NASA Headquarters

NASA Headquarters is the manager for the agency's multi-pronged mission of scientific research, investigating the far reaches of outer space, and developing new technologies. NASA has evolved into an amalgam of four strategic enterprises to coordinate activities in pursuit of its mission. The enterprises consist of Human Exploration and Development of Space, Space Science, Earth Science, and Aerospace Technology. Each serves as a piece of NASA's puzzle to solve the mysteries of not only outer space, but the world we live in as well.

A NASA astronaut takes a space walk during the Space Shuttle's STS-101 mission to deliver supplies to the International Space Station in preparation for the first inhabitants.

Human Exploration and Development of Space

NASA's Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) Enterprise includes the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, and Expendable Launch Vehicles programs, as well as Life and Microgravity Science Applications. The mission of the enterprise is to open the space frontier by exploring, using, and enabling space development and to expand the human experience into the far reaches of space.

The Space Station, which will expand our knowledge and help bring the benefits of space to Earth, is a key element of the HEDS Enterprise. Scheduled for completion in the 2005-2006 timeframe, the Station will greatly expand research opportunities, leading to exploration breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, technology development, and new space products. Beginning in Fall 2000, a series of three-person international crews will live aboard the Space Station, assisting with the assembly process and eventually conducting scientific research. When complete, the Space Station will be able to accommodate crews of up to seven people and will have a pressurized volume equivalent to that of a 747 jumbo jet.

The delivery of the U.S. Destiny Lab module, scheduled for launch in early 2001, will enable a full complement of scientific research. Research onboard could provide a better understanding of diseases like cancer, diabetes, and AIDS. By unmasking the effects of gravity, the basic properties of materials can be studied, perhaps yielding products of direct benefit to Earth. The Space Station will also serve as a valuable platform for studying the long-term effects of microgravity on the human body. This international project, the largest peacetime scientific and technological project in history, includes the U.S., Russia, and 14 other nations, who are cooperating on this complex venture. The Space Station will require more than 38 Space Shuttle launches to bring it to completion.

To double Space Shuttle safety by 2005, a series of high-priority safety enhancements are now being studied or are under development. The new "glass cockpit," which first flew in May 2000, features 11 new full-color, flat-panel display screens, is 75 pounds lighter, and uses less power than before. Additional planned improvements for the Space Shuttle include a next-generation "smart cockpit," which will build upon the "glass cockpit" upgrade, as well as main engine improvements and new electric generators for the vehicle's hydraulics. Other proposed enhancements will make steering systems for the solid rockets more reliable, make the manufacturing of solid propellant safer, and increase the strength of external fuel welds.

The HEDS Enterprise has also made great strides towards the commercialization of space. In June 2000, NASA announced an unprecedented partnership with Dreamtime Holdings, Inc., the first commercial partnership of the Space Station era. As part of the agreement, Dreamtime will provide, for the first time, high-definition television coverage of astronaut activities aboard the International Space Station and on Space Shuttle missions. It will also create an easily accessible, web-searchable, digital archive of the best of NASA's space imagery.

Space Science

Human beings are players in the greatest drama of all, the story of cosmic origins, evolution, and destiny. Now, for the first time, we truly have the opportunity to seek scientific answers to questions as old as humanity itself: How did the universe begin? How did life on Earth arise? What fate awaits our planet and our species?

We have begun to assemble answers to these grand questions using remarkable new tools on Earth and in space. This is a Golden Age of discovery as exciting and significant as the time when humans turned their first telescopes to the heavens.

The past few years have provided an opportunity to witness faint folds in the fabric of the universe, the most ancient ancestors of all the galaxies, stars, and planets that surround us. Living creatures have been found in extreme environments previously not thought capable of sustaining lifethe dark depths of Earth's oceans and the dry valleys of the Antarctic. Recent studies of meteorites from Mars show evidence of the presence of ancient water and the chemical building blocks of life, and--possibly--tiny, fossilized microbes. Spacecraft have returned images of what may be ice floes above a liquid water ocean on Jupiter's moon, Europa, leading to speculation that life may begin on moons as well as planets. Discoveries have concluded that the Earth's climate, biosphere, and the workings of our entire technological civilization are profoundly influenced by the behavior of our varying Sun, a star we can study close-up. Giant black holes have been detected that may be as massive as a billion suns at the center of our galaxy and in other galaxies, turning centuries of theory into fact. Bursts of gamma rays from distant reaches of space and time have been detected, momentarily more powerful than a million galaxies.

Previously unseen details of a mysterious, complex structure within the Carina Nebula.

These discoveries have altered our understanding of the universe forever. While much has already been learned, many questions remain. How could an ordered universe emerge from a formless beginning? Is life in our solar system unique to Earth, or might there be evidence of past or present life on other moons and planets? Can we forecast space weather by better understanding the forces that drive our Sun? Will a "Big Crunch" follow the Big Bang, billions of years from now, or will our Universe expand endlessly?

In the decade ahead we have the opportunity to address many of these exciting and engaging issues, developing missions to gain new answers and enrich the story. NASA's Space Science Enterprise will provide more precise answers to fundamental questions about the formation and evolution of the universe, how the Sun influences the Earth, the history of planets and satellites in our solar system, and the occurrence of life either in our tiny region of space or in the larger neighborhood of our galaxy.

