1. Launching to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond
Ambassador Briefing
02/07
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Launching to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond
Welcome, and thank you for taking this time with me. I would like to share with you some of the exciting things being done by your space program.
Phil Sumrall
March 2, 2007

2. Ambassador Briefing
Today’s Journey
02/07
What NASA’s mission is today, as defined by the Vision for Space Exploration
Mission Objectives for Moon, Mars, and Beyond
Timeline
Vehicle Descriptions
Who will be doing the work to get us there
How you can help
Today I will be explaining:
What NASA’s mission is today, as defined by the Vision for Space Exploration
Why we’re returning to the Moon and going on to Mars
When we expect to take the next steps into the space frontier
What we will do when we get there
How we will get there
Who will be doing the work to get us there
How you, the owners of NASA, benefit from these new adventures and how you can help make this happen
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

3. The Vision for Space Exploration
Ambassador Briefing
The Vision for Space Exploration
02/07
Complete the International Space Station.
Safely fly the Space Shuttle until 2010.
Develop and fly the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) no later than 2014 (goal of 2012).
Return to the Moon no later than 2020.
Extend human presence across the solar system and beyond.
Implement a sustained and affordable human and robotic program.
Develop supporting innovative technologies, knowledge, and infrastructures.
Promote international and commercial participation in exploration.
“The next steps in returning to the Moon and moving onward to Mars, the near-Earth asteroids, and beyond, are crucial in deciding the course of future space exploration. We must understand that these steps are incremental, cumulative, and incredibly powerful in their
ultimate effect.”
– NASA Administrator Michael Griffin October 24, 2006
NASA’s call to action was the Vision for Space Exploration, announced in The primary goals of the Vision are to finish the work NASA began on the International Space Station, retire the Space Shuttle, and build the new spacecraft needed to return people to the Moon and go on to Mars. The importance of the Vision is that it commits NASA and the nation to an agenda of exploration. Alongside this effort, we will continue developing a vigorous program of robotic exploration and technological development to meet the challenges ahead.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

4. Ambassador Briefing
Great Nations Explore!
02/07
Better understand the solar system, the universe, and our place in them.
Expand our sphere of commerce, with direct benefits to life on Earth.
Use the Moon to prepare for future human and robotic missions to Mars and other destinations.
Extend sustained human presence to the moon to enable eventual settlement.
Strengthen existing and create new global partnerships.
Engage, inspire, and educate the next generation of explorers.
So why are we taking these new steps into the unknown? Because it is in the nature of great nations to explore. For instance, Spain in the 16th century and Great Britain in the 19th century greatly expanded their economies and technological capabilities by exploring the far reaches of the globe. Greatness and leadership are realized by constantly challenging ourselves to do more and be more. These challenges include learning more and building more—not just buildings or machines, but organizations and relationships with other nations. Exploring space, for a great nation, is like a child leaving its home to live on its own: it is part of growing up.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

5. NASA’s Exploration Roadmap
Ambassador Briefing
NASA’s Exploration Roadmap
02/07
1st Human Orion Flight 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Initial Orion Capability
Lunar Outpost Buildup
7th Human Lunar Landing
Lunar Robotic Missions
Science Robotic Missions
Demonstrate Commercial
Crew/Cargo for ISS
Mars Expedition Design
Space Shuttle Ops
The President and NASA Administrator Mike Griffin have stated that this next phase of space exploration will be “a journey, not a race.” We do not have any rivals challenging us on the road to space—at least not yet. Instead we must challenge ourselves to develop these vehicles, infrastructure, technologies, and organizations incrementally, deliberately, and within our means. In 1966, at the height of the Apollo program, NASA encompassed 4 percent of the federal budget. Today, with 6/10 of 1% of the budget (15 cents per day per American), we must do more with less. Our capabilities are greater than they were 40 years ago thanks to the knowledge and experience we gained through Apollo and the Space Shuttle.
The timelines for these activities show Space Shuttle operations continuing through 2010, with demonstrations of commercial launches to the International Space Station beginning at that time. Between 2010 and 2014, when Ares I is scheduled for its first launch to ISS, we will continue to depend on our Russian partners to provide crew and cargo launches. We anticipate the next human landing on the Moon to occur by 2020.
Orion CEV Development
Ares I Development
Ares/Orion Production and Operations
Early Design Activity
Lunar Lander Development
Ares V Development
Earth Departure Stage Development
Surface Systems Development
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6. The Moon The First Step to Mars and Beyond
Ambassador Briefing
The Moon The First Step to Mars and Beyond
02/07
Gaining significant experience in operating away from Earth’s environment
Space will no longer be a destination visited briefly and tentatively
“Living off the land”
Human support systems
Developing technologies needed for opening the space frontier.
Crew and cargo launch vehicles (125 metric ton class)
Earth ascent/entry system – Crew Exploration Vehicle
Conduct fundamental science
Astronomy, physics, astrobiology historical geology, exobiology
There have been many paper studies and books suggesting how we could go to Mars directly; so why are we going back to the Moon first? Because, quite frankly, we (as an agency and a nation) are out of practice exploring. We need to relearn how to walk before we can run. We need to build up our muscles again and build a foundation of experience by proving ourselves on a smaller job first before we take on the much bigger job of going to Mars. Going to the Moon is still very difficult all by itself; and while lunar missions will be three to seven days, missions to Mars will take months. Every part and person in the Apollo program had to work perfectly to ensure safe landings on the Moon, and every mission, even the most successful, was a true test of humans and machines. What we learn in reaching for the Moon will answer important scientific questions and will teach us how we can explore the planet Mars in a better, more reliable manner.
Next Step in Fulfilling Our Destiny As Explorers
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

