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Lessons for the Future of Human Spaceflight

Letter from Former Society President Wes Huntress to the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee

Click to enlarge > Wesley T. Huntress Credit: The Planetary Society

Wesley T. Huntress Jr., Member of the Board and former President of The Planetary Society, has sent a letter to the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee. Often known as "the Augustine Committee" after its chairman, Norm Augustine, it was established by the Obama Administration to make recommendations on the future path of human space exploration.

Huntress draws on a long and distinguished career at NASA, where he served as the Associate Administrator for Space Science in the 1990s. In his letter to the committee he cites the recent experience of implementing the Vision for Space Exploration to make a number of strong recommendations on the way forward for human spaceflight.

Huntress was on the steering committee that led to the Society's 2008 policy paper "Beyond the Moon: A New Roadmap for Human Space Exploration," which we have submitted to the Committee, as well as to Congress. He recently helped us organize a follow-up workshop on "The Road to Mars," developing our position and advocacy plans for the human exploration of Mars.

You can read more about the work of the Review Committee at their web site, and contribute your own ideas there.

Click here to download Dr. Huntress's letter.