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By NASA
The Apollo 11 mission in July 1969 completed the goal set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth before the end of the decade. At the time, NASA planned nine more Apollo Moon landing missions of increasing complexity and an Earth orbiting experimental space station. No firm human space flight plans existed once these missions ended in the mid-1970s. After taking office in 1969, President Richard M. Nixon chartered a Space Task Group (STG) to formulate plans for the nation’s space program for the coming decades. The STG’s proposals proved overly ambitious and costly to the fiscally conservative President who chose to take no action on them.
Left: President John F. Kennedy addresses a Joint Session of Congress in May 1961. Middle: President Kennedy addresses a crowd at Rice University in Houston in September 1962. Right: President Lyndon B. Johnson addresses a crowd during a March 1968 visit to the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in Houston.
On May 25, 1961, before a Joint Session of Congress, President John F. Kennedy committed the United States to the goal, before the decade was out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. President Kennedy reaffirmed the commitment during an address at Rice University in Houston in September 1962. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who played a leading role in establishing NASA in 1958, under Kennedy served as the Chair of the National Aeronautics and Space Council. Johnson worked with his colleagues in Congress to ensure adequate funding for the next several years to provide NASA with the needed resources to meet that goal.
Following Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, now President Johnson continued his strong support to ensure that his predecessor’s goal of a Moon landing could be achieved by the stipulated deadline. But with increasing competition for scarce federal resources from the conflict in southeast Asia and from domestic programs, Johnson showed less interest in any space endeavors to follow the Apollo Moon landings. NASA’s annual budget peaked in 1966 and began a steady decline three years before the agency met Kennedy’s goal. From a budgetary standpoint, the prospects of a vibrant, post-Apollo space program didn’t look all that rosy, the triumphs of the Apollo missions of 1968 and 1969 notwithstanding.
Left: On March 5, 1969, President Richard M. Nixon, left, introduces Thomas O. Paine as the NASA Administrator nominee, as Vice President Spiro T. Agnew looks on. Middle: Proposed lunar landing sites through Apollo 20, per August 1969 NASA planning. Right: An illustration of the Apollo Applications Program experimental space station that later evolved into Skylab.
Less than a month after assuming the Presidency in January 1969, Richard M. Nixon appointed a Space Task Group (STG), led by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew as the Chair of the National Aeronautics and Space Council, to report back to him on options for the American space program in the post-Apollo years. Members of the STG included NASA Acting Administrator Thomas O. Paine (confirmed by the Senate as administrator on March 20), the Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology. At the time, the only approved human space flight programs included lunar landing missions through Apollo 20 and three long-duration missions to an experimental space station based on Apollo technology that evolved into Skylab.
Beyond a general vague consensus that the United States human space flight program should continue, no approved projects existed once these missions ended by about 1975. With NASA’s intense focus on achieving the Moon landing within President Kennedy’s time frame, long-term planning for what might follow the Apollo Program garnered little attention. During a Jan. 27, 1969, meeting at NASA chaired by Acting Administrator Paine, a general consensus emerged that the next step after the Moon landing should involve the development of a 12-person earth-orbiting space station by 1975, followed by an even larger outpost capable of housing up to 100 people “with a multiplicity of capabilities.” In June, with the goal of the Moon landing almost at hand, NASA’s internal planning added the development of a space shuttle by 1977 to support the space station, the development of a lunar base by 1976, and the highly ambitious idea that the U.S. should prepare for a human mission to Mars as early as the 1980s. NASA presented these proposals to the STG for consideration in early July in a report titled “America’s Next Decades in Space.”
