Shuttle Propulsion Overview to NATO

Abstract

In the early morning on Saturday, February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up during entry. After extensive investigation of the accident and recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, President Bush gave the vision for space exploration for NASA, which include return the Space Shuttle to flight as soon as practical, complete assembly of the ISS by the end of the decade, initiate robotic missions to the moon no later than 2008, develop a new Crew Exploration Vehicle, conduct first robotic, then human missions to Mars and extend human exploration across the solar system.