The Advanced Space Transportation Program (ASTP) is a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

program to intentionally advance current space

transportation system A transport network, or transportation network, is a network or graph in geographic space, describing an infrastructure that permits and constrains movement or flow. Examples include but are not limited to road networks, railways, air routes, ...

technologies Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

, and innovate

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

technologies, through intense

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

efforts that are intended to culminate in regularizing the

outer space Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, pred ...

environment decades from now. The intense efforts aim to accelerate

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

and technological breakthroughs.

History and funding

Routine space travel

As NASA's core

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scie ...

program for all space transportation, the Advanced Space Transportation Program at the

Marshall Space Flight Center The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama ( Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first ...

is advancing technologies that substantially increase the safety, and reliability of space transportation, as well as reduce the cost. Presently, it costs $10,000 to put a pound of

payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...

Earth orbit Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi) in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes days (1 sidereal year), during which time Eart ...

. NASA's goal is to reduce the cost of getting to space to hundreds of dollars per pound within 25 years and tens of dollars per pound within 40 years. The high cost of space transportation coupled with unreliability currently discourages access to space as an everyday environment. When space transportation becomes safe and affordable for ordinary people numerous possibilities and opportunities can be envisioned. The vision is guided by possibilities such as living and working in space, exploring new worlds, and vacationing off the Earth. In a similar context opportunities for business and pleasure are added multiples. Additionally, researchers at the Marshall Space Flight Center are intentionally advancing technologies from simple engines to exotic drives in order to fulfil each of the above objectives.Drachlis, Dave of the NASA Public Affairs Office
Advanced Space Transportation Prog the Highway to Space
NASA. 2010.

New-generation launch vehicles

The program's primary emphasis is on technologies for third generation reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) within an operational time frame of the year 2025, lowering the price tag to $100 per pound. As the next step beyond NASA's X-33 and X-34 flight demonstrators, these advanced technologies would move space transportation closer to an airline style of operations with horizontal

takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a ...

s and

landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or ...

s, quick turnaround times and small

ground support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movemen ...

crews. Third generation launch vehicles — beyond the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

and "X" planes — are intended to use various cutting-edge technologies, such as advanced

propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the ...

s that pack more energy into smaller

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful e ...

s and result in smaller

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and syste ...

s. Advanced thermal protection systems also will be necessary for future launch vehicles because they will fly faster through the atmosphere, resulting in higher structural heating than today's vehicles. Another emerging technology – intelligent vehicle health management systems – could allow the launch vehicle to determine its own health without human inspection. Sensors embedded in the vehicle could send signals to determine if any damage occurs during flight. Upon landing, the vehicle's on-board computer could download the vehicle's health status to a ground controller's laptop computer, recommend specific maintenance points or tell the launch site it's ready for the next launch.

Oxygen-air-breathing propulsion

The Advanced Space Transportation Program is developing technologies for air-breathing rocket engines that could help make future space transportation like today's air travel. In late 1996, the Marshall Center began testing these radical rocket engines. Powered by engines that "breathe" oxygen from the air, the spacecraft would be completely reusable, take off and land at airport runways, and be ready to fly again within days. An air-breathing engine – or rocket-based, combined cycle engine – gets its initial take-off power from specially designed rockets, called air-augmented rockets, that boost performance about 15 percent over conventional rockets. When the vehicle's velocity reaches twice the speed of sound, the rockets are turned off and the engine relies totally on oxygen in the atmosphere to burn the fuel. Once the vehicle's speed increases to about 10 times the speed of sound, the engine converts to a conventional rocket-powered system to propel the vehicle into orbit. Testing of the engine continues at General Applied Sciences Laboratory facilities on Long Island, N.Y.

Other advancements

Along with air-breathing propulsion, there is also magnetic levitation, highly integrated airframe structures that morph in flight, and intelligent vehicle health management systems are some of the other

being considered for a third generation RLV. The ASTP is also investigating technologies for a fourth generation reusable launch vehicles that could be operational in the 2040 time-frame. The goal is to make space travel safer by a factor of 20,000 and more affordable by a factor of 1,000, compared to present day systems. Routine passenger space travel is envisioned for this fourth generation RLV.

Accessible outer space

As access to outer space improves and becomes routine, this will enable new markets to open up. This includes space-based adventure tourism and travel, along with space-based business parks. Other types of benefits to commerce and the global population includes solar electric power beamed from space to Earth, space-based hospitals for treatment of chronic pain and disabilities, mining asteroids for high-value minerals, and a worldwide, two-hour express package delivery system.

Beyond Earth's orbit

The ASTP is developing

to decrease the trip times and reduce the weight of the propulsion systems required for planetary missions - including riskier missions to the edge of our solar system and beyond. Some of the technologies under development to accomplish these goals are electrodynamic tethers, solar sails, aeroassist and high-power electric propulsion (ion thruster) are just a few of the technologies being developed to achieve the goals. The ASTP is also conducting

fundamental research Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena. In contrast, applied researc ...

on the cutting edge of

modern science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Mesop ...

and

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, including

fission Fission, a splitting of something into two or more parts, may refer to: * Fission (biology), the division of a single entity into two or more parts and the regeneration of those parts into separate entities resembling the original * Nuclear fissio ...

, fusion and

antimatter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radio ...

propulsion, and breakthrough

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

theories that might enable thrusting against

space-time In physics, spacetime is a mathematical model that combines the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold. Spacetime diagrams can be used to visualize relativistic effects, such as why differe ...

itself and faster-than-light travel.

ASTP team

The ASTP leads a team of NASA centers, US Government agencies, industry and academia focused on products and developing a variety of

propulsion Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...

and vehicle technologies. Technology development is concentrated in the areas of

hypersonic transportation Hypersonic flight is flight through the atmosphere below altitudes of about 90 km at Hypersonic speed, speeds greater than Mach 5, a speed where Dissociation (chemistry), dissociation of air begins to become significant and high heat loads e ...

, travel beyond

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never m ...

, and advanced concepts research.

References

{{Use American English, date=January 2014 NASA programs