Agencies use the goals in agency strategic plans and annual performance plans to inform annual budget decisions, longer-term investment planning, and human resource planning. The agency’s strategic goals and objectives are listed below. Click here for more information on stakeholder engagement during goal development.
Strategic Goal: Extend and sustain human activities across the solar system.
Objective: Sustain the operation and full use of the ISS and expand efforts to utilize the ISS as a National Laboratory for scientific, technological, diplomatic, and educational purposes and for supporting future objectives in human space exploration.
Description: The ISS is a major stepping stone in achieving our exploration goals across the solar system. It provides a space-based research and development (R&D) laboratory to safely perform multidisciplinary, cutting-edge research. The international nature of ISS serves as a model for cooperation on future human space exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit. In collaboration with our international partners, we will extend the life-span of ISS to 2020 or beyond to maximize the potential of the Nation’s newest National Laboratory.
This continuously crewed laboratory enables the ongoing evolution of research and technology objectives and ensures that the benefits of this multinational investment in ISS can be realized. This orbiting research laboratory allows us to develop, test, and validate the next generation of space technologies and operational processes needed to explore beyond low Earth orbit. It provides opportunities to address practical medical questions about astronaut health, including mitigating the effects of long journeys on space travelers, and supports a broad array of biological and physical sciences research to advance our knowledge and space flight capabilities. ISS also will host Earth and space observation instruments to expand our understanding of our home planet and the solar system and will support advanced engineering research and technology development for space exploration.
Under the auspices of an ISS National Laboratory non-profit management organization, we will continue to make the ISS available as a national resource, to promote opportunities for advancing basic and applied research in science and technology to other U.S. Government agencies, university-based scientists and engineers, and private firms.
ISS is transitioning from a focus on assembly to long-term operations and full utilization. A fully operational station allows us to pursue our mission-driven R&D goals, such as human biomedical research and spacecraft technology development, and support continued science and technology leadership. We look further forward, seeking to inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers by igniting a passion for STEM study and careers. ISS also provides a stable destination to facilitate the growth and evolution of new commercial opportunities, including crew and cargo transportation to low Earth orbit and beyond.
Priority Goal: Sustain operations and full utilization of the International Space Station (ISS).
Goal Statement: Sustain operations and full utilization of the International Space Station (ISS).
By the end of FY 2013, NASA will complete at least three flights delivering research and logistics hardware to the ISS by U.S.-developed cargo delivery systems.
Description: The International Space Station (ISS) is a major stepping stone in achieving NASA’s exploration goals across the solar system. The ISS provides a space-based research and technology development laboratory to safely perform multidisciplinary, cutting-edge research. The continuously crewed laboratory enables the ongoing evolution of research and technology objectives and ensures that the benefits of this multinational investment can be realized.
Following retirement of the Space Shuttle, NASA is depending on U.S. industry to provide private commercial cargo transportation delivery services to and from the ISS. These commercial cargo delivery systems are not government owned and operated systems, but rather built and owned by private U.S. firms. These private commercial services are critical to support ongoing ISS operations and utilization by delivering research and logistics hardware and samples to the ISS and returning research samples to the Earth. NASA competitively awarded these commercial cargo delivery services contracts to Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Orbital Sciences in 2008. These two private companies will provide end-to-end (launch, on-orbit operations, and return) services to the ISS. NASA does not control these two private commercial cargo delivery services, but does monitor progress against contractual milestones and requirements. This NASA initiative to outsource cargo shipments to private industry is helping develop a robust U.S. commercial space transportation industry to support the nation’s goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the ISS and low Earth orbit.
Objective: Develop competitive opportunities for the commercial community to provide best value products and services to low Earth orbit and beyond.
Description: To transform human space flight and develop other potential space markets, we must partner with U.S. industry to implement safe, reliable, and cost-effective access to and from low Earth orbit and ISS. Our programs are stimulating efforts within the private sector to enable a U.S. commercial space transportation capability. By providing expert advice, access to NASA facilities, and development funding, we foster entrepreneurial activity for developing and demonstrating commercial space transportation capabilities, which stimulates employment growth in engineering, analysis, design, and research. We will build on these valuable partnerships to support and promote commercial development as promising new markets arise.
A robust U.S. commercial space industry will reduce our reliance on non-U.S. human space flight systems and potentially lower the cost of access to space. Purchasing safe, reliable, and cost-effective crew and cargo transportation services will ensure that we satisfy our ISS obligations. This allows us to focus our resources on developing systems that can safely reach beyond low Earth orbit. In the future, we will seek to expand our partnerships for capabilities and services beyond low Earth orbit.
