Criticism: Delays to completing the International Space Station

Criticism: Delays to completing the International Space Station

Currently, the International Space Station (ISS) relies on the Shuttle fleet for all major construction shipments. The Shuttle fleet lost two spacecraft and fourteen astronauts in two disasters: Challenger in 1986, and Columbia in 2003. While the 1986 loss was mitigated by building the Space Shuttle Endeavour from replacement parts, NASA has no plans to build another shuttle to replace the second loss, and instead will be transitioning to a new spacecraft called Orion.
The ISS was envisioned to eventually have a crew of seven, but following the Columbia Shuttle accident, the permanent space station crew of three was reduced to two, comprising one Russian and one American for six months at a time. The result was that European and Japanese astronauts could not stay for longer missions. As of 2006, the station has been restored to a crew of three, and plans call for an increase to six in 2009, during Expedition 19.

NASA Advisory Council

NASA Advisory Council

With the creation of NASA in 1958, the NACA was abolished, and its research centers. Ames Research Center, Lewis Research Center, and Langley Aeronautical Laboratory--were incorporated within the new space and aeronautics agency along with some elements of the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. In 1967, Congress directed NASA to form an Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) to advise the NASA Administrator on safety issues and hazards in NASA's aerospace programs. In addition, there were the Space Program Advisory Council and the Research and Technology Advisory Council.
In 1977, these were all combined to form the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) which is the successor to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

Spaceflight missions

Spaceflight missions
NASA has had many successful space missions and programs, including over 150 manned missions. Many of the notable manned missions were from the Apollo program, a sequence of missions to the Moon which included the achievement of the first man to walk on the Moon, during Apollo 11. The Space Shuttle program has also been a success, despite the loss of two of the Space Shuttles, Challenger and Columbia which resulted in the deaths of their entire crews. The Space Shuttles were able to dock with the space station Mir while it was operational, and are now able to dock with the International Space Station – a joint project of many space agencies. NASA's future plans for space exploration are with the project Constellation.
There have been many unmanned NASA space missions as well, including at least one that visited each of the other seven planets in our Solar System, and four missions (Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2) that have left our solar system. There has been much recent success with the missions to Mars, including the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA remains the only space agency to have launched space missions to the outer solar system beyond the asteroid belt.

Mission statement

Mission statement

NASA's 50th Anniversary Logo.From 2002, NASA’s mission statement, used in budget and planning documents, read: “To understand and protect our home planet; to explore the universe and search for life; to inspire the next generation of explorers ... as only NASA can.” In early February 2006, the statement was altered, with the phrase “to understand and protect our home planet” deleted. Some outside observers believe the change was intended to preserve the civilian nature of the agency, while others suspected it was related to criticism of government policy on global warming by NASA scientists like James Hansen. NASA officials have denied any connection to the latter, pointing to new priorities for space exploration. The chair and ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs wrote NASA Administrator Griffin on July 31, 2006 expressing concerns about the change. NASA also canceled or delayed a number of earth science missions in 2006

Apollo program

Apollo program
Main article: Apollo program
The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. Apollo 1 ended tragically when all the astronauts inside died due to fire in the command module during an experimental simulation. Because of this incident, there were a few unmanned tests before men boarded the spacecraft. Apollo 8 and Apollo 10 tested various components while orbiting the Moon, and returned photographs. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11, landed the first men on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but did return photographs. The six missions that landed on the Moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments included soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields, and solar wind experiments.

NASA's Ares I First Stage Igniter Successfully Tested

NASA's Ares I First Stage Igniter Successfully Tested

The Marshall Center's Ares Projects has completed the successful test firing of the igniter that will be used to start NASA's Ares I first stage motor. The test paves the way for the first ground test of the Ares I first stage later this year. The test, conducted at ATK Launch Systems test facilities near Promontory, Utah, generated a flame almost 200 feet in length. Initial data showed the igniter performed as expected.

Exploration at NASA

Exploration at NASA
At the core of NASA's future space exploration is a return to the moon, where we will build a sustainable long term human presence. As the space shuttle approaches retirement and the International Space Station nears completion, NASA is building the next fleet of vehicles to bring astronauts back to the moon, and possibly to Mars and beyond.