The mission of the Space Station Freedom Program is to build and operate an international, permanently inhabited, Earth-orbiting research facility in the late 1990s. Space Station Freedom is essential for advancing human exploration of space.
MISSION OF SPACE STATION FREEDOM
The mission of the Space Station Freedom program is to:
- Provide a permanent outpost where we will learn to live and work productively in space.
- Provide an advanced research laboratory to explore space and employ its resources for the benefit of humanity.
- Provide the opportunity to learn to build, operate and maintain systems in space.
GOALS OF THE SPACE STATION FREEDOM PROGRAM
- Establish a permanent human presence in space
- Enable human exploration of the solar system, including missions to the Moon and to Mars
- Enable scientific research and technology development
- Stimulate important technologies, such as automation and robotics
- Foster the development of commercial products and processes
- Study Earth on a continuous, global scale
- Promote education in science and engineering
Space Station Freedom - The Future is Now!
America stands on the forefront of human development in the twenty-first century after more than thirty years in space research the lessons we have learned in medical science are now being applied to prevent illness throughout the world community. At a time when the world community is realizing the fragility of our environment space and earth sciences now permit us to map out the impacts of human habitation and settlement to apply our new knowledge to create sustainable economic systems, and repair damaged ecological regions. Earth systems sciences and their inter-disciplinary approaches to applied science are revealing how intricate and inter-connected our land, ocean, and atmospheric systems are and how mankind has affected and will affect these systems in the future.
Space science stands as a sentinel for our common future upon the earth, and its lessons sound critically needed early warnings that can help us through foresight to begin to build the earth in peaceful inter-dependence and cooperation.
Among the most important of these new tools for human insight and discovery is Space Station Freedom. Space Station Freedom will provide unprecedented opportunities for basic and applied research in earth and life sciences and microgravity materials research. These efforts are directed at our nation's commitment to improve the quality of life on earth and our national goals for sustainable development in freedom. For the first time the benefits of space sciences and the permanent inhabitation of space will belong to all mankind.
You are using one of the most recent technologies to emerge from space science and the need to catalog and share information widely among scientists - this CD-ROM uses metals from Space Station Freedom upon which are etched the millions of bits of data comprising this edition of Nautilus.
In the development of Gemini, Mercury and Apollo, Skylab, Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyagers 1 and 2 and Viking missions, among our manned and unmanned programs new information systems had to be developed to bring groups of people together to work together to solve complex and intricate problems - computer conferencing technologies like NSI's Notepad were among the first to provide interactive global communications that allowed Canadian, European, Japanese and American scientific teams to design the experiments that are now being carried out on-board recent Shuttle flights and future Space Station Freedom programs.
These computer based information systems, relational databases, and the new storage mediums upon which they depend are as important to the people of our modern world as the invention of the printing press was in its day to the widespread diffusion of knowledge and human experience. They lie at the heart of the information age, and mean that the time span between theoretical science and applied science is reduced.
The process of knowledge development, new human insights, and inter-disciplinary approaches to problem solving and applied science affects not only how we see a problem, but how we mobilize the critical resources we will need to navigate through the challenging frontiers that beckon us into the twenty-first century.
Knowledge based systems and group planning and inter-action has already reached from the laboratories to our elementary and junior high-schools. Characteristic of these enhanced learning and multimedia systems is the information environment itself. We are entering an ecological age where each individual person can find growth and development on a life-long basis.
The information age which has evolved from our initial space research and exploration over the past thirty years now is helping propel our society forward towards a society of diversity and opportunity. At the same time we are being awakened to the needs of the people of our home planet as never before. It was from space that we first marveled at the sight of our fragile island home as Apollo 8 circled the moon, and twenty-four years later watched the recent famine in Somalia begin to spread. Space based remote sensing systems helped to extinguish the recent technological disaster following the Chernobyl nuclear accident. It was from space that we could first measure the desertification and symptoms of environmental destruction of our rain forests. Space born systems help us today to predict and warn coastal residents of on-coming hurricane like Hurricane Andrew, and they are also helping us to begin to learn and apply our knowledge to ocean resources and aquaculture. Space science is also helping us to begin to build the earth in peace. How we choose to apply these new space technologies to meet human needs of course is uniquely the hallmark of our age. Will we choose life in all its abundance? Or will we continue to desecrate our home planet by our greed and selfishness. Whether we will choose to become beasts or angels is our choice. Our children and future generations await our answer. For that truly is the new frontier to which we are called as stewards of our island home.
Freedoms New Frontiers
BENEFITS OF SPACE STATION FREEDOM
Space Station Freedom will be an unprecedented facility for first-class basic and applied research in life science, microgravity research and technology development. This research will assist us in our commitment to improve the quality of life on Earth and achieve our national goal of world leadership in space.
