[meteorite-list] NASA Associate Administrator Statements on the Asteroid Initiative in the FY 2014 Budget Request

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:03:53 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201304102003.r3AK3r77028131_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

April 10, 2013

Michael Cabbage
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
mcabbage at nasa.gov

RELEASE: 13-102

NASA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR STATEMENTS ON THE ASTEROID INITIATIVE IN THE FY 2014 BUDGET REQUEST

WASHINGTON -- The following are statements from the associate
administrators of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission
Directorate, Science Mission Directorate and Space Technology Mission
Directorate on the administration's budget request for the 2014
fiscal year.

>From Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations
William Gerstenmaier:

"The mission to find, capture and redirect an asteroid robotically,
and then visit it with astronauts to study it and return samples
takes advantage of expertise across all of NASA in an integrated
approach to exploration. Along with the scientific research and
technology demonstrations happening around the clock on the
International Space Station that are teaching us how humans can live
and work in space, this mission will give us valuable experience we
need in deep space operations to send humans to more distant
destinations in the solar system, including Mars. Through the balance
of this fiscal year, we will work to define an affordable mission
architecture. In Fiscal Year 2014, NASA will begin developing and
testing prototype capture mechanisms and concepts for crew
interactions with the asteroid."

>From Associate Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld:

"The crucial first step in this endeavor is to enhance our ongoing
efforts to identify and characterize near-Earth objects for
scientific investigation and to find potentially hazardous asteroids
and targets appropriate for capture. The capture mission will be a
highly visible and significant collaboration of robotic and human
exploration in translunar space."

>From Associate Administrator for Space Technology Michael Gazarik:

"This mission accelerates our technology development activities in
high-powered solar electric propulsion. The ambitious mission to
rendezvous, capture and redirect a small asteroid to Earth-moon space
could not be accomplished without solar electric propulsion
technology. This technology also will support the commercial
telecommunications and satellite industries, and is an essential step
toward future NASA human and robotic exploration forays into deep
space."

The NASA budget and supporting information are available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/budget

-end-
Received on Wed 10 Apr 2013 04:03:53 PM PDT