"Business as usual, if we simply try to overlay this [vision] on top of an existing structure, isn't going to work," O'Keefe said. "There is no way that the present organizational structure, and how we do business today, will be the most appropriate way to go about doing this."
O'Keefe was the last speaker to appear before the 10-member commission on the Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy, a group appointed by President Bush to map out the broad steps needed to fulfill the new space vision. The group met at the Asia Society here in their fifth and final public hearing before presenting the president with their recommendations on June 2.
The necessity of a culture change within NASA has been suggested by non-NASA officials during a previous commission
of agency employees, which found many workers afraid to speak up with dissenting opinions."We've heard from others that business as usual would not work, and we're encouraged to hear you believe they're right," said commission chairman Edward "Pete" Aldridge.
O'Keefe also told commissioners that the space infrastructure required to push the new space effort forward is already in place, and stressed that international cooperation will play a vital role in missions to come. The cooperation needed for the International Space Station (ISS), for example, has led to the necessary political relationships, communication networks and engineering teams - among others - to take on such a project, he added.
While many of NASA international partners are interested in working with the space agency's new vision, some were concerned with NASA's outlying obligations connected to the ISS.
"We strongly believe that a mission to the Mars or moon is something for mankind," said Volker Leibig, program director for the German Aerospace Center (DLR) -- a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) -- during a separate commission panel.
But despite strong space support in Germany, Leibig told commissioners he hopes NASA will fulfill its ISS commitment before shooting for the moon.
"One is crew size, we need six people aboard to make the science utilization complete," he said, adding that minimal two-person, and even three-person, crews has limited the amount of experiments during expeditions. The vision also highlights the need for life science studies aboard the ISS, but there are material science experiments planned too, he added.
DLR was also disappointed that NASA cancelled its X-38 program to develop an ISS escape vehicle after the German space agency had built hardware to fly aboard the test craft, Leibig said.
During the all-day hearing Tuesday, the presidential heard testimony from media representatives focusing on the potential of IMAX films to attract the public to space and the need to for more interactive programs to boost NASA's image in popular society. Also highlighted were experts advocating the commercialization of lunar and other space resources to build new space industries that would support future exploration, as well as presenters highlighting the ability to fold astrophysics and other science into the new space vision.
O'Keefe said that, while the vision itself is noble, it most likely would not have come about were it not for the sad loss of the space shuttle Columbia and the seven astronauts aboard on Feb. 1, 2003. The accident led to an investigation into NASA's organization as well as the incident itself, and refocused the eyes of a nation on its space program.
"After the 1st of February, 2003, the main attempt was to find the cause of the tragedybut the much broader question was to seek a definition of the space program," O'Keefe said. "Their legacy, as a consequence, is what motivates me."
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