7. There Are Many Places To Explore
Ambassador Briefing
There Are Many Places To Explore
02/07
North Pole + 17
Central Farside
Highlands + 21 +
Aristarchus Plateau 13 3 15 17 +
Rima Bode
Mare Tranquillitatis 24 + 9
Mare Smythii 20 +
Oceanus
Procellarum + 6 16 1 3 5 11 12 14 16
Orientale Basin
Floor
The Lunar Surface Access Module, or LSAM, unlike the Apollo Lunar Modules, which could land only near the equator, will be designed to land anywhere on the Moon. This will be an important capability because exciting discoveries were made by robotic explorers in the 1990s, which suggest that hydrogen—in the form of water ice—might be located at the lunar poles. The current baseline mission for future lunar exploration would be to place an outpost on the rim of Shackleton Crater near the Lunar South Pole. This location was selected because concentrations of hydrogen were found there and because the site is in daylight for over 80% of the lunar month, making the outpost supportable by solar power. If we find ice on the Moon, it could be used to manufacture water itself, as well as breathing oxygen for a permanent base and hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel. While future robotic explorers will give us more information about the nature of hydrogen on the Moon, it will most likely take a human being walking around with a rock hammer to find the real evidence and put together a true picture of what is up there.
We Can Land Anywhere on the Moon! + 7
South Pole-Aitken Basin
Floor +
Luna
Surveyor +
Apollo
South Pole
Near Side
Far Side
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8. Our Exploration Fleet Earth Departure Stage Orion Crew Exploration
Ambassador Briefing
Our Exploration Fleet
02/07
Earth Departure Stage
Orion
Crew Exploration
Vehicle
Ares V
Cargo Launch Vehicle
The journeys to the Moon and Mars will require a variety of vehicles, including the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle, the Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle, the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, and the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM). The architecture for lunar missions will use two launches, with the crew going up on one vehicle, and the lunar lander and the Earth Departure Stage going up on another.
The crew launch vehicle has been named Ares I—the ancient Greek name for Mars—anticipating one of its future destinations, while the cargo launch vehicle has been named Ares V. The “I” and “V” designations pay homage to the Apollo Saturn I and Saturn V launch vehicles.
Ares I is a “single stick” vehicle stack designed to carry the human crew into orbit. It is being designed to carry crew or cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and to carry the crew to rendezvous with the Ares V Earth Departure Stage and LSAM.
The Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle carries the LSAM into orbit and provides the propulsion to push Orion and LSAM toward the Moon.
The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle carries the crew into orbit, where it docks with the LSAM before heading for the Moon. It is the same shape as the Apollo capsule, but has enough space to carry up to six astronauts for an ISS mission or four astronauts to the Moon. Along with more advanced electronics, Orion also has more than two-and-a-half times the interior space of the original Apollo Command Module. When Orion and LSAM reach the Moon, Orion remains in orbit on “automatic pilot” while the crew descends to the surface in the LSAM.
The LSAM will take the four crew members to the surface, where it will serve as the crew’s habitat for up to a week on a lunar sortie mission. Once the mission is over, the upper portion of the LSAM launches the crew into lunar orbit and then docks with Orion. Once crew and cargo have been transferred back to the Orion, the LSAM is discarded and allowed to crash onto the Moon’s surface while the crew returns to Earth in Orion.
Lunar Lander
Ares I
Crew Launch Vehicle
ELO Ambassador Briefing – 8
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

