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The Next Giant Leaps in Space Exploration

Edward Crawley '76, SM '78, ScD '81 Maria T. Zuber James Garvin Richard Garriott Erika Wagner SM '02, PhD '07 David Thompson James Crocker: June 11, 2009; Running Time: 1:39:22

About the Lecture

About the Lecture

From satellite-enabled radio and TV to climate tracking, space has become a “ubiquitous capability in our lifetime,” as Edward Crawley puts it. But he also notes there is uncertainty about the future of U.S. spaceflight, which closely follows the “cadence” of political elections. AeroAstro symposium panelists both predict and suggest directions the nation’s public and private space programs might take.

As a child, keynote speaker Maria Zuber “wrote long letters to the Apollo astronauts,” and her early enthusiasm never waned. A geophysicist involved in missions investigating distant worlds, Zuber’s take on space exploration is both pragmatic and adventurous. She seeks “an achievable future in space,” with an exploration program that is “reality based.” She advocates a “bold, diverse agenda” that includes extended use of the International Space Station for conducting science on human physiology and behavior; exploring the impact of the sun on Earth climate and space weather; gathering data on the constitution of the universe; detailed characterization of terrestrial planets; a renewed commitment to Earth observation (we have better data on Mars’ ice caps than on our own); and seeking extra-terrestrial life.

This ambitious portfolio means we may send humans to space for “objectives that are worth the risk.” NASA should mix big and small missions, remembering that it’s “crucial to inspire and train the next generation.” Ultimately, says Zuber, “It’s great to be a dreamer, but the only good space mission is one that really works, and is practical and implementable.”

NASA scientist James Garvin describes his agency’s plans to pursue the legacy of Apollo, by developing new capabilities to carry people into space, and supporting significant research, such as tracking carbon in Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. Says Garvin, “Somewhere there is a sweet spot between robotic spaceflight that does grand science ... and human spaceflight that enables those” missions.

The private space industry will play an increasing role in fulfilling the spaceflight dreams of ordinary people, believes Richard Garriott, one of the few lucky citizens to take the ride (via a Soyuz craft). He cites the surge in space plane companies, which may ultimately make spaceflight routine. While there’s “a reasonable probability there will be fatalities,” Garriott accepts the risks. “Ultimately only by democratizing access to space, by having multiple vendors competing to keep the price down, and safety up, will we ultimately find the best access to space.”

To engage American youth in space exploration, Erika Wagner says we “need to take back the storyline and discuss challenging things.” 18-24 year olds are not captivated by the Apollo mission to the moon, and to inspire them about the future, they need to understand we “go to space because it’s a difficult thing.” To get this point across means using social media such as Flickr and YouTube, as well as flying students into space. “It’s time for space exploration to become interactive again.”

Commercial space ventures, built on a series of incremental improvements, have become a phenomenally successful industry in the last 40 years, says David Thompson. Customers spend between $15-25 per month on such products and services as direct broadcast TV and handheld satellite navigators. This dwarfs the per capita expenditure on government space exploration or defense activities. Thompson looks for more of an intersection between the well-financed commercial, and needier public, sectors of space enterprise, with anticipated benefits for both.

The problem is not how we build space vehicles, “but how we procure them,” states James Crocker. Purchasing and launching such expensive devices one at a time continues to inhibit capability. Crocker’s company, Lockheed, is trying to economize through smarter software, weight- and volume-reduction of space-bound technology, and reuse of expensive parts (including some avionics in NASA’s new Ares rocket). He hopes that innovative ways to bring down costs “while not as cheap as flying from here to Europe on an airliner,” might get to the point where “we can do more with the dollars the public is willing to spend.”

Lecture Details

Location: Kresge Auditorium

“My parents let me stay up late to watch the Apollo 11 astronauts land on the moon. I wrote long letters to the Apollo astronauts, asking about their missions. None of you guys ever answered me. ”

Maria Zuber

About the Speakers

Edward Crawley '76, SM '78, ScD '81

Ford Professor of Engineering, Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics, and Engineering Systems, MIT

Edward Crawley is also the director of the Bernard M. Gordon – MIT Engineering Leadership Program. His research focuses on the domain of architecture, design, and decision support in complex technical systems. He is currently engaged with NASA on the design of its lunar and Earth observing systems, and with BP on oil exploration system designs. Crawley is a former head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and was a finalist in the NASA astronaut selection in 1980. He received an S.B. (1976) and an S.M. (1978) in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and an Sc.D. (1981) in Aerospace Structures from MIT. Crawley is a Fellow of the AIAA and the Royal Aeronautical Society (UK), and is a member of three national academies of engineering: the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science, the (UK) Royal Academy of Engineering, and the US National Academy of Engineering. He was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa by Chalmers University, Sweden in 2006.

