on the U.S. Mars program. The audience reaction surprised me. Our agenda was about the fate of robotic exploration of Mars after the failed missions of 1999. But most of the comments were about human exploration.
Mars beckons, because of its unique connection with the future of humankind, and because of its special relevance to the understanding of life. The pull of a possible human future on the Red Planet is what drives the robotic program. That program is now focused on sample return -- which is the right approach scientifically, but not sufficient to engage both the hearts and minds of people who must support it.
The Mars program should lead toward the all-important human questions. Thus, its goals should include identifying the candidate first human landing sites, and constructing an outpost (robotic and/or human) at the most promising one.
Two years ago, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin initiated a cooperative effort in Mars exploration among three NASA branches (Space Science, Human Spaceflight and Life Sciences). The first step was to put payloads relevant to future human exploration on the
) initiative. But the money never materialized, due to budget cuts and to reluctance in the Clinton administration to identify with human spaceflight to Mars. The resulting lack of resources is one of the chief problems now facing the Mars program.
Mars beckons, because of its unique connection with the future of humankind, and because of its special relevance to the understanding of life.
HEDS money should contribute significantly to Mars exploration. The extra resources are needed; that is one likely conclusion following the recent failures. Those resources will be needed even more for sample return, a necessary precursor to human flight. Moreover, the human and robotic programs should be tied together.
The evolution of a Mars infrastructure in the robotic program, leading to outposts, will enable human spaceflight to be done faster, better and cheaper. Investments now will be relatively small, compared to the benefits for human missions later. Finally, it should be noted that this year the space station will move past its peak funding. What will replace it in the human spaceflight program?
Directing human spaceflight resources toward Mars will give the people involved (at NASA, its contractors and elsewhere) a sense of ownership in Mars exploration.
Moreover, the public is way ahead of NASA, the administration and Congress in this regard. The public has made the connection between human and robotic spaceflight. Why not capitalize on and satisfy that public interest -- not by making a premature political effort to commit to a human Mars mission, but by producing substantive developments that will enable a human mission when the time is right?
A step that could be taken, for example, is to have the robotic program's science teams select the top landing sites for a human mission and begin developing the infrastructure for an outpost.
Imagine sending detailed images from the landing site for all the world's schoolchildren to explore with computers. Imagine hanging posters of the site in every classroom, while steadily building the capability to support the first human flight to Mars. These could be done with data from precursor robot explorers, and would be responsive to public interest in eventual human flight.
The robotic program is having some technical difficulties. It needs more resources. The public wants it to connect with the long-range goal of human exploration. Now is the time for a marriage made in the cosmos -- the human program and the robotic program working together. HEDS money -- significant funds -- should be put into Mars exploration.
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