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<blockquote data-quote="Slo_Ride" data-source="post: 8686773" data-attributes="member: 563830"><p>For&nbsp; more&nbsp; than&nbsp; fifty&nbsp; years,&nbsp; humans&nbsp; have&nbsp; explored&nbsp; space,&nbsp; and&nbsp; this&nbsp; has&nbsp; produced&nbsp; a&nbsp; continuing flow&nbsp; of&nbsp; societal&nbsp; benefits.&nbsp; By&nbsp; its&nbsp; very&nbsp; nature,&nbsp; space&nbsp; exploration&nbsp; expands&nbsp; the&nbsp; envelope&nbsp; of&nbsp; human knowledge&nbsp; and&nbsp; presence&nbsp; throughout&nbsp; the&nbsp; solar&nbsp; system,&nbsp; and&nbsp; this&nbsp; process&nbsp; has&nbsp; been&nbsp; accelerated&nbsp; by a&nbsp; combination&nbsp; of&nbsp; human&nbsp; and&nbsp; robotic&nbsp; activities.&nbsp; Experience&nbsp; has&nbsp; demonstrated&nbsp; that,&nbsp; as&nbsp; long&nbsp; as humankind&nbsp; addresses&nbsp; the&nbsp; challenges&nbsp; of&nbsp; exploring&nbsp; mankind’s&nbsp; common&nbsp; frontier&nbsp; of&nbsp; space,&nbsp; many tangible&nbsp; societal&nbsp; benefits&nbsp; are&nbsp; produced,&nbsp; and&nbsp; in&nbsp; addition&nbsp; to&nbsp; those&nbsp; most&nbsp; commonly&nbsp; anticipated,&nbsp; a great&nbsp; variety&nbsp; of&nbsp; valuable&nbsp; innovations&nbsp; are&nbsp; generated&nbsp; serendipitously,&nbsp; for&nbsp; this&nbsp; is&nbsp; the&nbsp; nature&nbsp; of discovery. From&nbsp; the&nbsp; early&nbsp; days&nbsp; of&nbsp; space&nbsp; flight,&nbsp; it&nbsp; became&nbsp; apparent&nbsp; that&nbsp; space&nbsp; exploration&nbsp; was&nbsp; an&nbsp; efficient driver&nbsp; for&nbsp; basic&nbsp; science&nbsp; and&nbsp; technology.&nbsp;&nbsp; The&nbsp; new&nbsp; challenges&nbsp; called&nbsp; for&nbsp; new&nbsp; approaches.&nbsp; The cost&nbsp; of&nbsp; launches&nbsp; drove&nbsp; designers&nbsp; to&nbsp; make&nbsp; spacecraft&nbsp; computers&nbsp; lighter,&nbsp; smaller&nbsp; and&nbsp; with&nbsp; the highest&nbsp; performance&nbsp; and&nbsp; dependability.&nbsp; Solar&nbsp; cells,&nbsp; batteries&nbsp; and&nbsp; fuel&nbsp; cells&nbsp; were&nbsp; driven&nbsp; by space&nbsp; needs&nbsp; and&nbsp; benefitted&nbsp; many&nbsp; sectors&nbsp; on&nbsp; Earth.&nbsp; The&nbsp; first&nbsp; satellites,&nbsp; designed&nbsp; to&nbsp; study&nbsp; the space&nbsp; environment&nbsp; and&nbsp; test&nbsp; initial&nbsp; capabilities&nbsp; in&nbsp; Earth&nbsp; orbit,&nbsp; contributed&nbsp; critical&nbsp; knowledge&nbsp; for developing&nbsp; space&nbsp; telecommunications,&nbsp; global&nbsp; positioning,&nbsp; and&nbsp; advances&nbsp; in&nbsp; weather&nbsp; forecasting.&nbsp; The&nbsp; early&nbsp; missions&nbsp; also&nbsp; formed&nbsp; the&nbsp; technological&nbsp; basis&nbsp; for&nbsp; advanced&nbsp; space&nbsp; exploration,&nbsp; enabling the&nbsp; first&nbsp; robotic&nbsp; and&nbsp; human&nbsp; missions&nbsp; to&nbsp; the&nbsp; Moon,&nbsp; as&nbsp; well&nbsp; as&nbsp; highly&nbsp; capable&nbsp; planetary spacecraft&nbsp; and&nbsp; crewed&nbsp; space&nbsp; stations&nbsp; in&nbsp; orbit.&nbsp; Over&nbsp; time,&nbsp; governments&nbsp; around&nbsp; the&nbsp; world&nbsp; increasingly&nbsp; cooperated&nbsp; to&nbsp; conduct&nbsp; complex&nbsp; space missions,&nbsp; demonstrating&nbsp; the&nbsp; power&nbsp; of&nbsp; international&nbsp; partnerships&nbsp; to&nbsp; amplify&nbsp; accomplishments&nbsp; in space. The&nbsp; success&nbsp; has&nbsp; been&nbsp; impressive&nbsp; and&nbsp; space&nbsp; systems&nbsp; continue&nbsp; to&nbsp; drive&nbsp; innovation,&nbsp; support world‐class&nbsp; science,&nbsp; provide&nbsp; vital&nbsp; services,&nbsp; and&nbsp; are&nbsp; part&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; daily&nbsp; life&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; common&nbsp; citizen. Service‐driven&nbsp; space&nbsp; systems&nbsp; are&nbsp; the&nbsp; overwhelming&nbsp; part&nbsp; of&nbsp; space&nbsp; activity&nbsp; today.&nbsp; Furthermore, the&nbsp; legacy&nbsp; of&nbsp; these&nbsp; historical&nbsp; efforts&nbsp; to&nbsp; develop&nbsp; sophisticated&nbsp; and&nbsp; useful&nbsp; capabilities&nbsp; and partnerships&nbsp; is&nbsp; evident&nbsp; in&nbsp; today&#039;s&nbsp; exploration&nbsp; programmes&nbsp; such&nbsp; as&nbsp; the&nbsp; International&nbsp; Space Station&nbsp; (ISS),&nbsp; which&nbsp; continues&nbsp; to&nbsp; contribute&nbsp; significant&nbsp; benefits&nbsp; to&nbsp; humanity.&nbsp; The&nbsp; ISS&nbsp; supports investigations&nbsp; in&nbsp; life&nbsp; and&nbsp; physical&nbsp; sciences,&nbsp; as&nbsp; well&nbsp; as&nbsp; advancing&nbsp; research&nbsp; and&nbsp; technology&nbsp; to solve&nbsp; problems&nbsp; associated&nbsp; with&nbsp; long‐duration&nbsp; human&nbsp; space&nbsp; flight&nbsp; that&nbsp; have&nbsp; many&nbsp; applications on&nbsp; the&nbsp; ground.&nbsp; Future&nbsp; space&nbsp; exploration&nbsp; goals&nbsp; call&nbsp; for&nbsp; sending&nbsp; humans&nbsp; and&nbsp; robots&nbsp; beyond&nbsp; Low&nbsp; Earth&nbsp; Orbit (LEO)&nbsp; and&nbsp; establishing&nbsp; sustained&nbsp; access&nbsp; to&nbsp; space&nbsp; exploration&nbsp; destinations&nbsp; such&nbsp; as&nbsp; the&nbsp; Moon, asteroids&nbsp; and&nbsp; Mars.&nbsp; Space&nbsp; agencies&nbsp; participating&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; International&nbsp; Space&nbsp; Exploration Coordination&nbsp; Group&nbsp; (ISECG) are&nbsp; discussing&nbsp; an&nbsp; international&nbsp; approach&nbsp; for&nbsp; achieving&nbsp; these&nbsp; goals, documented&nbsp; in&nbsp; ISECG&#039;s&nbsp; Global&nbsp; Exploration&nbsp; Roadmap,&nbsp; that&nbsp; begins&nbsp; with&nbsp; the&nbsp; ISS&nbsp; and&nbsp; advances coordinated&nbsp; human&nbsp; and&nbsp; robotic&nbsp; exploration,&nbsp; leading,&nbsp; amongst&nbsp; other&nbsp; things,&nbsp; to&nbsp; human&nbsp; missions on&nbsp; the&nbsp; surface&nbsp; of&nbsp; Mars.&nbsp; Achieving&nbsp; these&nbsp; ambitious&nbsp; exploration&nbsp; goals&nbsp; requires&nbsp; researchers&nbsp; to&nbsp; surmount&nbsp; new&nbsp; challenges and&nbsp; develop&nbsp; coordinated&nbsp; human&nbsp; and&nbsp; robotic&nbsp; exploration&nbsp; capabilities.&nbsp; As&nbsp; has&nbsp; been demonstrated&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; past,&nbsp; deploying&nbsp; the&nbsp; unique&nbsp; and&nbsp; complementary&nbsp; capabilities&nbsp; of&nbsp; both humans&nbsp; and&nbsp; robotic&nbsp; space&nbsp; systems&nbsp; is&nbsp; not&nbsp; only&nbsp; essential&nbsp; for&nbsp; solar&nbsp; system&nbsp; exploration,&nbsp; but&nbsp; also promises&nbsp; to&nbsp; expand&nbsp; many&nbsp; benefits&nbsp; provided&nbsp; to&nbsp; people&nbsp; on&nbsp; Earth.&nbsp; While&nbsp; early&nbsp; space&nbsp; scientists&nbsp; and&nbsp; engineers&nbsp; expected&nbsp; that&nbsp; space&nbsp; exploration&nbsp; would&nbsp; have&nbsp; positive impacts&nbsp; on&nbsp; humanity,&nbsp; they&nbsp; could&nbsp; not&nbsp; have&nbsp; foreseen&nbsp; all&nbsp; the&nbsp; specific&nbsp; social&nbsp; and&nbsp; economic&nbsp; benefits that&nbsp; have&nbsp; flowed&nbsp; from&nbsp; their&nbsp; work.&nbsp; So&nbsp; too,&nbsp; the&nbsp; current&nbsp; generation&nbsp; cannot&nbsp; predict&nbsp; in&nbsp; detail&nbsp; what benefits&nbsp; will&nbsp; eventually&nbsp; appear&nbsp; as&nbsp; a&nbsp; result&nbsp; of&nbsp; its&nbsp; efforts&nbsp; The&nbsp; unforeseen&nbsp; positive&nbsp; results&nbsp; of&nbsp; the past&nbsp; five&nbsp; decades&nbsp; indicate&nbsp; the&nbsp; great&nbsp; potential&nbsp; for&nbsp; space&nbsp; exploration&nbsp; to&nbsp; continue&nbsp; producing&nbsp; a wide&nbsp; range&nbsp; of&nbsp; applications&nbsp; and&nbsp; knowledge&nbsp; which&nbsp; will&nbsp; expand&nbsp; the&nbsp; space‐based&nbsp; economy&nbsp; even further.&nbsp; This&nbsp; paper,&nbsp; a&nbsp; collective&nbsp; effort&nbsp; by&nbsp; representatives&nbsp; of&nbsp; space&nbsp; agencies&nbsp; participating&nbsp; in&nbsp; ISECG, articulates&nbsp; a&nbsp; shared&nbsp; perspective&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; nature&nbsp; and&nbsp; significance&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; benefits&nbsp; of&nbsp; space exploration&nbsp; programmes,&nbsp; and&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; potential&nbsp; for&nbsp; the&nbsp; future&nbsp; delivery&nbsp; of&nbsp; benefits.&nbsp; It&nbsp; summarizes the&nbsp; fundamental&nbsp; benefits&nbsp; to&nbsp; humanity&nbsp; which&nbsp; could&nbsp; arise&nbsp; as&nbsp; space&nbsp; agencies collectively&nbsp; work&nbsp; on&nbsp; achieving&nbsp; the&nbsp; ambitious&nbsp; future&nbsp; exploration&nbsp; goals&nbsp; outlined&nbsp; above.&nbsp; It&nbsp; also provides&nbsp; a&nbsp; perspective&nbsp; on&nbsp; potential&nbsp; specific&nbsp; benefits&nbsp; to&nbsp; be&nbsp; achieved&nbsp; over&nbsp; the&nbsp; next&nbsp; ten&nbsp; years.&nbsp; While&nbsp; this&nbsp; paper&nbsp; is&nbsp; not&nbsp; meant&nbsp; to&nbsp; provide&nbsp; a&nbsp; conclusive&nbsp; view&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; societal&nbsp; relevance&nbsp; of&nbsp; future space&nbsp; exploration,&nbsp; it&nbsp; documents&nbsp; a&nbsp; strong&nbsp; commitment&nbsp; of&nbsp; space&nbsp; agencies&nbsp; to&nbsp; deliver&nbsp; benefits&nbsp; to society.&nbsp;&nbsp; It&nbsp; will&nbsp; aid&nbsp; space&nbsp; agencies&nbsp; in&nbsp; engaging&nbsp; relevant&nbsp; stakeholder&nbsp; communities&nbsp; in&nbsp; discussions on&nbsp; how the flow&nbsp; of&nbsp; benefits&nbsp; to&nbsp; society&nbsp; can&nbsp; be&nbsp; further&nbsp; improved.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="Slo_Ride, post: 8686773, member: 563830"] For more than fifty years, humans have explored space, and this has produced a continuing flow of societal benefits. By its very nature, space exploration expands the envelope of human knowledge and presence throughout the solar system, and this process has been accelerated by a combination of human and robotic activities. Experience has demonstrated that, as long as humankind addresses the challenges of exploring mankind’s common frontier of space, many tangible societal benefits are produced, and in addition to those most commonly anticipated, a great variety of valuable innovations are generated serendipitously, for this is the nature of discovery. From the early days of space flight, it became apparent that space exploration was an efficient driver for basic science and technology. The new challenges called for new approaches. The cost of launches drove designers to make spacecraft computers lighter, smaller and with the highest performance and dependability. Solar cells, batteries and fuel cells were driven by space needs and benefitted many sectors on Earth. The first satellites, designed to study the space environment and test initial capabilities in Earth orbit, contributed critical knowledge for developing space telecommunications, global positioning, and advances in weather forecasting. The early missions also formed the technological basis for advanced space exploration, enabling the first robotic and human missions to the Moon, as well as highly capable planetary spacecraft and crewed space stations in orbit. Over time, governments around the world increasingly cooperated to conduct complex space missions, demonstrating the power of international partnerships to amplify accomplishments in space. The success has been impressive and space systems continue to drive innovation, support world‐class science, provide vital services, and are part of the daily life of the common citizen. Service‐driven space systems are the overwhelming part of space activity today. Furthermore, the legacy of these historical efforts to develop sophisticated and useful capabilities and partnerships is evident in today's exploration programmes such as the International Space Station (ISS), which continues to contribute significant benefits to humanity. The ISS supports investigations in life and physical sciences, as well as advancing research and technology to solve problems associated with long‐duration human space flight that have many applications on the ground. Future space exploration goals call for sending humans and robots beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and establishing sustained access to space exploration destinations such as the Moon, asteroids and Mars. Space agencies participating in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) are discussing an international approach for achieving these goals, documented in ISECG's Global Exploration Roadmap, that begins with the ISS and advances coordinated human and robotic exploration, leading, amongst other things, to human missions on the surface of Mars. Achieving these ambitious exploration goals requires researchers to surmount new challenges and develop coordinated human and robotic exploration capabilities. As has been demonstrated in the past, deploying the unique and complementary capabilities of both humans and robotic space systems is not only essential for solar system exploration, but also promises to expand many benefits provided to people on Earth. While early space scientists and engineers expected that space exploration would have positive impacts on humanity, they could not have foreseen all the specific social and economic benefits that have flowed from their work. So too, the current generation cannot predict in detail what benefits will eventually appear as a result of its efforts The unforeseen positive results of the past five decades indicate the great potential for space exploration to continue producing a wide range of applications and knowledge which will expand the space‐based economy even further. This paper, a collective effort by representatives of space agencies participating in ISECG, articulates a shared perspective on the nature and significance of the benefits of space exploration programmes, and on the potential for the future delivery of benefits. It summarizes the fundamental benefits to humanity which could arise as space agencies collectively work on achieving the ambitious future exploration goals outlined above. It also provides a perspective on potential specific benefits to be achieved over the next ten years. While this paper is not meant to provide a conclusive view on the societal relevance of future space exploration, it documents a strong commitment of space agencies to deliver benefits to society. It will aid space agencies in engaging relevant stakeholder communities in discussions on how the flow of benefits to society can be further improved. [/QUOTE]

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