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NASA is building
a highway to space. We are committed to enabling safe, reliable and
affordable access to space, for anyone, anywhere, anytime. To do so
will require revolutionary advances in key aerospace technologies.
Why? Because we on the surface of Earth live at the bottom of both a
"gravity well" and an ocean of air, and the sheer speed
required to attain orbit -- let alone travel to far distant
destinations - demands a high order of launch vehicle performance.
Although we have been able for decades now to place payloads and
people in orbit, we have not been able to do so with the simplicity,
the dependability and the low cost with which we routinely transport
cargo and people across the face of the Earth. Automobiles and
aircraft have progressed from fragile, dangerous contraptions to
relatively robust, comfortable transportation appliances, to which
we daily entrust our lives without a thought. Meanwhile our launch
vehicles have been complex, costly, high-strung systems that require
the utmost efforts of many, many capable and dedicated
professionals, and each successful flight is cause for joy and
relief.
Under the
leadership of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, space
transportation is being revolutionized. By investing in a sustained
progression of targeted, product-focused research and technology, we
will enable new generations of reusable launch vehicles (RLV's) that
surmount the Earth-to-orbit problem, and allow us to set our sights
on the planets and even the stars.
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