9. Ambassador Briefing
02/07
Building on a Foundation of Proven Technologies – Launch Vehicle Comparisons –
Crew
Lunar
Lander
Lander
Orion CEV
Earth Departure
Stage (EDS) (1 J-2X)
499k lb LOx/LH2
S-IVB
(1 J-2 engine)
240k lb LOx/LH2
Upper Stage
(1 J-2X)
280k lb LOx/LH2
S-II
(5 J-2 engines)
1M lb LOx/LH2
5-Segment Reusable Solid Rocket Booster (RSRB)
Core Stage
(5 RS-68 Engines)
3.1M lb LOx/LH2
In order to reach the Moon and Mars within our planned timeline and also within our allowable budget, NASA is building upon the best of our known space transportation systems. The Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles use many technologies drawn from Apollo and the Space Shuttle. The five-segment RSRBs are bigger, more powerful versions of the four-segment RSRBs that the Shuttle uses today. While larger, much of the hardware on these engines will be identical. This is a cost and time savings, as we can use existing manufacturing techniques and personnel to build them. Proven hardware designs also increase vehicle reliability and safety.
The J-2 engine was used for the upper stages of the Saturn V moon rocket and has undergone continual improvements over the years—most recently, the turbopumps for a version called the J-2S were used to test a linear aerospike engine on the X-33 program. Thanks to more advanced components and more powerful turbomachinery, the J-2X will have 60,000 pounds more thrust than the original J-2. And, again, because it is a proven, known design, the J-2X is less expensive than if we tried to modify the Space Shuttle Main Engine or build a new engine altogether.
S-IC
(5 F-1 engines)
3.9M lb LOx/RP
Two 5-Segment
RSRBs
Space Shuttle
Ares I
Ares V
Saturn V
Height: ft
Gross Liftoff Mass: 4.5M lb
55k lbm to LEO
Height: 321 ft
Gross Liftoff Mass: 2.0M lb
48k lbm to LEO
Height: 358 ft
Gross Liftoff Mass: 7.3M lb
117k lbm to TLI
144k lbm to TLI in Dual-
Launch Mode with Ares I
290k lbm to LEO
Height: 364 ft
Gross Liftoff Mass: 6.5M lb
99k lbm to TLI
262k lbm to LEO
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

10. Ares I Elements Orion Stack Integration First Stage Upper Stage
Ambassador Briefing
Ares I Elements
02/07
Orion
198 in. (5 m) diameter
Stack Integration
~25 mT payload capacity
2 Mlb gross liftoff weight
315 ft in length
NASA-led
Instrument Unit
LAS
First Stage
Derived from current Shuttle RSRM/B
Five segments/Polybutadiene Acrylonitrile (PBAN) propellant
Recoverable
New forward adapter
Avionics upgrades
ATK Launch Systems
Spacecraft Adapter
Interstage
Cylinder
Upper Stage
280 klb LOx/LH2 stage
216.5 in. (5.5 m) diameter
Aluminum-Lithium (Al-Li) structures
Instrument unit and interstage
Reaction Control System (RCS) / roll control for 1st stage flight
Primary Ares I avionics system
NASA Design / Contractor Production
Ares I is a big vehicle. At a height of over 300 feet, it is almost 75 percent taller than the Space Shuttle stack. It has an “in-line” configuration, as opposed to the Shuttle, which has the orbiter and crew placed beside the External Tank. In the event of an emergency, the Orion Crew Module can be blasted away from the launch vehicle using the Launch Abort System (LAS), which will fly directly upward, out of the way of the launcher. This makes Ares I more than ten times safer than the Shuttle. In addition to the LAS, upper stage, and first stage, which I have already discussed, the stack includes a forward skirt and instrument unit, which connects the Orion to the Ares I and contains the flight computer for controlling the launch vehicle. The Upper Stage and First Stage are connected by the Interstage. The Interstage also contains roll control thrusters to prevent the vehicle from spinning as it accelerates upward from the thrust of the RSRB.
Optional Details
DAC-2 Baseline
Ares I Length 315 ft. (due to CEV OML change)
5 Segment First Stage, which takes the vehicle up to about 250,000 feet
Upper Stage
5.5 M diameter with 280,000 lbm usable propellant
J-2X Engine ISP, 294,750 lbf thrust
J-2X is an evolution of the J-2 engine was used in Apollo
Most recently, upgraded turbopumps were tested as part of the aerospike engine for the X-33 program
-10 X 100 nmi insertion Orbit
28.5 Inclination (Lunar)
51.6 Inclination (ISS)
The Upper Stage is jettisoned at an altitude of 70 nautical miles
Roll Control divided between 1st Stage and Upper Stage
Critical Separation between 1st Stage and US occurs at the forward interstage
Bolted Interface with CEV (5 M diameter)
Upper Stage Engine
Saturn J-2 derived engine (J-2X)
Expendable
Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

