Foreword
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Michael
D. Griffin
Administrator
National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
NASA is making significant progress in implementing
our Nation’s space exploration strategy, which calls
for American leadership in exploring other worlds and
in the inevitable expansion of human civilization into
the cosmos.
This past year, NASA engineers developed the Exploration
Systems Architecture for the spacecraft and launch vehicles
that will enable the renewed human exploration of the
Moon, as early as 2018. On August 31, 2006, we announced
the selection of Lockheed Martin Corp. as the prime contractor
that will build a key element of the architecture, our
new Crew Exploration Vehicle Orion. Throughout the year,
NASA engaged with potential international, academic,
and commercial partners to develop
a strategy for scientific, commercial, and exploration
activities on the lunar surface, as this next great era
of space exploration unfolds.
The past year was also marked by the resumption of space
shuttle missions, continued productive activity onboard
the International Space Station, the launching of the
New Horizons mission to Pluto and the CloudSat and CALIPSO
Earth-monitoring satellites, the Spitzer Infrared Space
Telescope’s imaging of a remarkable nest of red supergiant
stars—14 supernovas in the making—and the exciting findings
of the Cassini spacecraft and Huygens probe in the vicinity
of Saturn and its fascinating moons, Titan and Enceladus.
When NASA engages in activities such as these, we make
discoveries of fundamental scientific importance and
we develop new technologies that help improve people’s
lives. Our investment in exploration is an investment
in the highest of high-tech sectors and will help maintain
America’s position as the preeminent technical nation
on Earth. Space exploration is a lens that brings a focus
to the development of key technologies in a way that
simply would not occur without the “demand pull” that
arises when trying to accomplish the near-impossible.
To this point, Spinoff 2006 highlights NASA’s work, consistent
with our Agency’s charter, to “research, develop, verify,
and transfer advanced aeronautics, space, and related
technologies.” Below are a few of the beneficial, NASA-derived
technologies that are featured in Spinoff 2006 and utilized
in the commercial and public sectors:
- A Global Positioning System-controlled
steering device that automatically steers farm equipment
to maximize productivity. The device, which prevents
the skipping and overlapping of rows when planting
or watering fields, was inspired by a NASA experiment
that tested two extraordinary predictions of Albert
Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
- Microencapsulating technology with roots in NASA research
that is helping to clean up contaminants in bodies of
water and other ecologically fragile areas in an environmentally
safe manner.
- Wireless patient-monitoring systems used
in hospitals across the country today that were derived
from concepts behind the medical telemetry devices
used to monitor astronauts’ health.
As impressive
as these technologies are, I am confident that NASA’s
ongoing efforts to expand our exploration horizons
will significantly increase our Nation’s return on investment
in the future. I thank a supportive American public,
and all those who are dedicated to the noble work of
exploring the space frontier, for helping to achieve
this progress.
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