Objective: Develop an integrated architecture and capabilities for safe crewed and cargo missions beyond low Earth orbit.
Description: The first step in embarking on a long and challenging journey involves laying solid groundwork for a successful endeavor. Experienced personnel from across the Agency are building a set of “architectures,” or mission frameworks, for multiple destinations in the solar system. These architectures include all aspects of mission performance-technologies, partnerships, safety, risk, schedule, and stakeholder priorities-that define the knowledge,capabilities, and infrastructure necessary to successfully support human space exploration. NASA, the President, and Congress will use these architectures to develop the roadmap for affordable and sustainable human space exploration. The core elements to a successful implementation are a space launch system and a multipurpose crew vehicle to serve as our national capability to conduct advanced missions beyond low Earth orbit. Developing this combined system will enable us to reach cislunar space, near-Earth asteroids, Mars, and other celestial bodies.
Radiation exposure, behavioral health, and fitness challenges are important research program components for lowering risks of future extended-duration human space missions. As we continue to conduct research on human health and performance risks, we will be implementing an approach that has been endorsed by the National Academies Institute of Medicine. This vital research, using data from our astronauts, will support and expand the knowledge base required for traveling at the frontiers of human space flight, allow us to develop effective countermeasures against the adverse effects of the space environment on the human body, and will spur technology development and innovation to protect crews.
Priority Goal: Develop the Nation’s next generation Human Space Flight (HSF) system to allow for travel beyond low Earth orbit (LEO).
Goal Statement: Develop the Nation’s next generation Human Space Flight (HSF) system to allow for travel beyond low Earth orbit (LEO).
By September 30, 2013, NASA will finalize cross-program requirements and system definition to ensure that the first test flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) programs is successfully achieved at the end of 2017 in an efficient and cost effective way.
Description: In line with the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-267), NASA is moving ahead with a space exploration program designed to carry human beings beyond low Earth orbit. The first two major flight hardware elements of the exploration program are the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift launch vehicle. Orion was designated as NASA’s multi-purpose crew vehicle in May 2011 and the SLS architecture was announced in September 2011. A third program, the Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program, manages the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) activities to develop the ground infrastructure required to assemble, test, launch and recover the SLS and Orion MPCV flight elements, as well as support other potential users of launch systems at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). This goal focuses on ensuring these programs finalize cross-program requirements and meet their milestone reviews in order to realize the long-term goal. NASA is evaluating several potential destinations for exploration beyond low Earth orbit including near Earth asteroids, the lunar surface and the vicinity of the Moon, and eventually Mars and its moons. All of these destinations are scientifically compelling and rich in data that will expand on human knowledge of the solar system.
Strategic Goal: Expand scientific understanding of the Earth and the universe in which we live.
Objective: Advance Earth system science to meet the challenges of climate and environmental change.
Description: NASA’s pioneering work in Earth system science-the interdisciplinary view of Earth that explores the interaction among the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, land surface interior, and life itself-has enabled scientists to measure global and climate changes and to inform decisions by governments, organizations, and people in the United States and around the world. We make the data collected and results generated by our missions accessible to other agencies and organizations to improve the products and services they provide, including air quality indices, disaster management, agricultural yield projections, and aviation safety.
In addition to the missions in formulation at the time of the 2007 Earth science decadal survey release, we are now developing the first tier of missions the survey recommended, and we are conducting engineering studies and technology development for the second tier. Furthermore, we are planning implementation of a set of climate continuity missions to assure availability of key data sets needed for climate science and policy needs. These include a replacement for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, planned for launch in 2013. We continue to play a major role in the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the U.S. Global Earth Observation working group, and their international affiliates to assure the mutual leveraging of interagency and international capabilities to meet our common goals.
Objective: Understand the Sun and its interactions with Earth and the solar system.
Description: Earth and the other planets of our solar system reside in the extended atmosphere of the Sun. This extended atmosphere, called the heliosphere, comprises a plasma “soup” of electrified and magnetized matter entwined with penetrating radiation and energetic particles. We experience space weather-disturbances in the plasma-from solar magnetic activity such as flares. Space weather effects range from awe-inspiring aurorae to widespread power and communication blackouts. Our heliophysics missions study the Sun, heliosphere, and planetary environments as elements of a single interconnected system. By analyzing the connections among the Sun, solar wind, and planetary space environments, we uncover fundamental physical processes that occur throughout the universe. Understanding the connections between the Sun and its planets allows us to predict the impacts of solar variability on human technological systems and to safeguard human and robotic space explorers outside the protective cocoon of Earth’s atmosphere.