11. Ares V Elements LSAM Stack Integration Core Stage
Ambassador Briefing
Ares V Elements
02/07
LSAM
TBD
Stack Integration
65 mT payload capacity
7.3 Mlb gross liftoff weight
358 ft in length
NASA-led
Core Stage
Two recoverable five-segment PBAN-fueled boosters (derived from current Shuttle RSRM/B).
Five Delta IV-derived RS-68 LOx/LH2 engines (expendable).
Spacecraft Adapter
Earth Departure Stage
TBD klb LOx/LH2 stage
216.5 in (5.5-m) diameter
Aluminum-Lithium (Al-Li) structures
Instrument unit and interstage
Primary Ares V avionics system
NASA Design / Contractor Production
As big as the Ares I is, Ares V is bigger. Nearly the height of the Saturn V, it is also a million pounds heavier when fully loaded with fuel. The five-engine core stage will be the largest liquid-fueled rocket ever built. The vehicle’s total thrust, including the two RSRBs, will be more than 10 million pounds, the equivalent of aircraft. Atop the Core Stage is an Interstage, which connects the 33-foot-wide Core Stage with the 27.5-foot-wide Earth Departure Stage. These widths are significant because they are the same widths as the Saturn V and Space Shuttle External Tanks, which means we already have the tooling to build and handle structures of this size. The Instrument Unit will also include the launch vehicle’s avionics computer.
The J-2X engine powering the Earth Departure Stage must fire twice: once in the upper atmosphere to get the stage into orbit and again in orbit to send the LSAM and Orion toward the Moon. The Earth Departure Stage carries the LSAM, which is covered by a payload shroud to protect it from atmospheric dynamics and heat. The shroud is jettisoned before the vehicle reaches orbit at a point where the air is thinner and aerodynamic forces are no longer a factor.
Optional Information
It is powered by two RSRBs and a core stage consisting of five RS-68 engines.
We test fired a five-segment RSRB in 2003
The RS-68 is our most powerful and newest liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine
The RS-68 is in service today aboard the Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV)
The Earth Departure Stage uses the same J-2X engine as Ares I
On a typical mission, Ares V launches the LSAM and Earth Departure Stage into orbit first, where it waits for the arrival of Orion, which is launched later aboard the Ares I.
Interstage
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

12. NASA’s Exploration Transportation System
Ambassador Briefing
NASA’s Exploration Transportation System
02/07
Now we will show you a video of how all these pieces will fit together in a lunar mission.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

