science

Space Exploration Initiative

Space Exploration Initiative 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 Space Exploration Initiative rather than just read about it. In short: The Space Exploration Initiative was a 1989–1993 space public policy initiative of the George H. W.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The Space Exploration Initiative was a 1989–1993 space public policy initiative of the George H. W. Bush administration. On July 20, 1989, the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, US President George H. W. Bush announced plans for what came to be known as the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). In a speech on the steps of the National Air and Space Museum he described plans calling for constructing Space Station Freedom, sending humans back to the Moon "to stay" and ultimately sending astronauts to explore Mars. He proposed not a 10-year Apollo-style plan, but a long-range continuing commitment based on the three above elements, ending with "a journey into tomorrow – a journey to another planet – a manned mission to Mars." The President noted it was humanity's destiny to explore, and America's destiny to lead. He asked Vice President Dan Quayle to lead the National Space Council in determining what was needed to carry out these missions in terms of money, manpower and technology. In the event, execution of the initiative was assigned to NASA, but the initiative did not survive long into the administration of the next president, Bill Clinton.

Background In August 1987 a committee chaired by former astronaut Dr. Sally Ride released a report entitled Leadership and America's Future in Space. The "Ride Report" advocated establishment of a permanent Moon base by 2010 and landing a crew on Mars early in the 21st century. On January 5, 1988 President Ronald Reagan approved a revised United States national space policy, which was classified. On February 11 a summary "Fact Sheet" about the policy was publicly released. The policy identified six goals of United States space activities, the last of which was, "to expand human presence and activity beyond Earth orbit into the solar system." In the view of NASA, the July 20, 1989 speech by President Bush, "provided specificity" to that policy goal. Following this announcement NASA Administrator Richard Truly initiated a study of the options to achieve the President's goals, headed by Johnson Space Center Director Aaron Cohen. A report on that study, called, "the 90-Day Study on Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars" (or simply, "the 90-Day Study"), was published by NASA on November 20, 1989.

Development

The 90-Day Study estimated SEI's long-term cost at approximately 500 billion dollars spread over 20 to 30 years. According to Steve Dick, NASA Chief Historian, the National Academy of Sciences largely concurred with the NASA study, but White House and Congressional reaction to the NASA plan was hostile, primarily due to the cost estimate. In particular, Democratic members of Congress had almost immediate criticism over Bush's plan. Chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator Jim Sasser, stated "The President took one giant leap for starry-eyed political rhetoric, and not even a small step for fiscal responsibility. The hard fact is, this Administration doesn't even have its space priorities established for next year, much less for the next century." His fellow Tennessee Senator Al Gore also was quoted expressing his criticism of Bush's plan, saying "By proposing a return to the Moon, with no money, no timetable, and no plan, President Bush offers the country not a challenge to inspire us, but a daydream to briefly entertain us, a daydream about as splashy as a George Lucas movie, with about as much connection to reality." President Bush sought international partners, but the program was thought too expensive even for an international endeavor. In August 1990, Vice President Quayle established an advisory committee, often called the "Augustine Commission", which recommended that NASA should focus on space and Earth science, and transition human exploration to a "go-as-you-pay" strategy.

Ending On April 1, 1992 Dan Goldin became NASA Administrator, and during his tenure near-term human exploration beyond Earth orbit was abandoned, and the "faster, better, cheaper" strategy was applied to space science robotic exploration. When the White House National Science and Technology Council released their revision of the National Space Policy in September 1996, it specifically lacked any mention of human space exploration beyond Earth's orbit. The next day, President Clinton stated on a campaigning trip through the Pacific Northwest that a human mission to Mars was too expensive and instead affirmed America's commitment to a series of less expensive probes, thus removing human exploration from the national agenda.

Projects

Space Station Construction of Space Station Freedom.

Lunar Orbiter Missions The Lunar Orbiter Missions would yield further information on the distribution of high-TiO regolith on the whole Moon, through gamma-ray spectroscopy. The purpose was stated to be to provide a detailed geochemical and mineralogical map of the Moon. Global stereo imaging to aid in site selection was also given as a function of the mission.

Common Lunar Lander program (CLL) The CLL program would have consisted of a series of Apollo-type missions, mostly robotic. One mission was entitled Outpost Site Survey and Resource Assessment, involving the use of rovers. The site selected was in Mare Tranquillitatis near 15° N 22° E. This point is on the boundary between mare material and the ejecta blanket of the huge (45 km diameter) crater Plinius, on the east margin of a 25–40 km-wide band of material separating the ejecta blanket from highlands to the west.

First Lunar Outpost program (FLO)

The First Lunar Outpost (FLO) was the most comprehensive Moon base study under the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). It was intended to be the flagship of the program from which other proposals such as ILREC would have to compete against. The FLO concept incorporated many recommendations from the 1991 Stafford Synthesis report, mainly the use of a Nova class super heavy launch vehicle to minimize assembly and operations in LEO and on the surface of the Moon. FLO was a major change from previous SEI proposals as the vehicle was standalone and expendable rather than reusable and being staged off of Space Station Freedom. The design was based on massive yet simple launchers to carry massive amounts of payloads at once rather than many small and complicated launches. This was to reduce cost and development time. The program would have almost completely consisted of existing technology such as the Saturn and Space Station with only the landing vehicle needing to be developed.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Space Exploration Initiative

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Space Exploration Initiative 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 Space Exploration Initiative 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 Space Exploration Initiative 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 Space Exploration Initiative

In research: Space Exploration Initiative 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 Space Exploration Initiative 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: Space Exploration Initiative is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 20th century, Exploration of Mars, Exploration of the Moon, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Space Exploration Initiative 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Space Exploration Initiative” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Space Exploration Initiative in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Space Exploration Initiative 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 Space Exploration Initiative out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Space Exploration Initiative in simple terms?

The Space Exploration Initiative was a 1989–1993 space public policy initiative of the George H. W.

Why does Space Exploration Initiative 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 Space Exploration Initiative?

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 Space Exploration Initiative.