The Nation has never been so well prepared to monitor the onset of an upcoming solar cycle. NASA maintains a fleet of heliophysics spacecraft to monitor the Sun, geospace, and the space environment between the Sun and Earth, and we collaborate with other U.S. agencies and other nations’ space agencies to enhance this capability. To advance space weather prediction capabilities, we make our vast research data sets and models available online to the public, industry, academia, and other civil and military interests. We also provide publicly available sites for citizen science and space situational awareness through various cell phone and e-tablet applications. Scientific priorities for future heliophysics missions are guided by decadal surveys produced by the National Academies. The next decadal survey for heliophysics will be completed in 2012.
Objective: Ascertain the content, origin, and evolution of the solar system and the potential for life elsewhere.
Description: NASA’s planetary science missions have revolutionized our understanding of the origin and history of the solar system. Our findings helped identify Pluto as one among many Kuiper Belt objects and led to new theories of the origins of the asteroid belt. Other missions indicated that Mars was once a watery world and have observed watery plumes and methane lakes on the moons of the giant planets. The launches of the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, the Dawn mission to the asteroids Ceres and Vesta, and MESSENGER to explore Mercury’s previously unseen hemisphere continue our initial reconnaissance of the major accessible bodies in the solar system.
Closer to home, we are using ground-based assets in coordination with the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to survey the volume of near-Earth space to detect, track, catalog, and characterize near-Earth objects that may either pose hazards to Earth or provide resources for future exploration. Mars, our closest planetary neighbor, is a near-term target for in-depth scientific exploration. The initial data we are gathering from our Mars rovers and orbiters is helping to inform planning and development of increasingly sophisticated Mars missions to assess present and past habitability of the red planet. We are planning and implementing an integrated Mars Exploration Program with the European Space Agency (ESA). Beyond Mars, New Horizons is on its way to the outer solar system, with Juno following in 2011, and we are jointly planning a flagship mission with ESA to the outer planets, targeting Jupiter’s system of moons.
Building on decades of success, we intend to continue the use of robotic spacecraft to provide critical information to support safe, effective human space exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Our ongoing missions to the Moon and the inner solar system will generate knowledge to facilitate advanced robotic exploration and eventually prepare us for a sustained human presence outside of low Earth orbit. In parallel, we will continue to strengthen our coordinated implementation of international and interagency collaboration on robotic missions to meet the Agency’s broadest objectives in science and exploration.
Scientific priorities for future planetary science missions are guided by decadal surveys produced by the National Academies. The next decadal survey for planetary science will be completed in 2011.
Priority Goal: Use the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover to explore and quantitatively assess a local region on the surface of Mars as a potential habitat for life, past or present.
Goal Statement: Use the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover to explore and quantitatively assess a local region on the surface of Mars as a potential habitat for life, past or present.
By September 30, 2013, NASA will assess the biological potential of at least one target environment on Mars by obtaining chemical and/or mineralogical analysis of multiple samples of its surface.
Description: The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) launched on November 26, 2011, with the overall science objective of exploring and quantitatively assessing a local region on the surface of Mars as a potential habitat for life, past or present. This mission will use ten science instruments carried on a rover platform that will operate under its own power and telemetry and is expected to remain active for one Mars year (687 days). This mission is the next step in the ongoing history of planetary exploration and the engineering and science discoveries will contribute to the knowledge needed for future human exploration. Mars, one of four terrestrial planets, provides the opportunity to answer many of the key questions concerning solar system history, planetary evolution, and the potential for life. Furthermore, the Red Planet has a record of its climate and geologic evolution exposed over much of the surface – an incomparable treasure trove of ancient planetary processes, including those possibly leading to the origin of life.
As the first roving analytical laboratory sent to another planet and the first astrobiology mission since the 1975 Viking mission to Mars, the Curiosity rover will assess the biological potential of the site by investigating discovered organic and inorganic compounds and the processes that might preserve them. Also, the rover will characterize the site’s geology and geochemistry, including chemical, mineralogical, and isotopic composition. With the combination of remote sensing and analytical instrumentation, the rover team will be able to investigate the role of water, atmospheric evolution, and modern weather/climate. Curiosity will be able to characterize the spectrum of surface radiation, important to understanding the surface chemistry and the environment for future human exploration of Mars. Because of the tremendous analytical capabilities of Curiosity, what is discovered in the region of the landing site will provide ground truth for our orbital observations and enhance our understanding of mineral distributions planet-wide.
Objective: Discover how the universe works, explore how it began and evolved, and search for Earth-like planets.