13. Progress Towards Launch (As of Early 2007)
Ambassador Briefing
Progress Towards Launch (As of Early 2007)
02/07
Programmatic Milestones
CLV System Requirements Review ongoing and some have been completed.
Contracts awarded for creation of Orion (Lockheed Martin), First Stage (ATK), J-2X engine (Rocketdyne), and …
Technical Milestones
Over 1,500 wind tunnel tests
First Stage parachute testing
First Stage nozzle development
J-2X injector testing
J-2S powerpack test preparation
Upper Stage initial design analysis cycle
Fabrication of Ares I-1 Upper Stage
mass simulator
Ares I-1 First Stage hardware fabrication
The first rocket we are building is the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle. This is to reduce the gap in human spaceflight capabilities following retirement of the space shuttle as much as possible. Preliminary work on Ares V and LSAM will continue until after shuttle retirement in In the meantime, we have made tremendous progress on Ares I in just one year. In late 2005, there was no vehicle. Now, barely a year later, we have already completed one design cycle, confirmed our vehicle requirements, simulated vehicle behavior in wind tunnels and in computers, and tested hardware. Hardware testing has included the parachutes for recovering the First Stage booster as well as injectors and igniters for the J-2X engine. We have also started building segments of the simulated upper stage that will fly atop a four-segment RSRB with a simulated fifth segment on the Ares I-1 flight test in The Ares I-1 flight has been set up to prove that we can control a vehicle with this configuration. We will also test first stage RSRB separation and recovery operations.
This is amazingly fast development work, again made possible by using known technologies and proven designs. Our first unmanned flight of the five-segment RSRB and J-2X engine will occur in 2012, and the first crewed flight of Orion is scheduled to go to ISS in We plan to place people on the Moon by 2020, with the first human beings landing on Mars by 2030.
Anticipated Progress
January High-Altitude Parachute Drop Tests at Yuma Proving Grounds February 2007 Ares I Upper Stage SRR Ares I Upper Stage Production RFP released Ares I First Stage Contract Award March Ares I-1 Test Flight Preliminary Design Review Ares V Core Stage Engine Letter Contract Award May Ares I Upper Stage Engine Preliminary Design Review Upper Stage Engine integrated testing begins at Stennis Space Center June 2007 Ares I Upper Stage Instrument Unit RFP released September Ares I-1 Test Flight Critical Design Review Ares V Core Stage Engine Contract Award November 2007 Ares I Upper Stage Instrument Unit Contract Award December Ares I First Stage Preliminary Design Review February Ares I Upper Stage Preliminary Design Review May Ares I Upper Stage Engine Critical Design Review October Ares I-1 Test Flight hardware delivered to Kennedy Space Center for stacking and integration April Ares I-1 Test Flight Ares I Upper Stage Critical Design Review July Ares I First Stage Critical Design Review April Ares I-2 Test Flight (with 5-segment RSRB and J-2X) September First human flight of Ares I to International Space Station
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

14. Our Nationwide Team ATK Launch Systems Goddard Marshall Glenn Ames
Ambassador Briefing
Our Nationwide Team
02/07
ATK Launch Systems
Goddard
Marshall
Glenn
Ames
Langley
Dryden
Like Apollo, such a massive effort would be impossible without the cooperation and expertise of thousands of government and private-sector contractors throughout NASA’s ten centers. Our larger centers are taking on the bulk of the overall Constellation Program, which includes both the Orion and Ares vehicles. Johnson Space Center is leading the development of Orion; Kennedy Space Center is in charge of handling launch and recovery operations; and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama is responsible for design, development, test, and evaluation of the Ares launch vehicles. Other NASA locations are developing particular technologies and hardware for Constellation. For instance, Ames Research Center in California is leading the effort to develop the thermal protection system (heat shield) for the Orion; Langley Research Center in Virginia is leading the integration of the Launch Abort System for Ares I-1; and Glenn Research Center in Ohio is building the segments for the simulated upper stage of Ares I-1.
Kennedy
Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Michoud Assembly Facility
Stennis
Johnson
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

