CLEVELAND — Three months after rolling out the primary phase of its architecture for human exploration of the moon and Mars, NASA is heading right into a second phase that can deal with Mars.
NASA released its first architecture definition document in April for its overall “Moon to Mars” campaign of human exploration. That 150-page document linked greater than 60 objectives previously established by NASA for long-term exploration with its plans for the initial series of Artemis lunar missions, the primary of 4 segments for the general architecture.
“We connected objectives to what we’re planning on doing in our first 4 to 5 missions,” said Jim Free, NASA associate administrator for exploration systems development, during a panel discussion on the American Astronautical Society’s Glenn Memorial Symposium July 19. “From my perspective, having that for that segment after which the remaining three allows us to essentially show technique to implementation.”
The agency is now preparing for the subsequent round of the architecture concept review. Free said the agency recently accomplished a strategic evaluation cycle for the subsequent review, which can deal with the ultimate segment, human missions to Mars. The review itself will happen in November.
NASA has also been collecting feedback on that initial document. That included one-on-one meetings with corporations and international partners in addition to two workshops in June, one for international partners and the opposite for corporations and academia. “The input was phenomenal,” he said.
A number of the themes of the feedback included a desire to raised understand priorities and where partners should invest to support the architecture. There was also feedback on the architecture development process itself that shall be folded into the subsequent round.
“There are some parts of the architecture definition document that shall be updated based on what we heard,” he said, but didn’t offer any specifics on those changes.
Free said he believed the architecture would support the agency’s goal of getting a sturdy approach to human space exploration that may withstand fiscal and political changes. “From my perspective, we set this process in place that, because it was intended, was alleged to survive administrations,” he said, offering options for future administrations. “It’s not about do you would like to do it, it’s how much do you would like to do?”
The architecture can function an advocacy tool, he argued. “It also helps us explain what won’t get done when a budget cut comes,” he said, allowing supporters of those elements to then step up and explain why those missing elements are essential.
“My perspective is that we’ve to deliver. That’s how we keep our advocacy strong,” he added. “We have now to deliver programs on time and on budget. That’s really hard.”