The Advanced Space Transportation Program (ASTP) is a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

program to intentionally advance current space transportation system

technologies Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

, and innovate

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

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 to ...

efforts that are intended to culminate in regularizing the outer space environment decades from now. The intense efforts aim to accelerate

scientific Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and technological breakthroughs.

Routine space travel

As NASA's core

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

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

Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center (officially the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center; MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville postal address), is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government's ...

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 in Earth orbit. 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 vehicle A reusable launch vehicle has parts that can be recovered and reflown, while carrying payloads from the surface to outer space. Rocket stages are the most common launch vehicle parts aimed for reuse. Smaller parts such as fairings, booster ...

s (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 tr ...

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 " spl ...

s, quick turnaround times and small ground support crews. Third generation launch vehicles — beyond the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, 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. ...

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 another motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicle ...

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 battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

s and result in smaller

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

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 Magnetic levitation (maglev) or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is levitation (physics), suspended with no support other than magnetic fields. Lorentz force, Magnetic force is used to counteract the effects of the gravitation ...

, 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 the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

and beyond. Some of the technologies under development to accomplish these goals are

electrodynamic tether Electrodynamic tethers (EDTs) are long conducting wires, such as one deployed from a tether satellite, which can operate on electromagnetism, electromagnetic principles as electrical generator, generators, by converting their kinetic energy to ele ...

s, 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, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenome ...

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. Protoscience, early sciences, and natural philosophies such as al ...

and

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, including fission, fusion and

antimatter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding subatomic particle, particles in "ordinary" matter, and can be thought of as matter with reversed charge and parity, or go ...

propulsion, and breakthrough

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, 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 whi ...

theories that might enable thrusting against

space-time In physics, spacetime, also called the space-time continuum, is a mathematical model that fuses the three-dimensional space, three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional continuum (measurement), continu ...

itself and

faster-than-light travel Faster-than-light (superluminal or supercausal) travel and communication are the conjectural propagation of matter or information faster than the speed of light in vacuum (). The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero ...

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, travel beyond

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

, and advanced concepts research.

References

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