Exploring the Moon and Mars; Choices for the Nation: OTA-ISC-502

ix, [1], 104, [2] pages. Illustrations. Boxes. Figures. Tables. Footnotes. Cover has some other wear and soiling. Scientifically, the prospect of returning to the Moon and exploring Mars in greater detail is an exciting one. President Bush's proposal to establish a permanent lunar base and to send human crews to explore Mars would engage both scientists and engineers in challenging tasks. Yet it also raises a host of issues regarding the appropriate mix of humans and machines, timeliness, and costs of space exploration. This Nation faces a sobering variety of economic, environmental, and technological challenges over the next few decades, all of which will make major demands on the Federal budget and other national assets. Within this context, Congress will have to decide the appropriate pace and direction for the President's space exploration proposal.This report, the result of an assessment of the potential for automation and robotics technology to assist in the exploration of the Moon and Mars, raises a number of issues related to the goals of the U.S. civilian space program. Among other things, the report discusses how greater attention to automation and robotics technologies could contribute to U.S. space exploration efforts. The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) was an office of the United States Congress from 1972 to 1995. OTA's purpose was to provide Congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of scientific and technical issues of the late 20th century, i.e. technology assessment. It was a leader in practicing and encouraging delivery of public services in innovative and inexpensive ways, including early involvement in the distribution of government documents through electronic publishing. Congress established the Office of Technology Assessment with the Technology Assessment Act of 1972.[1] It was governed by a twelve-member board, comprising six members of Congress from each party — half from the Senate and half from the House of Representatives. During its twenty-four-year life it produced about 750 studies on a wide range of topics, including acid rain, health care, global climate change, and polygraphs. Criticism of the agency was fueled by Fat City, a book by Donald Lambro; it called OTA an "unnecessary agency" that duplicated government work done elsewhere. OTA was "de-funded" in the "Contract with America" period.…