Why Space Research and Space Exploration?:NASA Ames Research Center ContributionsTo NASA's 50 Years

摘要

Why explore? Among the many reasons, we explore because it fuels a useful scientific and technological foundation that enables a flourishing economy. Taking humans to the edge of their known world both requires new technology, and returns radical new insights into the world. Without exploration, science and engineering became routine and uninteresting. In this paper we will explore how the NASA Ames Research Center, which is nearly 70 years old, has contributed scientific and engineering expertise to the exploration missions at the heart of NASA over its 50 year history. We will cover Ames's work on the manned space programs, the Space Shuttle, aeronautics, lunar science, planetary exploration, Mars, and the prospects of life in the universe. We end with a cautionary tale of economic decline should exploration stop.