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Looking Ahead to the Future of NASA

Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden: May 10, 2010; Running Time: 59:47

About the Lecture

About the Lecture

From the MIT News Office:

NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. defended President Barack Obama’s controversial plans for the U.S. space agency’s future and touted the president’s plan to invest billions of dollars in basic science research.

Some in Congress have criticized Obama’s proposal to cancel the Constellation program, which would have sent humans to the moon by 2020, saying such a move will effectively cede U.S. space leadership to other nations. But Bolden noted that the White House’s plan would also invest an additional $6 billion in NASA over the next five years, including a 60-percent increase in earth sciences research funding, as well as a 20-percent increase in planetary sciences research. Such an expansion could revitalize NASA’s ties with institutions like MIT, which has played an instrumental role in the agency since NASA was founded in 1958.

Bolden said NASA was going through what he called a “difficult, but very interesting” period. As a former astronaut who completed four space flights, Bolden expressed sadness about the prospect of ending NASA’s space-shuttle fleet, admitting he is “emotionally attached” to the shuttle program. But he insisted that NASA is “committed” to Obama’s new era of space exploration, which calls for a flexible path approach for NASA to gain progressively more experience, such as a lunar fly-by or exploration of asteroids, before making a trip to Mars. The plan also calls for developing a “heavy-lift” system to launch spacecraft into deep space, as well as technologies to protect humans from long-term radiation. In the future, NASA would lease vehicles from private companies to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

“The president, with my full agreement, made a change — a big change,” Bolden said of Obama’s decision to undertake a new direction for NASA, adding that the agency’s fundamental goal “to boldly advance the human presence beyond the cradle of Earth,” has not changed, and that Mars remains an “especially compelling target.”

Bolden outlined several tracks that NASA has proposed to achieve its goals, such as developing robotic technologies to scout new targets and test precision landings. He said the agency remains focused on using the International Space Station to learn more about human health issues, referring to ongoing work by ISS researchers to develop a salmonella vaccine.

He pledged NASA’s commitment to develop a commercial launch industry for carrying humans into low Earth orbit, but said that the agency was still fine-tuning specific operations details, such as whether a crew would be trained at NASA facilities. He also said the agency was honoring Obama’s request to collaborate with other countries like Saudi Arabia to foster science research.

When pressed to name a timetable for a manned mission to Mars, Bolden said it was “pretty vague,” but that if NASA started to develop the architecture for a heavy-lift launch vehicle right now, it could be as soon as the early 2020s that a spacecraft orbits the moon, and maybe 2025 for a spacecraft or robot to land on an asteroid. Those advances could make travel to Mars a reality by 2030, he said.

Lecture Details

Location: 32-123

About the Speaker

Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden

NASA Administrator

Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., began his duties as the twelfth Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in July 2009. As Administrator, he leads the NASA team and manages its resources to advance the agency's missions and goals.

Bolden's confirmation marks the beginning of his second stint with the nation's space agency. His 34-year career with the Marine Corps included 14 years as a member of NASA's Astronaut Office. After joining the office in 1980, he traveled to orbit four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions. His flights included deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope and the first joint U.S.-Russian shuttle mission, which featured a cosmonaut as a member of his crew. Prior to Bolden's nomination for the NASA Administrator's job, he was employed as the Chief Executive Officer of JACKandPANTHER LLC, a small business enterprise providing leadership, military and aerospace consulting, and motivational speaking.

Bolden received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. Bolden earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical science in 1968 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. After completing flight training in 1970, he became a naval aviator. Bolden flew more than 100 combat missions in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, while stationed in Namphong, Thailand, from 1972-1973.

He later earned a MS in systems management from the University of Southern California.