A robust education effort would also reinforce the workforce that will eventually build the spaceships of tomorrow, further sustaining the space, according to aerospace experts who spoke before the Presidential Commission on the Implementation on United States Space Exploration Policy.
President George W. Bush appointed the commission to recommend the best course to fulfill his space vision of returning humans to the moon, and sending them onward to Mars, in the next 40 years. Thursday's hearing, held at the Galileo Academy of Science and Technology in San Francisco, California, was part of a series information-gathering sessions conducted by the commission.
"The moon-Mars initiative offers us a tremendous opportunity for education if we make sure from the beginning that teachers see themselves as part of the effort," said Barbara Morgan, NASA's educator astronaut and former schoolteacher, told commissioners during a discussion on education.
Experts in the entertainment industry also cited the importance of education in sustaining NASA's space vision, suggesting the space agency use television, radio and even video game outlets to reach the American public-at-large.
Space education
Morgan told commissioners that the best way to inspire the next generation of astronauts and scientists is to start at their education source.
"During the average school year, teachers might spend more time with a child than parents," Morgan said. "No one can offer the lifelong enthusiasm better than someone who is teaching a subject for which he or she has a passion for."
Education experts said that while NASA must obviously encourage students to pursue careers in science and mathematics, areas critical not only to the space vision but to the nation's technological growth as a whole, the agency must also stress the continuous need for new and qualified teachers.
"We are facing a teacher shortage in mathematics and science," said Jim McMurtray, executive director of the National Alliance of State Science and Mathematics Coalitions. "And a scientifically illiterate populace is something that no nation can afford."
None of the commission members doubted the importance to reach out to teachers as well as students, citing the political importance the a strong base of space educators, children and parents could have in pushing NASA's space vision forward through the upcoming years.
"Children, teachers and parents represent a grass roots community that could, should and ultimately must stand up and say this is important," commissioner Carleton Fiorina told Morgan and the rest of the education panel. "And you're in a position to help make that happen."
Morgan told commissioners that efforts like NASA's Explorer School program, which is aimed at stressing the importance of math and science while showing students the importance NASA at the same time, are successful, but the country needs more of them.
The Explorer School program currently includes just 50 schools, over three years, nation-wide, though the agency plans to expand school membership in upcoming years.
Encouraging spaceship builders
Sustaining a long-term space exploration mission also depends on a consistent workforce built of educated, experienced professionals who believe in NASA's mission, aerospace experts told the commission.
"The skills, training and experience of this workforce can easily be lost forever," said Reecie Giesecke, president of the Texas chapter of the aerospace union UAW Local 848.
Giesecke said there have already been complications. When members of his union received a NASA order for heat tiles used on the space shuttle's leading edge following the Columbia accident, they realized that most of those workers experienced in tile preparation were retired.
"We had to find former employees who still had the training necessary to make these tiles and were willing to come back to work and train others," he said. "We were lucky to find one of these workers."
In order to prevent loss of skills critical to the space effort, aerospace experts recommended a number of education-based initiatives for NASA's pace vision, including a mentor program that matches retired aerospace manufacturers with students and teachers.
Promoting a real mission to Mars
A panel of entertainment professionals told the commission that under the new space vision, NASA is planning to do what only actors have accomplished to date: send and return a crewed spacecraft to the red planet.
But Mars movies only last about two hours and planning for a real-life manned mission will take decades, the panel said, adding that NASA could tap into video, audio and computer game outlets to keep the public interested.
"We're talking about a campaign that's sustainable, like public service announcements," said John Bernardoni, a television producer with Ancient Mariner Media.
By releasing timely and targeted entertainment features on all media outlets, NASA could likely keep the public's attention while it pushes forth with its manned missions, the panel said. Branching out into interactive formats, such as computer and video games, could also hook younger audiences into the space vision.
Famed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who addressed the commission early on in the hearing, said it is imperative that NASA not only send human to Mars, but catapult the human race out into the stars.
"We cannot just say we'll stay here and take care of things," Bradbury said. "Because if we stay here, we will stay forever and Earth will eventually become a mausoleum."
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