WASHINGTON -- During the next five years, NASA technology development efforts should focus on 16 high-priority technologies and their associated top technical challenges, says a new report from the National Research Council. In addition, the report recommends emphasis on flight demonstrations for technologies that are nearly ready and a 10 percent allocation from the existing program budget to advance and refine early emerging technologies.
"It has been years since NASA has had a vigorous, broad-based program in advanced space technology development," said Raymond Colladay, president of RC Space Enterprises Inc., and chair of the committee that wrote the report. "Success in executing future NASA space missions will depend on advanced developments that should already be under way."
The 16 high-priority technologies were selected with input from the external technical community as part of NASA's draft technology roadmaps and include items such as radiation mitigation; guidance, navigation, and control; nuclear systems for both power generation and transportation; and solar power generation (see full table below). These priorities were chosen to align with three main facets of NASA's overall mission: extending and sustaining human activities beyond low Earth orbit; exploring the evolution of the solar system and the potential for life elsewhere; and expanding our understanding of Earth and the universe.
The report sets forth an evaluation framework to prioritize which technologies to emphasize in the next five years of the 20- to 30-year window. NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) should establish a rigorous process to select among competing technologies at appropriate milestones in order to ensure that the most promising ones receive sufficient attention and resources. The report also recommends that OCT pursue cooperative development of high-priority technologies with other government agencies and the U.S. commercial space industry to leverage resources.
For technologies deemed closer to implementation, flight demonstrations, while expensive, are sometimes essential to transition a technology to an operational system, the report stipulates. Such technology flight demonstrations should be considered on a case-by-case basis when there is ample support from the user, including a reasonable level of cost-sharing.
To further foster collaboration, OCT should make the scientific and technical data that NASA has acquired from past and present space missions and technology development more readily available to U.S. industry, the report adds. This should include companies that do not have an ongoing working relationship with NASA and that are pursuing their own commercial goals, which may differ from NASA's science and exploration missions.
"If NASA can sustain implementation of its technology roadmaps -- shaped by the priorities recommended in this study -- they will form a solid foundation," said Colladay. "This foundation will support a breadth of NASA missions, as well as commercial and national needs, and provide the agency with the means to achieve its long-term goals."
The following table identifies NASA's highest-priority technologies for research and development over the next five years:
Objective A
Extend and sustain human activities beyond low Earth orbit
Objective B
Explore the evolution of the solar system and the potential for life elsewhere
Objective C
Expand understanding of Earth and the universe
Radiation Mitigation for Human Spaceflight
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Optical Systems (Instruments and Sensors)
Long-Duration Crew Health
Solar Power Generation (Photovoltaic and Thermal)
High-Contrast Imaging and Spectroscopy Technologies
Environmental Control and Life Support Systems
Electric Propulsion
Detectors and Focal Planes
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Fission Power Generation
Lightweight and Multifunctional Materials and Structures
(Nuclear) Thermal Propulsion
Entry, Descent and Landing Thermal Protection Systems
Active Thermal Control of Cryogenic Systems
Lightweight and Multifunctional Materials and Structures
In-Situ Instruments and Sensors
Electric Propulsion
Fission Power Generation
Lightweight and Multifunctional Materials and Structures
Solar Power Generation (Photovoltaic and Thermal)
Entry, Descent, and Landing Thermal Protection Systems
Extreme Terrain Mobility
The study was sponsored by NASA. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org. A committee roster follows.
Contacts:
Lorin Hancock, Media Relations Officer
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Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
Pre-publication copies of NASA Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities: Restoring NASA's Technological Edge and Paving the Way for a New Era in Space are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
Space Studies Board
and
Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board
Committee on the NASA Technology Roadmap
Raymond S. Colladay (chair)
President
RC Space Enterprises Inc.
Golden, Colo.
John D. Anderson Jr.1
Curator of Aerodynamics
Aeronautics Division
National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C.
James B. Armor Jr.
Major General
U.S. Air Force (retired), and
Vice President of Strategy and Business Development
ATK Spacecraft Systems and Services
Great Falls, Va.
Edward F. Crawley1
Ford Professor of Engineering, and
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and of Engineering Systems
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge
Ravi B. Deo
Founder and Principal
EMBR
Cerritos, Calif.
Walt Faulconer
President
Strategic Space Solutions LLC
Columbia, Md.
Philip D. Hattis
Laboratory Technical Staff
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc.
Cambridge, Mass.
Tamara E. Jernigan
Deputy Principal Associate Director
Weapons and Complex Integration
E.O. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, Calif.
John C. Karas
Vice President and General Manager for Human Space Flight
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co.
Littleton, Colo.
John M. Klineberg
CEO
Swales Aerospace (retired), and
President
Loral Space and Communications Ltd. (retired)
Redwood City, Calif.
Ivett A. Leyva
Senior Aerospace Engineer
Missile Propulsion Division
Air Force Research Laboratory
Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Lester L. Lyles1
Independent Consultant
The Lyles Group
Vienna, Va.
H. Jay Melosh2
Distinguished Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Physics, and Aerospace Engineering
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Ind.
Daniel R. Mulville
Consultant
Mulville Consulting Services
Vienna, Va.
Dava J. Newman
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Technology and Policy Program
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge
Richard R. Paul
Independent Consultant
Bellevue, Wash.
Liselotte J. Schioler
Director
Research Program Development
National Institute of Aerospace
Hampton, Va.
Gerald Schubert2
Distinguished Professor of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
Department of Earth and Space Sciences
University of California
Los Angeles
STAFF
Alan Angleman
Study Director
1 Member, National Academy of Engineering
2 Member, National Academy of Sciences