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The Future of Space Travel (December 27, 2002, One)

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Program Summary

Sean O’Keefe is NASA’s administrator, and as a self-professed “bean counter,” he’s the one who has to balance the missions with their costs in both dollars and human impact. He says the goals of the agency during the era of the Apollo moon missions have stood the test of the years. They are “to understand and protect our home planet, to explore the universe and search for life, and to inspire the next generation of explorers.”

His more immediate goals include managing the construction and maintenance of the International Space Station, overseeing missions to Mars and other bodies in our solar system, and developing new technologies that can help propel humans into space farther and faster. Overcoming the effects of living and working in a microgravity environment is paramount in his mind. The longer people can live in low gravity with no ill effects, the more they can accomplish.

Finally, O’Keefe wants to inspire the next generation of NASA scientists and astronauts. The agency plans to recruit more teachers into the fold and to encourage students to excel in math and the sciences so that they might someday join in NASA’s mission. “Opportunities for folks coming into the agency as scientists and engineers have never been greater,” he says.

Guests

Sean O'Keefe, administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Washington, DC

Related Links and Resources

NASA.gov: “Administrator O’Keefe’s Vision for NASA”

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

For Discussion:

• What are some of NASA’s accomplishments?
• Can you name any technologies or inventions pioneered by NASA that have crossed into non-space applications?
• What are some of the physical effects of living in a microgravity environment?
• How long would it take a manned craft to get to Mars and back? How long to reach the edge of the solar system?
• How will an Orbital Space Plane differ from the space shuttle? What advantages might it offer?
• If you were interested in a career at NASA, what might you study to prepare for it?

Activities

Necessity is the mother of invention. What do a heart pacemaker, an infrared thermometer, and a Nerf glider have in common? These everyday items were all derived from NASA technologies. There have been many such “spinoff” technologies since the space program began. In the search to protect astronauts and explore space, NASA scientists have come up with technologies ranging from light-hearted to life-saving. Read about several of them in a PDF file that you can download at Aerospace Technology Spinoffs. The Space Technology Hall of Fame allows students to explore “blue ribbon” inventions from 1988 to the present. NASA Jet Propulsion Lab’s (JPL’s) Technology page gives students a glimpse of inventions in the works today that may become commonplace tomorrow. Discuss the importance of the technologies in space exploration and in everyday applications. Do students think the technologies would have been developed had it not been for the space program? How does the need to survive in and understand an unknown environment such as space prompt discovery and invention?

What’s in a name? Go to JPL’s Future Missions page to see what’s around the next planet in space exploration. Of special interest is the launch in the summer of 2003 of two Mars Rovers. Your students can enter NASA’s Name the Rovers Contest to bestow monikers on one or both Rovers. They must decide on the names and write an essay explaining why those names should be chosen.

Career moves. Help develop the astronauts, scientists, and engineers of tomorrow’s space program by encouraging students to explore careers that could lead them to the stars. The activity When I Grow Up … familiarizes students with various NASA careers and provides background information on real NASA scientists and others who have made space exploration their career. The Teachers and Parents page of NASA’s Astronomy Adventures site contains several lessons and resources on careers, as does Spacelink’s Careers page.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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