RESEARCH BENEFITS
Access to the microgravity environment of space is one of the most important features of Space Station Freedom. Currently, U.S. researchers using the Shuttle are only able to visit space for a few days at a time. The station, expected to be in orbit for 30 years, will provide a laboratory in space for low-gravity experiments over a period of months or years. This continuous. stable laboratory environment is expected to yield many new developments in materials, electronics, medicine and the treatment of disease.
Our new research outpost in space, unsurpassed in providing power and volume for orbiting experiments, will have the constant presence of a human crew to make use of the microgravity environment. The specific disciplines that will benefit from Space Station Freedom are life sciences, microgravity research and technology development .
Life sciences. Life scientists will work to gain valuable information about the basic biological processes of cells, plants, animals and humans. The underlying knowledge about living organisms gained from experimentation in a controlled gravity environment will be a benefit in itself. Scientists are expected to apply this know-ledge to enhance treatment and countermeasures that will be necessary to prepare future astronauts for long-duration space flight.
Microgravity research. Scientific experiments on the characteristics of fluids, metals, ceramics and other materials will expand our knowledge of how materials behave when they are unconstrained by gravity. This research will advance the basic science objectives of microgravity research. Commercial organizations may apply the knowledge gained to develop new communications systems and improve computer memories, sensors and solar cells. Space may be the site of unique developments in compound semiconductors, synthesized metallic materials and composites, and high temperature superconductors, for use on Earth and in space. Commercial organizations plan to grow defect-free protein crystals in orbit for use by the medical, agricultural and chemical industries. The potential of this research to increase the quality of life on Earth is enormous, ranging from the development of new pharmaceuticals to the protein enrichment of some foods.
CAT scan technology originated from space research
Technology development. The testing of technologies, in space will investigate how microgravity, radiation and other aspects of the environment affect mechanical functions. For example, research into the support systems for human space flight may enable long-term human space exploration and provide new advances for life on Earth. Systems designed for the station can be potentially adapted for water and air purification systems used on Earth. To date, space program technology has improved human health care by contributing to the development of insulin delivery systems, pacemakers, CAT scans, video systems to supplement X-rays and many others.
Technology development will focus on constructing advanced space systems for easier and cheaper access to outer space, improved spacecraft designs, and robotics for conducting high-risk or monotonous tasks in space.
Automation and robotics technologies have already proven to be of interest to commercial entities for application on Earth. Much of the activity in this area will focus on developing technologies that can enhance the efficient operation and use of Space Station Freedom.
EDUCATION BENEFITS
Space Station Freedom will yield benefits not only to those directly involved in using it, although the scientific and research gains are expected to be momentous.
Space has captured the minds and hearts of the U.S. public. and the imagination and pride of our children. The magic, the wonderment of it, has the ability to inspire.
In speaking of the importance of space programs, the NASA Administrator recently commented that "Our programs airplanes, spaceships, moon, Mars and astronauts can get to kids. Ghosts can do it, dinosaurs can do it, and space can do it. I believe no other benefit of this endeavor will loom so large."
Space Station Freedom will stimulate the interest of our youth and encourage them to study science, math and engineering, and influence teachers who view space as a learning tool. One of the most significant benefits of Space Station Freedom may be its ability to revitalize America's competitiveness in the classroom and industry for years to come.
From the vantage point of space, Space Station Freedom will also provide us with new insights into ourselves and our potential to improve life for all inhabitants of Earth. We can then build on this awareness to meet the continuing challenges of future space exploration and our stewardship of Earth.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Historically, our investment in space has proven to be a wise one. Space Station Freedom will continue this tradition by contributing research and information that will enhance the quality of life on Earth. Research conducted on Freedom will be the source of better medical treatments, improved medicines, innovative products and new services developed or tested in space. Freedom will also be an important return on hard-earned tax dollars. Studies have shown that investing in high technology research and development programs such as the space station return more to the economy, over time, than the initial investment. The money spent to build and operate Space Station Freedom will be spent on Earth, not in space.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Influential members of the U.S. Congress realized as early as 1957 that a strong national space program offered a base for international cooperation in activities that could extend peaceful pursuits on a worldwide frontier. Space Station Freedom is the largest international space venture ever undertaken.
Freedom will promote international cooperation in scientific endeavors that are of mutual benefit. Scientific and technological resources and equipment will be shared among many countries.
Space Station Freedom will also expand research opportunities for U.S. scientists by sharing costs and information. It will serve as an international learning center where many countries will be able to work together peacefully and use the resources of space for the benefit
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