Left: President Richard M. Nixon, right, greets the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the U.S.S. Hornet after their return from the Moon. Middle: The cover page of the Space Task Group (STG) Report to President Nixon. Right: Meeting in the White House to present the STG Report to President Nixon. Image credit: courtesy Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
Still bathing in the afterglow of the successful Moon landing, the STG presented its 29-page report “The Post-Apollo Space Program: Directions for the Future” to President Nixon on Sep. 15, 1969, during a meeting at the White House. In its Conclusions and Recommendations section, the report noted that the United States should pursue a balanced robotic and human space program but emphasized the importance of the latter, with a long-term goal of a human mission to Mars before the end of the 20th century. The report proposed that NASA develop new systems and technologies that emphasized commonality, reusability, and economy in its future programs. To accomplish these overall objectives, the report presented three options:
Option I – this option required more than a doubling of NASA’s budget by 1980 to enable a human Mars mission in the 1980s, establishment of a lunar orbiting space station, a 50-person Earth orbiting space station, and a lunar base. The option required a decision by 1971 on development of an Earth-to-orbit transportation system to support the space station. The option maintained a strong robotic scientific and exploration program.
Option II – this option maintained NASA’s budget at then current levels for a few years, then anticipated a gradual increase to support the parallel development of both an earth orbiting space station and an Earth-to-orbit transportation system, but deferred a Mars mission to about 1986. The option maintained a strong robotic scientific and exploration program, but smaller than in Option I.
Option III – essentially the same as Option II but deferred indefinitely the human Mars mission.
In separate letters, both Agnew and Paine recommended to President Nixon to choose Option II.
Left: Illustration of a possible space shuttle, circa 1969. Middle: Illustration of a possible 12-person space station, circa 1969. Right: An August 1969 proposed mission scenario for a human mission to Mars.
The White House released the report to the public at a press conference on Sep. 17 with Vice President Agnew and Administrator Paine in attendance. Although he publicly supported a strong human spaceflight program, enjoyed the positive press he received when photographed with Apollo astronauts, and initially sounded positive about the STG options, President Nixon ultimately chose not to act on the report’s recommendations. Nixon considered these plans too grandiose and far too expensive and relegated NASA to one America’s domestic programs without the special status it enjoyed during the 1960s. Even some of the already planned remaining Moon landing missions fell victim to the budgetary axe.
On Jan. 4, 1970, NASA had to cancel Apollo 20 since the Skylab program needed its Saturn V rocket to launch the orbital workshop. In 1968, then NASA Administrator James E. Webb had turned off the Saturn V assembly line and none remained beyond the original 15 built under contract. In September 1970, reductions in NASA’s budget forced the cancellation of two more Apollo missions, and in 1971 President Nixon considered cancelling two more. He reversed himself and they flew as Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 in 1972, the final Apollo Moon landing missions.
Left: NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, left, and President Richard M. Nixon announce the approval to proceed with space shuttle development in 1972. Middle: First launch of the space shuttle in 1981. Right: In 1984, President Ronald W. Reagan directs NASA to build a space station.
More than two years after the STG submitted its report, in January 1972 President Nixon directed NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher to develop the Space Transportation System, the formal name for the space shuttle, the only element of the recommendations to survive the budgetary challenges. NASA anticipated the first orbital flight of the program in 1979, with the actual first flight occurring two years later. Twelve years elapsed after Nixon’s shuttle decision when President Ronald W. Reagan approved the development of a space station, the second major component of the STG recommendation. 14 years later, the first element of that program reached orbit. In those intervening years, NASA had redesigned the original American space station, leading to the development of a multinational orbiting laboratory called the International Space Station. Humans have inhabited the space station continuously for the past quarter century, conducting world class and cutting edge scientific and engineering research. Work on the space station helps enable future programs, returning humans to the Moon and later sending them on to Mars and other destinations.
The International Space Station as it appeared in 2021.
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By NASA
NASA/Frank Michaux On Aug. 21, 2024, engineers and technicians deployed and tested NASA’s Europa Clipper giant solar arrays. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high.
Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch Oct. 10, 2024, on the first mission to conduct a detailed science investigation of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Scientists predict Europa has a salty ocean beneath its icy crust that could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.
Learn how this spacecraft’s solar arrays will power flybys.
Image credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
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By NASA
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is seen orbiting Earth in this 13-second exposure photograph, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, from Arlington, Virginia. The mission team confirmed the spacecraft’s unique composite boom system unfurled its reflective sail on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, accomplishing a critical milestone in the agency’s demonstration of next-generation solar sail technology that will allow small spacecraft to “sail on sunlight.” Just as a sailboat is powered by wind in a sail, a spacecraft can use the pressure of sunlight on a solar sail for propulsion. This technology demonstration serves as a pathfinder for future missions powered by solar sail technology.NASA/Bill Ingalls Now that its reflective sail has deployed fully open in orbit, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System can be seen in the night sky from many locations across the world!