Earth Science

NASA's Earth Science Enterprise has been organized to better understand the entire Earth system and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment. To this end, the field of Earth System Science is being pioneered. An emerging interdisciplinary field, this research considers Earth's land surface, oceans, atmosphere, ice sheets, and life as both dynamic and highly interactive.

The Earth Science Enterprise is structured to study five major Earth System Science areas: land-cover and land-use changes, seasonal-to-interannual climate variability and prediction, natural hazards research and applications, long-term natural climate variability and change research, and atmospheric ozone research.

This radar image shows the area of Death Valley, California, and the different surface types in the area.

To comprehend our changing planet, new knowledge and tools for better weather forecasting, urban and land-use planning, agriculture, and other areas that yield both economic and environmental benefit are being sought. Space-, air-, and ground-based platforms are providing the scientific foundation for policies that strive for sustainable development of Earth.

The space agency's Earth Observing System (EOS) era was initiated with the launch of the Landsat 7, to be followed by the EOS-AM-1. This scientific duo, along with others being readied for orbit, will collect needed data to help answer key questions about Earth. With EOS, changes in land and coastal regions over time can be evaluated. Also, it may be feasible to forecast precipitation a year in advance. Furthermore, by determining the probabilities of floods and droughts, predicting changes in Earth's climate a decade to a century in advance will be a reasonable expectation. Lastly, plans exist to monitor ozone depletion to determine the effectiveness of efforts to control harmful chemicals. EOS launches will continue into the second decade of the 21^st century.

A series of lightweight, low-cost science missions dubbed Earth System Science Pathfinders (ESSP) are also being prepared. The first two ESSP missions are scripted, with one designed to make the first global inventory of the world's forests, and the other focused on measuring the variability of Earth's gravity field. As part of NASA's New Millennium program to validate cutting-edge technology, an Earth Orbiter-1 mission will demonstrate an advanced land imaging system with multispectral capabilities. Another technology validation mission is the Space-Readiness Coherent Lidar Experiment to be flown aboard the Space Shuttle in 2001. This experiment will test the ability of a space-based sensor to precisely measure atmospheric winds from the Earth's surface up to a height of 10 miles.

NASA's goals are to predict the weather, climate, and natural disaster with a much higher accuracy and make forecasts on a seasonal and interannual basis.

Aerospace Technology

The Aerospace Technology Enterprise strives to deliver the long-term, high-payoff aerospace technologies that will add value to improve people's quality of life by strengthening the nation's economy, improving the environment, increasing our mobility and safety, and ensuring the continued national security. NASA relies on partners such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. industry, the Department of Defense, and the university community to help establish requirements, participate in our technology development, and implement those technologies in civil and military air and space transportation products.

The projected increase in the number of air travelers makes the need for improved aviation safety more pressing. The Advanced Subsonic Technology (AST) program aims to reduce the aircraft accident rate. Strategies to achieve this objective include technologies to identify, understand, and correct aircraft system problems before they lead to accidents; technological interventions to address specific accident causes such as human error and weather; and aircraft modifications to minimize injury in the event of an accident.

NASA is committed to helping the aviation community achieve significant reductions in nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide. Without effective action, carbon dioxide emissions from aviation are projected to increase, with the potential to accelerate climate change. Similarly, aviation-generated nitrogen oxides are a suspected cause of ground-level ozone at airports, a key contributor to air pollution problems in those localities. NASA's goal is to reduce the impact of aviation-related emissions despite the projected increase in aircraft operations.

Moving from runways to the launching pad, NASA is also working to make space travel as safe as today's air travel, moving space travel out of the realm of the extraordinary into the mainstream. Specifically, NASA is working to reduce the risk of crew loss by integrating intelligence into vehicle systems for improved health management and self repair, improving reliability, and using advanced engineering environments to design, test, and verify the entire vehicle system and mission, before the first piece of hardware is cut. Safe space travel will not only help make space accessible to all, but enhance the development of the commercial space sector.

NASA aims in ten years to reduce the cost of taking payloads to orbit through improved reusable launch vehicle concepts and advanced launch systems and operations. New propulsion systems along with improved materials and structures for lightweight and durable in-space transportation vehicles will open opportunities for near-Earth operations and commercialization. By developing launch capabilities for both medium/heavy and small payloads, NASA will create a true "Highway to Space."

NASA intends to develop and apply cutting-edge technologies that will change the definition of what is possible in aeronautics and aerospace. NASA will increasingly look to fields such as biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology, for the ability to create new structures by building them at the molecular level, atom by atomenabling advanced performance attributes such as self-corrective maintenance, system compensation in emergencies, or even capabilities such as changing shape. Space vehicles can also be enabled by the same technologies. Self-configuring systems, self-repairing skins on a vehicle to "heal" damage from micrometeorites, and intelligent agents that control flight paths or acquisition of scientific data at the spacecraft's destination may become a reality if this objective is realized.

NASA is committed to providing the best possible space and aeronautics program in the world. Through the diversity of its missions and research activities, the agency continues to look forward, building on existing knowledge and anticipating the next challenge the universe has to offer.