NASA’s Vision and Mission

Last month, Johnson Space Center’s Advanced Planning Office requested the insight of a few volunteers in support of their action on the vision and mission statements for the agency. Those who accepted the challenge gathered in the “upper room” at the local wine / coffee hangout. Somehow the creative juices just flow better there! 

There were only a handful of us who accepted the challenge to brainstorm the topic, but it was a rewarding experience. So many interesting ideas were kicked around the table. We talked about the point of space exploration. Do we explore just because it is in our nature to explore? Do we explore because our planet is running out of time? Are we like pilot leaves: testing to see if we can survive in new environments?

These are the vision statements we captured that night. What is your vision for NASA?

  • NASA will heal the plant and ensure sustainability of life on Earth
  • NASA will heal the planet Explore Space and Do the Impossible
  • NASA will proved Leadership to heal the planet, Explore Space and Do the Impossible
  • We will lead the Earth in Sustainability, Explore Space and Challenge American Innovation
  • We will lead the World in Sustaining Life on Earth, Exploring Space and challenging the limits of what is possible
  • Heal, Explore, Challenge
  • We heal our world, explore the unknown, achieve the impossible
  • Preserve, Explore and Discover
  • We lead the expansion of humanity’s understanding of our place in the universe and drive technology solutions for exploring life on Earth
  • NASA will be the unambiguous world leader in tacking bold and difficult challenges in Space, sky and Earth. Regaining our reputation of achieving the impossible
  • To Expand our awareness of the Universe, ensure our sustainability on the Earth and advance humanities capability to expand to others
  • Advance mankind to the future
  • Secure prosperity for them and their descendants
  • Ensure the continuation of mankind
  • Innovate to achieve, explore to discover for life, Earth, sky and space
  • Expand the human experience and secure the future of humanity’s prosperity
  • Bring the World together one Giant Leap at a time
  • Lifting the Human Experience on Giant Leap at a time
  • Break the barriers of Exploration
  • Earth, Life, Universe
  • Doing the thing that is impossible
  • To enable a human prosperity, grow the human perspective and take humanity to the stars
  • We will take Giant leaps to evolve our awareness of the universe, ensure the sustainability of life on our world, enable mankind to expand to others
  • To take Humanity to the Stars
  • We take the collection of Human Knowledge and expand it
  • We will do the impossible, expand the Human experience, and secure the future of Humanity’s posterity
  • We will lead the Earth in sustainability, exploring space, and challenge the impossible
  • Enabling Humanity’s Posterity; growing the Human perspective
  • To quench the thirst for knowledge , increase scientific literacy, and enable Human posterity
  • A multi-generational commitment to the future, education, and exploration.
  • A foundation for the future
  • Hope for the future, builder with intention of longevity
  • Creating the Future; one giant leap at a time
  • To serve Humanity’s future by building the future
  • To serve Humanity by building the future
  • Charting the course and paving the way for the future
  • Charting the course that creates the future
  • Charting the course to create the future
  • Creating a future sustainability an exploration
  • Sustaining and Building the future
  • Pioneering sustainability here and building elsewhere
  • Pioneering sustainability here, building the future, and changing Humanity’s perspective
  • Pioneering sustainability, building the future, and quenching the thirst for knowledge

8 Responses to “NASA’s Vision and Mission”

  1. Douglas Mallette  on November 10th, 2009

    NASA must ensure the commercialization and privatization of space, focusing on tasks above the realistic capabilities of the private sector, and passing all other tasks to them.

    Key note with this is not to underestimate the capabilities of the private sector, nor their drive and desire to make space profitable.

    Reply

  2. circulating  on November 10th, 2009

    Undertake the Universe to Ensure our Earth

    all with more cowbell of course… :)

    Reply

  3. gwrieger  on November 10th, 2009

    What’s up Nick et Al.

    Douglas said what I was going to, but better.

    Mission Statement? NASA will facilitate future space exploration technologies.

    If it’s JSC-specific, then you should probably tie in some type of ‘human element’ to the vision/mission statement(s).

    I don’t think NASA needs to be associated in such a big way with humanity as your post repeated a few times. It’s the Aeronautics and Space Administration – not the National Humanities Association. Humanity, literally, doesn’t include science at all does it?

