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Scientific Opportunities in the Human Exploration of Space (1994) / Chapter Skim
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1 SPACE SCIENCE AND HUMAN EXPLORATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Pages 3-8

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From page 3...
... recognizes that political factors can change rapidly and can have profound effects on the pace and content of a human space exploration program, as they did when President Kennedy committed to the Apollo program. CHEX views the current interlude as an opportune time in which to calmly and methodically study and stipulate the 3
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From page 4...
... This question was answered in the negative by the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering in a report on space policy prepared in 1988. It stated that "the ultimate decision to undertake further voyages of human exploration and to begin the process of expanding human activities into the solar system must be based on nontechnical factors."7 In other words, the expansion of human presence and activity into the solar system does not demand any a priori scientific research component beyond the enabling research needed to provide for the health and safety of the astronauts (see next section)
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From page 5...
... That is, only science that truly takes unique advantage of human presence should be undertaken and then only if it is of competitive quality. ENABLING SCIENCE CHEX concluded in its first study that the most important responsibility facing the scientific community, in the initial stages of a program of human exploration, is to define the conditions necessary to maintain the health and safety and ensure the optimal performance of astronauts during exploration missions.
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From page 6...
... Studies of the lunar regolith and martian ice cores may, for example, reveal the long-term evolution of the particle and photon outputs of the Sun. Similarly, if a human exploration program includes the construction and operation of scientific observatories on the Moon, it might, for example, aid our understanding of the mechanisms operating in solar flares, the origin of very high energy cosmic rays, and the frequency of occurrence of planets around other stars.~4-~6 A Moon/Mars program might enable studies of the response of living organisms to microgravity and fractional gravity environments.~7 In addition, crews on Mars exploration missions will experience a combination of circumstances, including prolonged sequestration with no immediate possibility of escape, that might enable unique studies of human behavior.
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From page 7...
... 8. Space Studies Board, Scientific Prerequisites for the Human Exploration of Space, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1993, page 2.
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From page 8...
... 13. Space Studies Board, The Search for Life's Origins: Progress and Future Directions in Planetary Biology and Chemical Evolution, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1990.
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Key Terms

  • space studies
  • human space
  • space science
  • space exploration
  • prolonged human

  • scientific investigations
  • exploration program
  • future program
  • human spaceflight
  • critical research

  • space missions
  • inner planets
  • immediate vicinity
  • space policy
  • space biology

  • scientific prerequisites
  • optimal performance
  • ongoing space
  • energy cosmic
  • establishing human

  • robotic scientific
  • political support
  • future human
  • exploration missions
  • subsequent piloted

  • current uncertainty
  • president kennedy
  • future directions
  • profound effects
  • compelling force


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