TALK ABSTRACT:
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The recently released policy directive, "A Renewed Spirit of Discovery:
The President's Vision for U. S. Space Exploration," seeks to advance
the U. S.  scientific, security and economic interest through a program
of space exploration which will robotically explore the solar system and
extend human presence to the Moon, Mars and beyond. NASA's
implementation of this vision will be guided by compelling questions of
scientific and societal importance, including the origin of our Solar
System and the search for life beyond Earth. The Exploration Roadmap
identifies four key targets: the Moon, Mars, the outer Solar System, and
extra-solar planets. First, a lunar investigation will set up
exploration test beds, search for resources, and study the geological
record of the early Solar System. Human missions to the Moon will serve
as precursors for human missions to Mars and other destinations, but
will also be driven by their support for furthering science. The second
key target is the search for past and present water and life on Mars.
Following on from discoveries by Spirit and Opportunity, by the end of
the decade there will have been an additional rover, a lander and two
orbiters studying Mars. These will set the stage for a sample return
mission in 2013, increasingly complex robotic investigations, and an
eventual human landing. The third key target is the study of underground
oceans, biological chemistry, and their potential for life in the outer
Solar System. Beginning with the arrival of Cassini at Saturn in July
2004 and a landing on Titan in January 2005, the next decade will see an
extended investigation of the Jupiter icy moons by a mission making use
of Project Prometheus, a program to develop space nuclear power and
nuclear-electric propulsion. Finally, the search for Earth-like planets
and life includes a series of telescopic missions designed to find and
characterize extra-solar planets and search them for evidence of life.
These missions include HST and Spitzer, operating now; Kepler, SIM,
JWST, and TPF, currently under development; and the vision missions,
Life Finder and Planet Imager, which will possibly be constructed in
space by astronauts.