In space, a lot can happen in five years

In science fiction, the Starship Enterprise’s “five year mission” was to “boldly go where no one has gone before.”  Five years after President Obama laid out a bold, transformative agenda for NASA, we continue to do just that – and our mission continues.  In the process, we’re turning science fiction into science fact. 

Speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida, the president challenged our nation to leap into the future.  “By 2025, we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first-ever crewed missions beyond the Moon into deep space,” he explained.  “By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth.  And a landing on Mars will follow.” 

{mosads}Today, NASA, our country, and humankind are firmly on a journey to Mars.  

After the president stood in front of a mock-up of the Orion Spacecraft – the technological foundation for future deep space missions – and pledged it would be readied for flight, Orion has now flown farther into space than any spacecraft built for human passengers has flown in more than four decades, bringing home with it critical data for future crewed missions to deep space. 

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will someday carry American astronauts to deep space has moved from concept to development and it’s hitting critical benchmarks.    

Meanwhile, we’re moving forward with an Asteroid Redirect Mission that will test new capabilities (like advanced propulsion systems) that will be needed for future human expeditions to Mars.  

To move our Journey forward, the president called for extending the life of the International Space Station (ISS) for five years.  We’ve now extended it for ten.  This means that we’re able to test and improve our capabilities in space, and study how the human body responds to extended periods of time off our planet. 

American Astronaut Scott Kelly recently began a one-year mission aboard the space station, and we continue to use the ISS to fulfill Obama’s vision for conducting advanced research that can help improve the daily lives of people here on Earth. 

As we increase Earth-based observation (NASA currently has 20 spacecraft orbiting our planet and gathering data) we’re gaining a better understanding of our climate and how it is changing. Ultimately, this will help us leave a healthier planet to our children and grandchildren. 

We’re also accelerating the pace of private-sector innovation – another critical part of the president’s vision.  Our American industry partners are now launching cargo missions to the ISS – and they’re doing it from U.S. soil.  And last September we announced the selection of Boeing and SpaceX to transport our astronaut crews to the Station, bringing those launches back to America in 2017 and ending our sole reliance on the Russians to get into space.   

As we approach the 25th anniversary of the deployment of the Hubble Telescope – a mission I was proud to pilot – we are answering the President’s call to succeed Hubble with an advanced telescope that will allow us to peer deeper into the universe than ever before.  When it launches in 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope will be placed in orbit about a million miles from Earth, allowing us to observe the most distant objects in the universe, and see unexplored planets around distant stars.

We’re also ramping up exploration of the solar system, including – as Obama said – the sun, the closest star to Earth, and a key to unlocking mysteries about stars, the Milky Way galaxy, and the universe itself.  

Technology drives exploration, and we’re getting closer to remarkable new technological breakthroughs; advances like Low Density Supersonic Decelerators that will allow heavier spacecraft to land safely on places like Mars – all part of the president’s plan to invest in new, advanced technologies that will not only take Americans farther into space than ever before, but will provide spin-off benefits and create high-paying jobs here on Earth. 

“We will not only extend humanity’s reach in space — we will strengthen America’s leadership here on Earth,” the president said at the Kennedy Space Center.  “For pennies on the dollar, the space program has improved our lives, advanced our society, strengthened our economy and inspired generations of Americans … the question for us now is whether that was the beginning of something or the end of something.  I choose to believe it was only the beginning.” 

Five years later, the progress is tangible, the promise is real, and possibility is endless.  We are leaping into the future and turning the one-time dreams of science fiction into science fact.

Bolden, a former astronaut is administrator of NASA.