15. Everyday Benefits from Space Technologies
Ambassador Briefing
Everyday Benefits from Space Technologies
02/07
Health and Medicine
Laser Angioplasty and CAT Scans
LED Healing
Public Safety
Video Image Stabilization & Registration (VISAR®)
Life Shear Cutters
Consumer/Home/Recreation
Satellite TV, Radio, Cell Phones, etc.
Cordless Products
Smoke Detectors
Car Insulation
Environment and Resources Management
Weather Forecasting
Pollution Monitoring
Computers/Industrial/Manufacturing
Digital Data Matrix
High-Strength Aluminum-Silicon Alloy
Positive Return on Investment
In 2004, the aerospace industry delivered $100 billion into U.S. economy.
Over 500,000 jobs and $25 billion in direct salaries
Satellite launch services increased due to demand for services such as DirecTV and Remote sensing
Enabled industries such as real estate, automotive, entertainment, etc.
Every $1 spent on Apollo returned $8 to the economy
Math and science needed to continue America’s competitiveness
This promises to be a great adventure. Not only are we starting to write the next chapter in America’s history of adventure, but we are progressing toward more advances that will make life better here on Earth. It is truly remarkable how quickly space technologies went from being the cutting edge of the future to being everyday parts of the present. When people ask, “Why not spend money on problems here on Earth instead of spending the money on space?” they are overlooking a couple of crucial points: first, every dollar spent is spent here on Earth, in the form of salaries—for engineers, scientists, doctors, technicians, and other professionals—not to mention materials, hardware, test equipment, and facilities. All this happens before a single item is sent into space.
Next, because space is such a unique, challenging, and dangerous environment, it requires us to develop tools, machines, materials, and processes never invented before. When a technology has been proven in space successfully, smart people find ways to turn the technology back toward Earth and ask, “We created something that can do X—what if we used it to solve Y?” For example, technology used to improve imaging of lunar surface maps for Apollo resulted in developing the CAT scan for medical purposes. In this way, we have turned space technologies over to the private sector to benefit nearly all aspects of life on Earth, including health and medicine; public safety; consumer, home, and recreation products; environmental resources management; and industry and manufacturing. And, as an additional benefit, more businesses were started, jobs created, and profits made, ultimately making life better. The astronauts are only the tip of a very large iceberg accomplishing great things beneath the surface.
All of this can and will happen again as we plan for longer, more complex missions to the Moon and Mars. However, to do so, we need more smart people to continue the advancement of science, technology, industry, and our nation’s competitiveness…
For more information see NASA’s Technology Transfer / Spinoff Web site
Every Dollar Invested in Space is Spent on Earth
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

16. Education — NASA Can, and Must, Make A Difference
Ambassador Briefing
Education — NASA Can, and Must, Make A Difference
02/07
NASA relies on well-educated U.S. citizens to carry out its
far-reaching missions of scientific discovery that improve life on Earth
The Cold, Hard Facts
Many U.S. scientists, engineers, and teachers are retiring
Fewer high school seniors are pursuing engineering degrees
China produces 6 times more engineers than the U.S.
The Stakes Are High
U.S. students score lower than many other nations in math, science, and physics
We spend over $440 billion on public education, more per capita than any country except for Switzerland
Potential Solutions: Well-Qualified, Motivated Teachers and a National Commitment
The highest predictor of student performance is teacher knowledge
The teacher’s passion for the subject transmits to students
Education is the foundation of NASA’s and the nation’s success as a technological enterprise
NASA needs a well-educated workforce to carry out its far-reaching missions of scientific discovery that also improve life on Earth. As the presentation says, the stakes are high, and there are some cold, hard facts that we must face. Here are some of those facts, to put the challenge ahead into perspective.
Many U.S. scientists and engineers, and teachers of those subjects, will retire in the next 10 years
Less than 6% of high school seniors are pursuing engineering degrees, down from 36% a decade ago
China produces six (6) times more engineers than the U.S. and the European Union produces three (3) times as many as the U.S.
We know there is interest in the space program out there, but there has been, perhaps, some frustration as well. The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration lays out a roadmap for an aggressive adventure of discovery. We believe this adventure, like Apollo before it, will inspire and attract the best and brightest. We need our citizens’ enthusiasm—but we also need them to be able to help us carry out this mission. We need educated minds and skilled hands and caring, enthusiastic teachers to shape the minds that will build the machines that will take us to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

17. Ambassador Briefing
Summary
02/07
We must build beyond our current capability to ferry astronauts and cargo to low Earth orbit.
We are starting to design and build new vehicles to using extensive lessons learned to minimize cost, technical, and schedule risks.
To reach for Mars and beyond we must first reach for the Moon.
Team is on board and making good progress.
We need you, the owners, to help make this happen!
There has never been a more exciting time to be a part of this mission, as we are completing the space station and developing the capability to move beyond low Earth orbit. We are starting to design and build new vehicles, using extensive lessons learned to minimize cost, technical, and schedule risks. Many of the lessons we must learn to reach for Mars we will learn by first reaching for the Moon. We are in the process of taking those first steps now and are making great progress. However, this is not a decade-long project. This is a project dedicated to building an exciting and hopeful future for generations to come. Therefore, we need you, the owners, to help make this happen! By launching to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, we hope to continue the process of growing, as a people and a nation.
Again I would like to thank you for taking this time to learn about your space program.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

18. www.nasa.gov/ares Ambassador Briefing 02/07
National Aeronautics and Space Administration