Stargazers can join NASA’s #SpotTheSail campaign by using the NASA app on mobile platforms to find out when the spacecraft will be visible at their location. The app, which is free to use and available on iOS and Android, provides a location-specific schedule of upcoming sighting opportunities. A built-in augmented reality tool points users to the location of the spacecraft in real time.
Can you spot the solar sail? Share your viewing experience online using the hashtag #SpotTheSail for a chance to be featured on NASA’s website and social media channels.
Here’s how to use the sighting prediction tool:
Install and open the NASA app on an iOS or Android device. Tap on the “Featured” tab on the bottom navigation bar. Tap on the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System mission from the Featured Missions at the top of the screen. Tap on the “Sightings” tab on the bottom navigation bar. A list of all the upcoming sightings for your location will be displayed. If you are using an iOS device, you can tap on the “Sky View” link for an augmented reality guide to help you locate the spacecraft’s real-time location during the visible pass. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is testing new technologies in low Earth orbit, including a composite boom system that supports a four-piece sail. Not to be confused with solar panels, solar sails allow small spacecraft to “sail on sunlight,” eliminating the need for rocket fuel or other conventional propellants. This propulsion technology can enable low-cost deep space missions to increase access to space.
For ongoing mission updates, follow us on social media:
X: @NASAAmes, @NASA
Facebook: NASA Ames, NASA
Instagram: @NASAAmes, @NASA
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley manages the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System project and designed and built the onboard camera diagnostic system. NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, designed and built the deployable composite booms and solar sail system. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program office based at NASA Ames and led by the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) in Washington, funds and manages the mission. NASA STMD’s Game Changing Development program developed the deployable composite boom technology. Rocket Lab USA, Inc of Long Beach, California, provided launch services. NanoAvionics provided the spacecraft bus.
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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 2 min read
Sol 4294: Return to McDonald Pass
This image was taken by Front Hazard Avoidance Camera (Front Hazcam) aboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on sol 4293 — Martian day 4,293 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — Sept. 3, 2024 at 04:09:27 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024
Curiosity has returned to “McDonald Pass,” a block within Gediz Vallis that we first spotted about a month ago (as seen in the above Front Hazcam image). The block shows some interesting zonation — the distribution of textures and colors into different areas, or zones. We’re hoping that by studying the well-exposed relationships between white, gray, and tan material at this location that we’ll be able to better understand similar relationships that we’ve observed elsewhere. The drive over the weekend got us back to McDonald Pass, but perhaps one step too far. We realized that the best spot to study these zones is directly beneath the rover, so today’s plan includes contact science and a short bump to position the rover for even more science tomorrow.
Today was a rare one-sol plan, to account for the U.S. holiday yesterday. I was on shift as the Long Term Planner and it was a fairly straightforward day once we established the best locations for contact science. The plan starts with a DRT and APXS on the central part of the slab, at a target named “Erin Lake.” Then we have a remote sensing block, which begins with some environmental monitoring to search for dust devils, measure atmospheric opacity, and monitor the movement of fines on the rover deck. The Geology Theme group planned ChemCam LIBS on the darker gray rim of this block at “Paris Lake,” along with a ChemCam passive observation on an interesting dark float block nearby. There’s also a long distance RMI mosaic to assess the yardang unit higher on Mount Sharp, and a Mastcam mosaic to evaluate the textures in a row of large clasts. Later in the afternoon, Curiosity will acquire MAHLI images of Erin Lake and another target, “Picture Puzzle,” which captures the white, gray, and tan zones. Then Curiosity will take a short drive back about 1 meter (about 3.3 feet) to position a white and gray clast in our workspace for even more contact science tomorrow.
Will McDonald Pass be the key to understanding the zonation observed in blocks throughout this region? Stay tuned!
Written by Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center
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