Description: The 20th century marked a time of epic discoveries about the universe-the Big Bang theory, black holes, dark matter and dark energy, and the interrelated nature of space and time. NASA proudly leads the Nation and the world on the continual journey of scientific discovery to answer some of humanity’s most profound questions about the solar system and universe: What are the origin and destiny of the universe?
Does life exist elsewhere?
Having measured the age of the universe, we now seek to understand its birth, the edges of space and time near black holes, and the dark energy that fills the entire universe. We will explore the relationship between the smallest of subatomic particles and the vast expanse of the cosmos. Our missions will reveal the diversity of planets and planetary system architectures in our galaxy, pinpoint Earth-like, potentially life-supporting planets in other solar systems, and study stellar and planetary environments and what powers the most energetic galaxies. In conjunction with ground and airborne telescopes, our strategy is to design and launch space telescopes that exploit the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum to view the broad diversity of objects in the universe. Beyond the spectra of light waves, we also will seek to detect and measure gravity waves to understand the growth of galaxies and black holes.
The National Academies released its new astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics, in summer 2010. In the decade ahead, we will work to implement the survey’s recommendations and advance its science objectives.
View this agency’s performance plans and reports.
Strategic Goal: Create the innovative new space technologies for our exploration, science, and economic future.
Objective: Sponsor early-stage innovation in space technologies in order to improve the future capabilities of NASA, other government agencies, and the aerospace industry.
Description: We consider early-stage innovation (low-TRL technology) to be the foundation of our development process. Investment in low-TRL technology increases knowledge and capabilities in response to new questions and requirements, and it stimulates creative new solutions to the challenges faced by NASA and the larger aerospace community. Investments in low-TRL projects, through partnerships with the public and private sectors, have historically benefited the Nation on a broad basis, generating new industries and spin-off applications and providing a cadre of new technology-savvy innovators to fuel the Nation’s high-tech economy.
We will continue to engage the Nation’s “citizen inventors” through prize-based challenges in areas such as satellite launch systems, advanced robotics, energy storage, green aviation, advanced materials, and wireless power transmission. We also will work to foster innovation within NASA, by providing Center R&D opportunities that capitalize on each Center’s unique assets. To support studies and tests of visionary, long-term concepts, architectures, systems, and missions, we will continue to partner with other government agencies, academia, and the commercial sector.
Objective: Infuse game-changing and crosscutting technologies throughout the Nation’s space enterprise, to transform the Nation’s space mission capabilities.
Description: NASA requires a faster, more aggressive strategy for acquiring and applying new technologies if we are to create a sustainable set of affordable programs that achieve our longer-term goals. Without a robust effort that matures technologies and establishes their feasibility, the ideas and transformational concepts developed at a low TRL may not materialize into benefits for future NASA missions or our Nation’s economy. We will bridge the gap between idea formulation and mission infusion to deliver improvements to our future missions. We will focus on maturing mid-TRL technologies and proving the feasibility of advanced space concepts and technologies that may lead to entirely new approaches to space system design and operations, exploration, and scientific research. Our technology development processes will provide tangible products capable of infusion into our missions, as well as into the commercial sector.
Through significant modeling, analysis, ground-based testing, and laboratory experimentation, we will mature technologies in preparation for potential system-level flight demonstrations within NASA or by other government agencies. Executing these challenging laboratory and space flight demonstrations requires: creating technology projects with well-defined milestones and schedules; developing facilities, laboratories, and flight test opportunities; fabricating materials, hardware, and software; developing and integrating technologies; and conducting demonstrations. We will use an approach similar to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research and development agency for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). DARPA evaluates their technology investments annually for progress against baseline milestones and provides continued development support for promising investments. To ensure a collaborative environment and maximize our resources, we will work with other government agencies and share program management best practices. Recognizing the need to effectively leverage our workforce, we will use an optimized DARPA-like approach, in which we will rely on a combination of in-house and out-of-house workforce.
Objective: Develop and demonstrate the critical technologies that will make NASA’s exploration, science, and discovery missions more affordable and more capable.
Description: Mission-driven technology development is intended to meet unique near-term mission needs within technical, cost, and schedule goals. We will use the Space Technology Grand Challenges, the Space Technology Roadmap, integrated architectures, and mission needs as resources to prioritize the desired set of future technologies that will offer the most synergies and advancement of mission capabilities. Using present approaches with this new strategy, we will enable advances and improved performance by furthering existing evolutionary technologies, as well as developing revolutionary new technologies. We will balance potential technology benefits with specific mission risks, to establish the appropriate time frame to infuse each emerging technology.
