Revitalizing NASA's Suborbital Program: Advancing Science, Driving Innovation, and Developing Workforce

摘要

The Space Studies Board (SSB) was requested by NASA to conduct a review of the suborbital mission capabilities of NASA in the NASA Authorization Act of 2008 (Section 505). The act expresses the sense of Congress that suborbital flight activities, including the use of sounding rockets, aircraft, and high-altitude balloons, and suborbital reusable launch vehicles, offer valuable opportunities to advance science, train the next generation of scientists and engineers, and provide opportunities for participants in the programs to acquire skills in systems engineering and systems integration that are critical to maintaining the nation's leadership in space programs. Further, the act finds it in the national interest to expand the size of NASA's suborbital research program and to consider it for increased funding. The Space Studies Board established the ad hoc Committee on NASA's Suborbital Research Capabilities to assess the current state and potential of NASA's suborbital research programs and conduct a review of NASA's capabilities in this area. The scope of this review included: Existing programs that make use of suborbital flights; The status, capability, and availability of suborbital platforms and the infrastructure and workforce necessary to support them; Existing or planned launch facilities for suborbital missions; and Opportunities for scientific research, training, and educational collaboration in the conduct of suborbital missions by NASA, especially as they relate to the findings and recommendations of the National Research Council's decadal surveys and recent report Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration.