Mars in the eyes of the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Photo Credit/NASA
The human exploration of Mars figures prominently in a new declaration from 30 nations supporting global cooperation in the future exploration and uses of space, under the banner of the half-century old International Academy of Astronautics.
At a Washington summit on Nov. 17, the global organization that counts China, India, Korea, Japan, much of Europe as well as the United States and others from the Americas as members, outlined a broad road map for human and robotic exploration, Earth observation and disaster management.
The Stockholm-based IAA suggested a successful outcome rests on a formula of shared confidence, trust, transparency and best practices. The declaration identified the forces steering the wealthiest as well as the poorest nations toward a growing cooperation as a struggling global economy and the high cost of exploration.
“A consensus widely recognized is that many global challenges to come can better be solved by countries working together,” according to the session-ending declaration. “The world is flattening as many newcomers are joining the club of emerging space countries, the major space countries face budgetary challenges and politicians and decision-makers face competing priorities. The result is a need to enlarge the circle of current partners.”
In a four-page statement, the IAA identified Mars as the most compelling long-term goal of human exploration, through a step-wise process that sustains a human presence in Low Earth Orbit using the International Space Station.
The Academy did not set a date for reaching Mars with the first humans. It noted, though, the value of intermediate destinations, including near-Earth asteroids.
In reaching for that long range coal, the IAA stressed the use of new technologies to address global energy and environmental issues.
Achieving ambitious exploratory goals will depend on a coordinated strategy of sustained public engagement, the IAA said.
As the same time, the IAA encouraged cooperation in the use of more challenging and sophisticated robotic precursor missions to pave the way outward for humans. Robotic missions should focus on the prospects for life elsewhere in the solar system, the academy suggested.
The declaration calls for the better coordination of space, land, air and sea assets to monitor the Earth’s environmental health and to mitigate climate change. The IAA urged greater continuity in the planning and deployment of spacecraft assigned to monitor the Earth; a more aggressive effort to map the sources of green house gases; and a more concerted exchange of data from observations and measurements.
Finally, the academy underscored the significance of spacecraft in forecasting and managing the aftermath of a range of disasters
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden was among the IAA summit participants who sounded a supportive note.
“More than two dozen leaders attended this meeting to discuss issues almost all countries are grappling with, such as changing national priorities and stagnant budgets,” said Bolden.
“NASA recognizes that exploration beyond low-Earth orbit will involve the coordination, cooperation and support of other countries,” he said. “This theme of international coordination has been the purpose of developing a global exploration strategy, which many of the countries represented at the summit actively support. It is my hope that more countries will become supportive of this cooperative dialogue and adopt a global exploration roadmap.”