Across NASA, scientists and engineers will continue to collaborate on technology development, focusing on identifying technologies for future research and development, and testing promising concepts that will help achieve our mission objectives. We will draw from the creativity and innovation of our Nation’s scientists, engineers, and technologists while advancing U.S. technological leadership by partnering with industry, academia, other government agencies, and our international collaborators.
Objective: Facilitate the transfer of NASA technology and engage in partnerships with other government agencies, industry, and international entities to generate U.S. commercial activity and other public benefits.
Description: While technology and innovation are critical to successfully accomplishing our missions, an additional benefit is the positive impact on the Nation’s economy. Recognizing a broader application of fundamental technology, we make a determined effort to transfer technologies outside of NASA and to develop technology partnerships. Our technology programs support our leadership in key research areas, fuel rapid improvements in mission capabilities, foster a robust industrial base, improve our competitive position in the international marketplace, enable new industries, and contribute to economic growth.
We seek partnerships and cooperative activities to develop technology that is applicable to our mission needs and contributes to the Nation’s commercial competitiveness in global markets. Three key themes underscore our engagement with the emerging commercial space sector: considering the private sector as an investment partner,sharing the cost of developing a capability; purchasing services rather than hardware when possible; and fostering the creation of broader opportunities for innovation. Pursuing these partnership themes brings direct value to our current and future missions, advances the interests of the partners, and encourages additional commercial space development.
Beyond partnership strategies, we seek to transfer NASA technologies directly to other government agencies, the national aerospace industry, and the broader U.S. commercial sector. NASA-spurred advances in energy, communication, health, materials science, and other fields generate spinoff applications that benefit the Nation. We have established a core team at each NASA Center charged with technology transfer, licensing, and new partnership development, and we have tasked them to work closely with scientists and engineers to match our technologies with the needs of organizations external to NASA. We actively coordinate with state and local governments and regional economic development organizations to assess the market and develop strategies that will meet the emerging needs of NASA and our partners. We will continue to identify on-traditional strategies and approaches to engaging external partners, such as the use of auctions that highlight NASA patents available for licensing.
Priority Goal: Enable bold new missions and make new technologies available to Government agencies and U.S. industry.
Goal Statement: Enable bold new missions and make new technologies available to Government agencies and U.S. industry.
By September 30, 2013, document the maturation of new technologies by completing 4,065 technology-related products, including patents, licenses, and mission use agreements.
Description: The benefits of NASA research are all around us: knowledge provided by weather and navigational spacecraft; millions of passengers and packages traveling safely by air every day; efficiency in ground and air transportation; super computers; solar- and wind-generated energy; the cameras in many cell phones; biomedical technologies such as advanced imaging and infant formula; and the protective gear that keeps our military, firefighters, and police safe have all benefited from the Nation’s investments in aerospace technology and innovation.
Through continued investment in technology, NASA will be able to achieve increasingly challenging and complex science, exploration, and aeronautics mission goals, many of which will have direct public benefit through technology transfer.
NASA’s new technology investment strategy will drive the next wave of aerospace innovation, enabling missions to be performed in new ways and creating opportunities never possible before. These innovations will also provide opportunities for advances in science, engineering, transportation, public safety, computer science, industrial productivity, consumer goods, health, and medicine while supporting U.S. global leadership in innovation.
This is consistent with Goal 3 of NASA’s Strategic Plan, “to create the innovative new space technologies for our exploration, science, and economic future.” One of the outcomes of this goal is to facilitate the transfer of NASA technology and engage in partnerships with other government agencies, industry, and international entities to generate U.S. commercial activity and other public benefits.
The process of generating these public benefits-transferring technologies from NASA’s launch pads and laboratories to secondary applications-involves first identifying the technologies, then determining processes for securing intellectual property rights, and then implementing mechanisms for formally handing over rights to outside entities. Toward that end, NASA’s performance indicators include New Technology Reports, new patent filings, licenses for use of NASA-patented technology, and agreements for use of NASA-developed software. Additionally, NASA is also developing a method for tracking infusion of new technologies into mission application, and as such, will be counting Mission Use Documents.
Strategic Goal: Advance aeronautics research for societal benefit.
Objective: Develop innovative solutions and advanced technologies, through a balanced research portfolio, to improve current and future air transportation.
Description: By 2025, air traffic within American airspace is projected to at least double its current rate. Future needs will exceed the limited solutions that aviation currently offers, requiring improvements in capacity, environmental compatibility, robustness, and freedom of mobility throughout the airspace while maintaining or increasing safety. From foundational research to integrated system capabilities, a broad portfolio is required to meet this challenge.
Our fundamental research programs take an integrated approach to address the critical long-term challenges of NextGen. These programs ensure a long-term focus on both traditional aeronautical disciplines and relevant emerging fields for integration into multidisciplinary system-level capabilities for broad application. This approach will enable revolutionary changes to both the airspace system and the aircraft that fly within it.
For more detailed information, please see http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/.
Objective: Conduct systems-level research on innovative and promising aeronautic concepts and technologies to demonstrate integrated capabilities and benefits in a relevant flight and/ or ground environment.
Description: NASA evaluates and selects the most promising concepts emerging from our fundamental research programs for integration at the systems level. We will test integrated systems in relevant environments to demonstrate that the combined benefits of these new concepts are in fact greater than the sum of their individual parts. By focusing on technologies that have already proven their merit at the fundamental level, we will help transition these technologies more quickly to the aviation community, as well as inform future fundamental research needs. We also will advance capabilities to design and integrate complex aviation systems. To date, the Integrated Systems Research Program (ISRP) has focused on the development of technologies and operational procedures to decrease the significant environmental impacts of the aviation system. We will focus on delivering validated data and technology that could enable routine operations for unmanned aircraft systems of all sizes and capabilities in the national airspace system and NextGen. In addition, we are integrating and evaluating new operational concepts through real-world tests and virtual simulations.
Our research approach will facilitate the transition of new capabilities to manufacturers, airlines, and the FAA for the ultimate benefit of the flying public. The integrated system-level research in this program will be coordinated with our ongoing long-term, fundamental research, as well as with the efforts of other Federal agencies.
Strategic Goal: Enable program and institutional capabilities to conduct NASA’s aeronautics and space activities.
Objective: Identify, cultivate, and sustain a diverse workforce and inclusive work environment that is needed to conduct NASA missions.
Description: We have a workforce that is skilled, competent, and dedicated to our missions. Our workforce is passionate about their work, and they bring many dimensions of diversity, including ideas and approaches, to make their teams successful. To continue the successful conduct of our missions over the next 20 to 30 years, we must maintain and sustain our diverse workforce with the right balance of skills and talents. Our mission and institutional organizations work collaboratively to identify future needs and to identify gaps in skills, and cooperatively plan Agency-level participation in new employee recruitment efforts.
We recruit talented people, seeking a workforce that is inclusive of all, regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, status as a parent, or gender identity. We work aggressively to identify and eliminate environmental factors that can diminish trust, impair teamwork, compromise safety, and ultimately undermine excellence. We conduct an annual self-evaluation as part of our Model EEO Plan, designed to identify and remove barriers to individual and team success which helps us build a model workplace that promotes personal and professional growth, and respects and values the contributions of every member on our team. We have established a Diversity and Inclusion Framework that takes us beyond a focus on EEO compliance to policies and practices designed to enhance innovation, creativity, and employee retention.
We conduct workforce analysis and planning to identify and address gaps between our current workforce and our future needs. Our workforce development and training initiatives help redirect our employees in response to changing mission priorities. We provide leadership training and development programs to help mature the potential of our high-performing employees, making certain that we have readied our future leaders. We also sponsor education programs to provide highly specialized research and engineering experiences to students with an interest in aeronautics and astronautics. By providing undergraduates and graduate students with hands-on opportunities to contribute to our current missions, we are effectively providing on-the-job training to the next-generation workforce.
Objective: Ensure vital assets are ready, available, and appropriately sized to conduct NASA’s missions.
Description: To safely and successfully conduct our many missions, we must ensure that we plan for, operate, and sustain the infrastructure that provides our program and projects with the facilities, capabilities, tools, and services they require. On an ongoing basis, we must ensure programmatic and institutional types of capabilities are available and effectively sized to support our current and future missions.
Toward that end, we perform periodic Agency-level integrated assessments of the supply of technical capabilities across all NASA Centers and integrated analyses of the demand for these capabilities across all NASA programs. This provides us with core information needed to balance institutional supply with program and project demand to ensure that capabilities are affordable and aligned with our long-term strategic goals.
In addition to periodic integrated assessments, we continuously work on planning, implementing, and evaluating our institutional and program mission support capabilities through master planning efforts. Active management in this arena helps us to assess institutional performance, identify and track resolution of identified issues, and coordinate resources across the Agency. This coordination improves resource planning, centralizing operations where appropriate, and balances cost, quality, and availability of our capabilities and assets to help minimize institutional risk to our missions. With this systemic view, we are able to incorporate best practices and standard processes and gain efficiencies by eliminating redundancies and assets that no longer benefit the Agency. Our integration of master planning guides actions such as consolidating and renewing needed capabilities, developing comprehensive energy and water conservation plans, planning budgets for repairs, and measuring progress and trends. Master planning also allows us to perform cross-Center assessments to examine further opportunities for consolidation of capabilities. As we update our mission plans and translate them into specific programs and projects, the use of master planning links mission support elements with projected funding to support our programs and their strategic objectives.
Objective: Ensure the availability to the Nation of NASA-owned strategically important test capabilities.
Description: NASA has one of the largest, most versatile, and comprehensive sets of research and test facilities in the world. Our programs, other Federal agencies, and the private sector use the facilities to test and evaluate items to mitigate risk and optimize engineering designs. This work spans the engineering life cycle, from basic research to developing a discrete technology, to a full subsystem and system development. We manage our facilities and make strategic investments to ensure that ready access to comprehensive testing, with our flight research assets and in our state-of-the-art ground test facilities, is available for our missions and to the public and private sectors. We provide the vision and leadership for these nationally important assets and sustained support for their workforce, capability improvements, and new test technology development. By staying up to date on technological advances, industry demand, and issues that concern the public, we are able to make decisions on facility investments and divestments.
Additionally, we are responsible for building and maintaining a well-coordinated suite of national testing capabilities in collaboration with DOD through the National Partnership for Aeronautical Testing. Looking to the future, we will continue to develop and implement a facility investment and divestment plan that fully supports the current and long-term missions of NASA, DOD, and American industry.
Objective: Implement and provide space communications and launch capabilities responsive to existing and future science and space exploration missions.
Description: An uninterrupted, reliable communications network is essential to receiving and transmitting the data that makes our space missions safe, efficient, and successful. This communications network is critical to space missions, providing the telemetry, tracking, and command activities required by each spacecraft. Communications capabilities enable us to transfer key data to ground systems, manage space operations, and maintain voice communications with crews on human space flight missions. As new spacecraft with different objectives and advanced technology are launched, communication needs change. In response, we modify and evolve our space communications capabilities to ensure our mission needs are fulfilled.
Our Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program will continue its development of a unified space communication and navigation network capable of meeting robotic and human space exploration needs. We will use a new architecture definition document to guide the design of an integrated network architecture and the standards for the next generation of space communications. We also will continue to use competitive sourcing to acquire major modernization upgrades to the Space Network Ground Segment and to accomplish integration of the SCaN networks to a single, comprehensive network. Through close and ongoing cooperation with our international partners, we will work to develop cross-support network compatibility and interoperability for efficiency and effectiveness.
Assuring reliable and cost-effective access to space for payload missions also is critical to achieving our goals. Through our Launch Services Program (LSP), we are responsible for understanding the full range of civil space launch needs and working closely with other Government agencies and the launch industry to ensure that the safest, most reliable, on-time, and cost-effective commercial launch opportunities are available over a wide range of launch systems. LSP personnel work with customers from universities, industry, Government agencies, and international partners from the earliest phase of mission planning to purchase fixed-price launch services from domestic suppliers. LSP personnel also seek opportunities to share unused payload capacity aboard non-NASA launches to leverage launch funds. Most importantly, they provide oversight to ensure that our valuable, one-of-a-kind missions achieve their space flight objectives.
Objective: Establish partnerships, including innovative arrangements, with commercial, international, and other government entities to maximize mission success.
Description: Across the Agency, we seek and maintain strategic partnerships that leverage resources and increase the impact of our activities. Partnerships within the U.S. Government and with international, academic, and industrial organizations help us execute our missions more efficiently and effectively. We work cooperatively to identify common goals, develop new technologies and applications, and leverage technical expertise to minimize risk. Partnerships allow us to optimize the use of our research and testing facilities, our laboratories, and the talents and skills of our employees.
The National Space Policy includes direction to use inventive, nontraditional arrangements to acquire commercial space goods. We are exploring mechanisms such as building public-private partnerships, hosting Government capabilities on commercial spacecraft, and purchasing scientific or operational data products from commercial satellites. The ability to competitively procure technology or services when needed, rather than maintain a capability that cannot be fully used, will allow us to focus our resources for institutional and program capabilities in areas of evolving strategic importance. Greater varieties of partnerships within the Federal Government, and other innovations and collaborations for shared business services, also will allow us to focus on the activities essential for mission performance.
Strategic Goal: Share NASA with the public, educators, and students to provide opportunities to participate in our Mission, foster innovation, and contribute to a strong national economy.
Objective: Attract and retain students in STEM disciplines along the full length of the education pipeline.
Description: Education and industry experts have long warned our national leaders of an impending crisis in STEM education. Persistent calls to action warn us that failure to build a future workforce proficient in STEM will have adverse impacts on the economic growth and global competitiveness of the United States. International assessments consistently show that the performance of American students is lagging behind that of other nations. As part of the national imperative to encourage students to pursue STEM studies and the myriad career opportunities that could be open to them, we will continue our efforts to help inspire the passion and creative potential of our students.
We employ education specialists at each NASA Center to work with local and regional constituents, customers, and industry partners to best map resources and opportunities that meet the needs of the education community. This distributed management system allows us to be responsive to national priorities and initiatives, such as “Race to the Top” and “Educate to Innovate,” while maintaining flexibility in delivering products and services to teachers and students. Our specialists work directly with elementary and secondary educators through local and national education organizations. In those interactions, elementary, secondary, and informal educators learn how to translate our current research and technology advances into meaningful education experiences that inspire their students.
At the elementary and secondary school levels, we actively encourage students to think positively about STEM as they develop their knowledge, skills, and long-term career interests. At the undergraduate and graduate levels, we work hand-in-hand with colleges and universities to provide student research and engineering experiences that contribute to our missions. To ensure that beneficiaries of our Agency-funded educational programs are afforded equal opportunities, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, or disability, we conduct compliance reviews and offer support and strategies to improve access.
Objective: Build strategic partnerships that promote STEM literacy through formal and informal means.
Description: In the same way a complex mission takes millions of ideas, thousands of workers, and hundreds of companies working toward specific objectives to be successful, it will take the same type of effort to improve STEM literacy. The complexity of meeting formal and informal education needs and requirements demands a highly collaborative approach. Through strategic partnerships, we leverage the resources and expertise of our partners, scale our own investments to reach new audiences, and expand established networks. It is the magnitude of this effort and the need for fresh and constantly renewing sources of innovative solutions and non-traditional approaches that make strategic partnerships the key to supporting STEM education. Tapping into our partners’ creativity and innovation will help disseminate our products and services in a broader and more systematic manner to reach new users more effectively than what we can do alone.
For more detailed information, please see http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/about/index.html.
Objective: Engage the public in NASA’s missions by providing new pathways for participation.
Description: Opening pathways for the public to actively participate in NASA’s activities is a new focus consistent with the philosophy of government transparency. Participatory engagement seeks to include the general public in the adventure and excitement of our activities and tap into individual creativity and capabilities to enhance our work in science, discovery, and exploration.
Our participatory engagement activities span the communications spectrum ranging from passive activities-like watching online NASA videos-to highly interactive activities that use NASA-related social media tools or provide hands-on experiences. We also use these activities to collaborate with the public on interpretation of data and discoveries. We foster prize-based competitions, offering opportunities for organizations and private individuals to propose innovative solutions to specific challenges we have identified. By increasing the mechanisms through which the public can directly and specifically contribute to our missions, we can bring additional creativity and capability to some of our biggest challenges, and leverage our resources to accomplish even more toward our goals.
Active engagement by the public also reflects an increased relevancy of Agency activities to these individuals. What NASA does is exciting, and we want to encourage as many like-minded Americans as possible to join us in our ventures.
Objective: Inform, engage, and inspire the public by sharing NASA’s mission, challenges, and results.
Description: The opportunities and means for sharing information have increased tremendously with the Internet and other new technologies. For scientific and programmatic announcements, we will continue traditional communications activities such as issuing press releases, hosting media events, and providing photographs and videos of our missions and events. We will continue to grow NASA Television and the www.nasa.gov Web site to offer a variety of formats, content, and activities to communicate with specific audiences. The popularity of social media and networking offers new means of reaching and communicating with diverse audiences. Interactive experiences with our astronauts, scientists, and engineers, through an online presence and other outreach events are well-suited for engaging the public and students.
We share the direct results of our missions by releasing our scientific data to researchers and other Government agencies. We contribute our data to online portals such as www.data.gov, allowing its use by anyone with the capability to access the data. NASA Web sites host a wealth of mission and program information, and we participate fully in Administration initiatives for transparency by providing specific program and project information through information-sharing portals.
We are continually exploring new tools, techniques, and capabilities to reach the public and ways in which to inform the media on the activities of the Agency. Our goal is to share the results and challenges of our missions with the public to inspire them and increase their knowledge and awareness of NASA’s work.
