|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
FOREWORD
|
|
Sean O’Keefe
Administrator
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
|
On January 14, 2004, President Bush announced a
new vision for extending our human presence across
the
solar system. The fundamental goal of the vision
is to advance American scientific, security,
and economic
interests through a robust space exploration program.
In support of this goal, NASA will:
- Conduct a sustained and affordable human and
robotic program of exploration throughout
our solar syste
- Complete the construction of the International
Space Station
by 2010
- Return human explorers to the Moon as soon as
11 years from now in preparation for the exploration
of Mars and beyond
- Promote international and commercial cooperation.
In pursuing this vision, NASA will explore answers to
fundamental questions of importance to science and
society. Questions such as: How did we get here?
Are we alone in the universe? Where are we going?
In doing
so, we will help develop revolutionary technologies
and capabilities for the future, while maintaining
good stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
Most Americans do not realize that for every dollar
paid in taxes, less than 1 penny funds NASA’s activities.
This level of investment will remain the same under
the new exploration plan. In years past, the investment
led to significant advances in weather forecasting,
communications, computing, medicine, search and rescue
technology, robotics, and electronics.
Looking forward, we believe the technology developments
necessary to enable the expanded exploration of the
solar system will accelerate advances in robotics,
autonomous and fault tolerant systems, human-machine
interface, materials, life support systems, and novel
applications of nanotechnology and microdevices.
Even
as our effort to pursue this bold exploration vision
gets underway, NASA continues to produce important
technological spinoffs for the American people. Among
the beneficial, NASA-derived technologies highlighted
in Spinoff 2004 are: devices capable of filtering
bacteria or viruses from water; a mineral identification
tool
that enables law enforcement and military personnel
to identify suspicious liquid and solid substances;
and a light bulb that provides 40 percent more surface
illumination on work and reading surfaces, while
reducing eye strain.
We are now 100 years into the age of flight, yet
the journey of humanity to the heavens has barely
begun.
The men and women of NASA are proud to help lead
humankind’s next great leap into the cosmos, and
of our role in
producing beneficial technologies for people around
the globe. It is in this spirit that we are pleased
to present the positive information about our Nation’s
investment in space exploration contained in Spinoff
2004.
|
|
|
|
