Norm Augustine introductory remarks on the Human Spaceflight Review final report

10 minute overview of the Augustine Commission final report which commenced the press conference today in Washington DC. The main thrust of the report is to introduce missions which will visit/land on objects such as Asteroids, NEOs, Moons of other planets, visit Lagrange points and/or circumnavigate a planet such as Mars.

These new missions will be lower cost and achievable within a shorter timeframe than the current objective to land on the Moon and Mars, which requires the development of complex landers and larger heavy launch vehicles. The committee has not excluded the landing of humans on Mars ultimately, but believes that smaller steps are required in order to ensure continued public interest and funding of human spaceflight in the future.

PDF download page for the 157 page Augustine committee final report for future human spaceflight options, which has been submitted to the Whitehouse this week to assist the Obama administration in formulating a new manned spaceflight strategy for NASA http://j.mp/9UOmZ

Augustine Human Spaceflight decision options for launch vehicles and missions

Integrated Options - Part 1

Integrated options - Part 2

Ed Crawley, Augustine Committee member presents at the Washington DC Public Meeting on 12th Aug 09 the various decision scenarios for developing launch vehicles including shuttle derived side and top mounted, heavy evolved expendable launch vehicle, Ares 1, Ares V and Ares V lite. This presentation also covers the types of possible missions including Moon base, Moon global, deep space or Mars direct.

Mars Society Robert Zubrin presents his shortcut to Mars before the Augustine Human Spaceflight Review Committee

Mars Society President Robert Zubrin delivers an enthusiastic presentation at the 5th August public meeting in Washington DC, making the case for a low cost human mission to land on Mars within 10 years. It is argued that much of the training for adapting humans to the Martian environment can be conducted for a fraction of the cost in the Arctic region.

Jean-Jacques Dordain explains lessons learned from ESA working with NASA on ISS

Jean-Jacques Dordain - Director General of European Space Agency comments on ESA's cooperation with NASA on the International Space Station and highlights the lessons learned and what should be addressed in the future to speed up the utilisation of Space hardware so that more benefits can be realised earlier.

Leroy Chiao want's your view on future direction for human spaceflight

Now a member of the Augustine Commission which will advise President Obama's administration on the future of NASA's human spaceflight program, Leroy Chiao is inviting you to share your thoughts on the best way to utilize the proportion of NASA's budget allocated to sending men and women into space. At time of posting there are already 125 comments posted, so you may want to browse these even if you do not intend to comment.

Astronaut Leroy Chiao's Blog: Augustine Human Space Flight Review Commission

How does Charles Bolden compare to previous NASA administrators

With a recent change in US president, a huge escalating US deficit and the Augustine Commission about to re-examine the future of human spaceflight, Charles Boden will be taking the reigns of NASA at a very difficult time. Does Mr Bolden have the right political connections, skills, experience and vision to lead the administration successfully through the transition from Space Shuttle to Constellation.

Is Bolden right for NASA? | csmonitor.com

Leroy Chiao aka @AstroDude on Twitter possible member of Augustine Commission

Although the panel members of the Augustine commission have yet to be officially announced there is much speculation on who they will be. Following the unofficial disclosure of 8 possible members a possible ninth member could be Astronaut Leroy Chiao who is ex-NASA and is now working as a consultant and public speaker plus he is here on Twitter.

Orlando Sentinel - Chiao another likely member of Augustine commission