Maria T. Zuber

E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics
Head of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT

Maria Zuber studies the structure and evolution of planets and has been an innovator in the application of spacecraft laser ranging and radio tracking systems to map the topography and gravity fields of the planets. Zuber has led or co-led spacecraft instrument investigations to the Moon and Mars, and she is involved in future missions to Mars, Mercury, and the asteroids Ceres and Vesta. The topographic map of Mars produced by her laser altimeter on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft is the most accurate topography model for any planet, including Earth.

Zuber received her B.A. in Astrophysics (honors) and Geology, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1980, her Sc.M. in Geophysics in 1983, and her Ph.D. in Geophysics in 1986, both from Brown University. She is a fellow of the AAAS and the Geological Society of America.

James Garvin

Geoscientist/Topographic Remote Sensing specialist and Project Scientist, Earth System Science Pathfinder Project at NASA's GSFC, Geodynamics Branch, Lab for Terrestrial Physics

James Garvin spearheaded the strategy that led to the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Phoenix polar lander, and the Mars Science Laboratory. Garvin is currently developing a scientific mission to Venus to understand whether the planet was ever habitable. In addition, he is working with on an upcoming Hubble Space Telescope experiment focused on understanding the resources and history of the lunar surface. Garvin earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from Brown University and an M.S. from Stanford University in Computer Sciences.

Richard Garriott

Computer Game Developer, Entrepreneur

Richard Garriott is an award-winning computer-game developer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The son of an astronaut, Garriott has maintained an interest in space-related ventures throughout his career. He has invested in such ventures as the ZERO-G Corporation, X-Prize, Spacehab, and last year became the sixth private citizen to fly in Earth's orbit when he launched aboard a Russian Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Erika Wagner SM '02, PhD '07

Lecturer, Dept of Aeronautics & Astronautics
Executive Director, Mars Gravity Biosatellite and X PRIZE Lab @ MIT

Since 2001, Erika Wagner has served as science director for the Mars Gravity Biosatellite, a multi-university student satellite program to investigate aerospace physiology. Wagner received her Ph.D. from the Harvard/MIT Health Sciences and Technology program in Bioastronautics. She holds a bachelor's in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University and a master's in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, and is an alumna of the International Space University. Most recently, Wagner was named executive director of the X PRIZE Lab @ MIT, where she leads a teaching and research program on incentives and innovation.

David Thompson

Chairman and CEO, Orbital Sciences Corporation

Before co-founding Orbital Sciences Corporation in 1982, David Thompson was special assistant to the president of Hughes Aircraft Company's Missile Systems Group and was a project manager and engineer on advanced rocket engines at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. As a college student, he worked on the first Mars landing missions at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and on Space Shuttle projects at NASA's Langley Research Center and Johnson Space Center.

As a result of his work at Orbital, Thompson was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President George Herbert Walker Bush, was honored as Virginia's Industrialist of the Year, and was named High-Technology Entrepreneur of the Year. In addition, he received the National Air and Space Museum Trophy by the Smithsonian Institution, was selected as Satellite Executive of the Year by Via Satellite Magazine, and was presented with the World Technology Award for Space by The Economist magazine.

Thompson is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Astronautical Society, and the Royal Aeronautical Society, and is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the International Academy of Astronautics. He received a bachelor's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, a master's degree in Aeronautics from California Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

James Crocker

Vice President and General Manager, Sensing & Exploration Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

At the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, James Crocker is responsible for space science, planetary exploration, and remote sensing, including programs for the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes; Defense Meteorological Satellites; International Space Station; Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites; Mars Odyssey, Reconnaissance Orbiter, Scout; Phoenix; Juno; Jupiter Orbiter; and the GRAIL lunar mission. Crocker conceived the idea for, and led the team that developed, COSTAR to correct the Hubble's flawed optics.

As director of programs for the Center for Astrophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Crocker led the system design effort for the Advance Camera for Surveys (ACS), a scientific instrument installed in the Hubble Space Telescope in February 2002 that improved the performance of the telescope by an order of magnitude.

As head of the programs office at the Space Telescope Science Institute, he led the team that readied the science ground system for operation of the Hubble Space Telescope through orbital verification and science operations on orbit. Crocker previously designed electronics for scientific experiments on SkyLab in support of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

Crocker holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a master of science degree in Engineering from the University of Alabama - Huntsville and a master of science degree in management from Johns Hopkins University. He is the recipient of numerous honors including the Space Telescope Science Institute Outstanding Achievement Award and two NASA Public Service Medals for work on the Hubble Space Telescope.

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