science

Ride Report

Ride Report is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ride Report rather than just read about it. In short: The Ride Report is the informal name of the report titled NASA Leadership and America's Future in Space: A Report to the Administrator. In 1986, a task force under the leadership of Sally Ride was asked to formulate a new strategy for NASA.

Key takeaways

Ride Report belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ride Report to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ride Report from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Ride Report is the informal name of the report titled NASA Leadership and America's Future in Space: A Report to the Administrator. In 1986, a task force under the leadership of Sally Ride was asked to formulate a new strategy for NASA. The report was issued in 1987. The Ride Report proposed four main initiatives for study and evaluation. These were:

Mission to Planet Earth Exploration of the Solar System Outpost on the Moon Humans to Mars "Mission to Planet Earth" would be centred on the observation of our home planet. New technologies for observation would be needed, and launch capabilities for geostationary and polar orbits. The space station that was under planning at the time this report was issued, is called simply "the Space Station" and is more ambitious than the current ISS, in that it would be well-developed enough to have ability for assembly of satellites and platforms in orbit. A transfer vehicle to launch these into geostationary orbit is proposed as well. In the section "Exploration of the Solar System", the report points out that there are too few planetary exploration missions planned. It proposes some new missions, such as a cometary mission, an extended Cassini mission (including three probes; one for the study of the atmosphere of Saturn, one atmospheric Titan probe and one to land on Titan) and a Mars sample return mission. A permanent lunar outpost is discussed in "Outpost on the Moon". This goal would be reached through three phases, where the first would deal with robotic exploration during the 1990s to find a suitable site. In the second phase, astronauts would be launched to the Moon on a Lunar transfer vehicle from the Space Station. They would bring scientific instruments and equipment and modules for the outpost. In the third phase, the outpost would be a permanent installation, with closed-loop life-support systems, and great abilities for exploration of the Moon. According to the plan, there would be a crew of 30 living and working on the Moon by 2010. In "Humans to Mars" the ambitious goal of crewed Mars landings is proposed to happen as soon as 2010. Preparations for these missions include robotic exploration of Mars, with orbiters, rovers and sample return missions. The Space Station was to be used for study of the human body during long space flights. The construction of an outpost on Mars could begin during the 2020s. The Ride Report also recognizes the risks of making the Space Station dependent on one single launch vehicle - the Space Shuttle. It proposes the development of a shuttle-derived cargo launcher, as a way of diversifying the launch fleet.

See also Space Exploration Initiative Colonization of the Moon Colonization of Mars List of crewed Mars mission plans in the 20th century

References

External links NASA History Office NASA Leadership and America's Future in Space: A Report to the Administrator Encyclopedia Astronautica Ride Report

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ride Report

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ride Report claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ride Report before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ride Report ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ride Report

In research: Ride Report appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ride Report in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ride Report is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1987 in the United States, Human missions to Mars, NASA oversight, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ride Report outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ride Report in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ride Report means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ride Report out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ride Report in simple terms?

Why does Ride Report matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ride Report?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ride Report.