FIVE DECADES OF OPERATIONS

In reviewing five decades of manned space flight operations, it is difficult to define any specific decade as a singular era, but in general the 1960s could be termed the pioneering decade; the 1970s the decade of ascending learning curve; the 1980s the reality decade; the 1990s the decade of application; and the 2000s perhaps a decade of expansion. What lies ahead is for the pages of history.

Connections

The physical quest for space flight can be traced back to the era of stratospheric balloon ascents during the early decades of the 20th century. This was followed by aviation pioneers in their quest for speed, height, duration, and eventually the international drive to break the sound barrier and pushing the limits of rocket aircraft propulsion. All of these linked steps led up to the dawn of human space flight operations. What is less often considered are the significant, but connected developments in other areas of science, technology, medicine, and human endeavor, including of course military advancements, which have all contributed to applications now used in space exploration. There is often discussion about the benefits of space flight and the spin-offs from the investment and technology devel­oped, but this works both ways. There are technologies and procedures which

have been incorporated into the space program which have filtered down to improve aspects of fife here on the ground.

Lessons learned from other endeavors are crucial to developing the next steps in space. For example, underwater exploration is currently being used to prepare astronauts for flights on the Space Station and in supporting simulations related to future explorations of the asteroids, the Moon, and Mars. Other extreme environment operations are to be found in the Arctic and Antarctic regions of Earth, in long-duration isolation chamber experiments (such as the recent Mars 500 experiment) and even experience from what are now termed extreme sports.

The history of polar exploration has analogues in long-duration space flight, and studies of the close confines of living and working in nuclear submarines, submerged for days or weeks in isolated environments under operational and stressful situations, have also been used to evaluate crew behavior and perform­ance on programs such as the Space Station. This work, including that being conducted by expedition crews on the ISS, will have direct application for our eventual return to the Moon and out to Mars, where long-term research bases will have to be staffed and operated remotely from our planet by self-reliant crews, with support from Earth coming in an advisory or backup role.

We are at a key point in human space flight history. After 50 years, we can no longer consider ourselves to be pioneering. It is now time to homestead space and to expand our horizons, creating a reliable, economical, and sustainable infrastruc­ture to move away from Earth, not only to explore new planets, moons, and asteroids but also to safely exploit their resources. We must still monitor our own world to ensure its survival and get the best use from its finite resources and we must discover how to balance our need for those resources with protection of the natural environment to ensure we can continue to live here. If we learn these lessons here on Earth, we can apply them to other worlds with confidence and perhaps a clear conscience.

Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders once said that the most valuable return from going to the Moon was to discover Earth. In expanding our knowledge and understanding of our own planet, we can put our best efforts into exploring new worlds. The last five decades have created the foundations for a concerted inter­national effort to move out into the cosmos. Never again can we look up at the night sky and wonder what it would actually be like to go there, because we have done that. We just need to keep going a little farther.

Hindsight is a wonderful way to interpret past events and experiences and to think how things could have been done better or differently. It is quite easy to look back and wonder what might have been if certain events had or had not happened or if fate had intervened a different way. In this context, you could ponder endlessly what would have happened if the Americans had launched the first satellite; if the Soviets had landed on the Moon before the Americans; if Apollo had not been canceled in 1972; if the Shuttle had been authorized with its liquid-fueled manned booster; if Buran had become operational; if a Moon base and 50-man space station had been authorized; and so on. That small word “if” could lead to countless such speculations but can never affect what actually happened.

In reality, as humans we can only do our best and hope we get it right. In space flight, “our best” has yielded some spectacular achievements over the past half a century. Whether the decisions made were the right decisions is irrelevant and unchangeable, but they can be learned from for such decisions in the future. Here, we can only briefly summarize the achievements and decisions of these first five decades, to provide an awareness of how we arrived at this point in space exploration and allow us to decide where to go next.