Embedded Technologies Expo & Conference 2020

NASA and the international space exploration community are on a mission to extend the human presence from Earth to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. For nearly 20 years, humans have resided onboard the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit, learning to live and work in space. NASA’s plans continue the journey in space beyond the space station, with the return of humans to the Moon, long-term exploration and science, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations. Concurrently, NASA is working with partners from many industrial sectors to foster a robust economy in low-Earth orbit, where NASA will be one of many customers utilizing microgravity platforms for diverse activities such as scientific research, manufacturing, and tourism.

This keynote presentation discusses NASA’s current exploration plans and the challenges associated with human voyages to the Moon and Mars. It describes key human spaceflight capabilities that must be advanced to enable NASA’s exploration goals, including sensors and avionics that can survive extreme environments, systems that enable crew and vehicle autonomy, and highly reliable environmental monitoring systems that require minimal maintenance. The presentation addresses the importance and application of these capabilities to deep space human spaceflight. It discusses the activities required to advance critical exploration capabilities, the means of demonstrating system performance, and implementation planning, including selection of flight test location based upon the unique environments and characteristics of the International Space Station, exploration-class vehicles, and lunar surface habitats.