Roger D. LauniusNational Air and Space Museum

Smithsonian Institution

2

Sixty Years Ago…

Human Earth orbital flights Winged reusable spacecraft Permanently inhabited space station Human lunar exploration Human expeditions to Mars

Fifty Years Ago…

JFK 5-25-1961 Speech-LV-1998-00007.wmv

Forty Years Ago…$25.4 billion cost.Six successful

landings, 1969-1972.Three circumlunar

flights (Apollo 8, 10, 13).

Technological advance pathbreaking.

Scientific return astounding.

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10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972

Public Support for Apollo

Apollo Worth Cost

Approve of Apollo

Spending Too Much on Space

What Do We Do for an Encore?

Space Task Group Report, 1969. Space Shuttle, approved 1972. Space Station, approved 1984. Return to Moon. Mars expedition.

Space Exploration Initiative, July 1989. Back to the Moon, and on to Mars.

Vision for Space Exploration, January 2004. Back to the Moon, on to Mars, and retire Space Shuttle.

Space Exploration in the 21st Century, April 2010.  Emphasize ISS, commercial cargo and crew, R&D.

Build a SpaceplaneThirty Years Ago…

Then Build a Space Station…Ten Years Ago…

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

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1.0

1.2

NASA Budget as a Percentage of Federal Budget,

1990-2011

A Few Great Accomplishments

Tragedies: Challenger 1986 and Columbia 2003

Expectations

12

Expectations…A Dual Edged Sword

Where’s My Jetpack?

Historic Drivers for Exploration

GodGoldGlory

Are We on the Verge of 2001: A Space Odyssey?

Might we Incorporate LEO into normal human activities?