    Further, everyone knows green sustainability is a key to business moving forward – no need to harp on the obvious. Let’s not get carried away here. Sounds like NASA is going to save the human race! Save that tag line for our grandchildren’s children. ;)

    Reply

    • Skytland  on November 11th, 2009

      Thanks for responding Gabe! (I’m testing out the new nested comment feature I just installed so people can respond directly to others comments).

      Reply

  4. Rolando Quintanilla  on November 10th, 2009

    @Natalie, those are some pretty cool vision statements. I can get excited about helping fulfill those vision statements.

    @gwrieger, I believe that while exploring space we can solve many of humanities biggest problems. In order to better serve the public, and gain their support for our primary mission (explore space) we will have to put humanity issues at the forefront of decision making. When we do, our minds will be open to solutions that most affect humanity and the solutions we generate will inspire and engage the public. If we work with industry, we have the potential of creating new spin-off industries that are not necessarily associated to space exploration.

    My Vision

    1. To make NASA the standard by which other organizations measure their success. (this includes industry).
    2. To solve earth’s most challenging problems, by exploring space.
    3. Innovate, through an Abundance Mentality where we leverage internal and external resources to create more pies, instead of working off of a zero-sum paradigm.
    4. Make NASA the best organization to PARTNER with.

    Problems I know that we can solve with our partners:

    1)Energy Independence — space is tough, we need to be very effecient.
    2)Transportation Technologies and Methodologies
    3)Manufacturing Techniques – (assuming we manufacture items in space, to reduce payload size, same for “2)”)
    4)Light Weight but Strong Materials
    5)Smart Materials – change shape on demand. We can partner with the military organizations and corresponding industry. Same for “4)”.
    6)Human Biology/Health

    7)Sustainability/Green Tech – space is tough, we will need to be extremely effecient.

    8)Education – space can inspire the young to learn engineering and science, and technology that allows us to train the workforce cheaply can be leveraged across the world to increase education. We can partner with government agencies dedicated to education, other countries, and open-source movement.

    9)Innovation — In order to stretch the dollar and provide the most impact per dollar, we have to innovate. Maintaining the status quote will not be sufficient. Innovating how we do things, will save a lot of money. Innovating how we partner with other organizations large and small will bring in money for our needs.

    10)Robotic technology

    Reply

  5. Michael  on November 11th, 2009

    @Mallette I would argue that space is already profitable, but we must make it more so.

    Profit – noun – An advantageous gain or return; benefit.
    Profit – verb – to derive benefit from.

    Space Exploration has given us:
    - Vast Knowledge
    - Many technologies and technological improvements
    - Inspiration to be better and understand more of our world.

    Space Exploration on a grander scale can give us:
    - More Knowledge
    - Better Technologies/ New Technologies
    - Greater Resources to bring to the market
    - Increased Survivability of Humanity

    Is space profitable? Yes. Will it continue to be so? Yes.

    Is it profitable in a market sense? Yes.
    http://www.spaceflightnow.com/.....07markets/

    Is there a potential for growth? I don’t know…the universe is pretty big I guess.

    Is this a longterm play? Yes. So keep going everyone, we’ll get there.

    Hmmm…Maybe if we use more cowbell we can get there quicker???

    Reply

  6. QED  on November 15th, 2009

    It just seems so obvious that we've now out-plundered our planet (long treated as an infinite resource) and must branch out into space to engage with a practically infinite resource. If the vision isn't looking towards this ends then it is, by definition, unsustainable and pointless.

    Reply

  7. Peter Egan  on November 25th, 2009

    Mission and vision statements are old hat.

    What we all want to know about an organisation is its purpose. MSFC and JPL have a clear idea what their purpose is.

    I fear the President is waiting for a health bill from congress to sign into law and a setting in concrete of his new strategy for Afghanistan before he sends a new Bill to congress after consideration of the Augustine report.

    In the big picture, exploring the cosmos can wait a few months to sort out some more urgent earthly matters.

    It is a major failing of western democracies that there are so few scientists and engineers in elected office. This is our achilles heel. China's achilles heel is too many engineers at the top of government.

    Reply


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