found online November 23, 2012 at http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-11-12/finance/35004198_1_sxc-space-tourism-spacecraft vii Davies, A (2012, Oct 19) Business Insider, Wealthy Adventurers Could Turn Space Travel Into A $1.6 Billion Industry found online November 23, 2012 at http://www.businessinsider.com/space-tourism-to-generate-16-billion-2012-10#ixzz2D5yCtV6T viii Leonard D (2006, May 4) National Space Society, Rutan takes aim at NASA’s CEV plans, likens it to ‘archeology’ found online November 19, 2012.