A Space Program Worthy of a Great Nation

COFFEE_KLATCH · Invited

Abstract

America’s civil space program is in many respects at a crossroads. The initial competitive force driving that program was the Soviet space effort. Today, in contrast, Russia provides the only means America will have to put astronauts in space for the next half-dozen years. The competition within the U.S. between robotic discovery and human exploration continues—as does the practice of setting goals substantially greater than the means available to achieve them. And the ``size-scale" continues to collapse, as the study of the largest things of which we know is found to have more and more in common with the study of the smallest things of which we know. Several major independent studies have been conducted over the years seeking to point the way forward. It was the author’s privilege to participate in two of these reviews sponsored by the White House, including the most recent one. In this presentation the results of that work will be summarized and alternative futures of the U.S. space program will be postulated.

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Authors

  • Kawtar Hafidi

    Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Department of Engineering and Science Education, and Department of Mathematical Sciences, Clemson University, Wayne State University, Rutgers University, University of New Mexico, ANL, JAEA, ORNL, McGill U., Northwestern U., U. of Manitoba, U. of Chicago, McGill, TUM, Maryland, LLNL, Yale, Chicago, Northwestern, Manitoba, University of Kentucky, Colorado School of Mines, University of Tennessee, Ohio University, Louisiana State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Illinois, C.U., Southern Methodist University, Osaka City University, Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University, NIST, NASA GSFC, University of Maryland, Institute of Physics of the University of S\~ao Paulo, Polytechnic School of the University of S\~ao Paulo, Physics Department, University of Maryland, University of Washington, Universit\`a di Roma Tor Vergata, MIT, Columbia University, California State University Long Beach, Loyola University Chicago, Longwood University, American Institute of Physics/Society of Physics Students, Texas Christian University, University of Minnesota, Washington State University, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and LIGO, Caltech; Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur, The University of Texas at Brownsville, LIGO Caltech, University of Florida, University of Texas at Brownsville, University of Chicago, Fermilab, Ohio State University, University of Hawaii-Manoa, SLAC, University of Science and Technology of China, Indiana University, Michigan State University, University of Kansas, University of South Carolina, College of William and Mary, University of California, Berkeley, Universite Bordeaux, CNRS/IN2P3, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Cornell University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, HEPHY Vienna, CERN, Vanderbuilt University, Princeton University, Duke University, University of Wisconsin, Stockholm University, Santa Clara University, Stanford, University of California Berkeley, Department of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Retired Chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, State University of New York at Buffalo, Hope College, University of Wisconsin - River Falls, Sciprint.org, Inha University, APS President and Princeton University, Drexel University, Laboratory for Physical Sciences, University of Maryland, Joint Quantum Institute, Tokyo University of Science, UNAM, Rowan University, Duke U., Temple U./Jefferson Lab, U. of Virginia, U. of Saskatchewan, Insitute of Modern Physics, CAS, TUNL/Duke, University of Notre Dame, Yale University, Hofstra University, Texas A\&M University, Indiana Univeristy, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Joint Institute for Nuclear Reserach, Georgia State University, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, Gettysburg College, National Institute of Standards and Technology, The George Washington University, Indiana University/IUCF, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, George Washington University, North Carolina State University/TUNL, IUCF/NIST, Georga State University, National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST, ORAU, TTU, Rutgers, CO School of Mines, UTK, University of Naples and INFN Naples, Italy, Second University of Naples and INFN Naples, Italy, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771, Rudolph Peierls Center for Theoretical Physics, Oxford University, UCSD, Boston University, JAEA, 1233 Watanuki, Takasaki, Gunma 370-1292, Japan, IMR, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Sendai 980-8577, Japan, ADMX Collaboration, ADMX collaboration, Argonne National Laboratory, The Algebra Project, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Acting Executive Officer of the Education and Human Resources Directorate, NSF, University of Michigan, Tulane Univ., Univ. of Wisconsin Madison, NIST; Indiana Univ., Univ. of North Carolina at Wilmington, UNC-Wilmington, Tulane U., University of Delaware, ITER Cadarache Joint Work Site, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Asstrophysics, Bethel College, Kansas, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL USA, Pr, Dr, Superconix Inc, University of Maryland, Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo. Uruguay, Univ. Paris Diderot, Univ. Pierre et Marie Curie, University of Jena, University of Wisconsin -- Milwaukee, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, U. of Connecticut, Jefferson Lab, Los Alamos National Lab, Departments of Chemisitry and Physics University of Rochester, Cyclotron Institute, Texas A\&M University, Texas A\&M University, College Station, Texas, IN2P3 Orsay, France, A. Soltan Institute for Nuclear Studies, Warsaw, Poland, Department of Physics, Florida State University, University of Manchester, Manchester, Bonn University, Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, African Union Headquarters, NASA GSFC, U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University, Caltech, Brandeis, BU, UPenn