Please welcome drew horn, office of the Vice President of the United States. Thank you so much for joining us here today. Im really excited to speak to this for a few brief moments. So first off i would like to say that space is a top priority of this administration and through the leadership of the president and the Vice President we see a remarkable progress in this critical area. The United States was founded by brave pioneers and their spirit continues today as america leads humanity into a new chapter of space expiration and scientific discovery. By combining efforts of the United States government with the leaders of private industry we will reach new heights that until recently we couldve only dreamt of. As the chair of the National Space council, the Vice President is leading an executive Branch Policy of to sustain u. S. Leadership in space and also open doors to u. S. Private sector growth. Before president president ial space policy directives generated by the council are sparking u. S. Wholeofgovernment efforts to put americans back on the moon, unleash commercial use of space, strengthen u. S. Space awareness, and space Traffic Management, and stand up u. S. Space force within the department of defense. This administration is streamlining regulatory frameworks, policies and processes to better leverage and support u. S. Commercial space industry and it is partnering with the commercial sector to ensure that American Companies remain World Leaders in space technology. A particular note is artemis, achieving the rise in goal of sending humans to mars. Nasas progress in the moon to mars mission is both breathtaking and inspiring. The Space Council and nasa are working nonstop to develop the technology that will return humans to the moon by 2024, establish a sustainable lunar presence and then return, continue the journey to mars and beyond. In addition to nasa, all components of the u. S. Government are contributing to this incredible achievement with agency such as the department of energy and commerce driving cuttingedge research and development in space propulsion, space power, and space commercialization. Through the artemis mission, the United States along with its international and commercial partners will accomplish a historic achievement for all of humanity. Here to tell us more about the moon to mars mission is jim morhard, the deputy administrator of the National Aeronautics and space administration. Please join me in welcoming him. Good afternoon. Im excited to be here. Cant see a one of you though. Neither am i. I really want to start out with a story about myself. I was six years old and i might walk right off this stage. I was six years old, had a brother jay, and found myself in arlington and i remember getting outside of my parents ford station wagon, and it was so old that it had a hinge on the back window, and i remember my brother taking my hand and walking up to this rambler. We knocked on the door and this man answered the door, what is going on . I remember looking back at my parents in the car thinking and he let us pet the cat, and my brother got his autograph and that was the first time that i met john glenn. And like glenns first orbit, if were not exploring, were not finding new science and technologies. And if thats not the case, then were not leading. Weve entered a transformational era in space. Our ancestors witnessed the industrial revolution. Many of you in this room have witnessed the digital and internet revolutions. Today, were in the space revolution. And per president trumps space policy directive one, Jim Bridenstine who is the nasa administrator, has set five goals. Im not doing this right so far. The first is the transition to commercial and International Operations in lowearth orbit that will support nasa and the needs of an emerging commercial economy. The second is to put in place capabilities that facilitate lunar surface operations and Missions Beyond the moon. The third is to foster scientific discovery and pinpoint lunar resources through a series of robotic missions. We want to have astronauts go forward to the surface of the moon for a sustained presence and demonstrate on the moon the capabilities required for Human Missions to mars and beyond. The strategy now exists. It starts with the artemis program. Artemis was apollos twin sister in greek mythology. She was also the goddess of the moon. The last time we left the moon, we let flags and footprints. This time, were going to prepare to explore other worlds. We intend to enable discovery, enable economic growth, and continue our American Global leadership. The primary goal of artemis is a mars concept of operations. Why mars . Within the last 16 months, with help of curiosity which you see right there, we found complex organic compounds on mars. These are the Building Blocks of life. Im not saying theres life on mars, all right . What we do know that theres 12 kilometers of under 12 kilometers beneath the surface, we know there is water and weve observed methan cycles. They could be from they could be geological but they also could be biological. Curiosity is what we call a precursor mission. If you think of apollo, there were 23 precursor missions before we landed on the moon. The results that were getting on mars today are determining the areas of both the greatest potential for life and also for planetary resources, and ill get into why in a few minutes. Another mission we had was opportunity i know some of you have heard of. It ended last year. It was supposed to be a 90day mission. It lasted 15 years. We are working on a new mission called mars 2020. This mission is going to have its own helicopter deployed from the rover. And when you think about the amount of distance a rover can do in in a martian day, this helicopter will be able to cover that same distance three times it will be able to do three times as much as a rover will as far as distance goes. No other country has ever successfully landed on mars. We have done it nine times. I have to admit there are some expensive craters on mars. It took a while for us to figure it out. This is not easy. But what i i want to get around at is that our primary objective is an end to end demonstration of systems, technologies, operations and Human Performance to get humans to mars and beyond. A major part of this will be to identify Natural Resources on the moon. This is a picture of what we call the volatiles investigating polar exploration rover, which is a mouthful. Its also we call it viper. If you think about volatiles, those are substances that evaporate. Were really having viper provide surface level detail on where and how really where and how much water ice there is on mars on the moon. Its really about finding the best spot to harvest water ice and its really for life support. Youre thinking about oxygen for breathing, water for drinking, hydrogen for propellant. We hope to find that on the moon and be able to use it, but we also want to prove it out on the moon because we expect we will be able to find it on mars, like i said. We are really looking for Breakthrough Technologies to be able to do this. To give an example of some of what were trying to do on the space station regarding Breakthrough Technologies, just as an example, we are trying to write now massproduced retinal implants in a microgravity its a lot easier to do it up there. Were also trying to find a cure for pancreatic cancer and trying to create human tissue and organs with 3d 3d printing. If we succeed in those areas, they can result in greater economic opportunities. We need to explore the utility and economics of using each lunar resource for deep Space Exploration. The reserves on the moon must be compared to those on earth, which are really what we call under the tyranny of the rocket equation. The rocket equation limit rocket payloads. So as as a payload weight increases, so does the amount of propellant that is needed. Its the same on the moon. It week in mine water ice and possibly Platinum Group metals which we think are there, its possible with Artificial Intelligence, robotics and 3d printing that we could manufacture hardware on the moon and launch from there. Were the gravity wells one sixth of that of earth, if its possible we could launch more payload or use less propellant, or both on the moon. We can prove it economically viable, we can do it again and again. So what im saying is we need to safely land humans on the moon, land hardware there, establish a presence, and then keep going. It could be that the moon will be the jumping off point to much more than mars. This is one reason why a longterm lunar presence is on the moon, is desired. Or we could use different planets for different resources if need be. Could be similar to coal mining in West Virginia or harvesting timber in the pacific northwest, and finding oil in texas. We have a program called the commercial Lunar Payload Services program, we also call it clips. And were trying to use that as much as possible. Its a new way of exploring what new signs with private enterprise. The Program Allows numerous providers to compete on cost in innovation. If so, costs the cost of deep space access will go down. Let me be clear. The moon is our proving ground. Mars is our destination. Weve got to learn to work and stay for long periods of time at both places, and we have to replicate these efforts on other planets. So our systems architecture will continue to be adjusted as we learn more science. Its not by accident that so many countries want to land on the moon. And when i say that, im talking about the peoples republic of china, india, and israel, to name a few. The space economy right now is about 400 billion. Goldman sachs has said we could have 1 trillion space economy in the next two decades. Let me say it again. This is a transformational era. This is the space launch system rocket and this will send our orion spacecraft with as many as four astronauts to what we call the gateway in orbit in the that will be in orbit at the moon. The core stage which is the yellow part is already built, and we as you can see, weve attached the four rs 25 engines. The solid rocket boosters that would be alongside of the core stage are already ready. This is the most powerful and the largest rocket thats ever been built. I love this picture. This is what we call the super guppy. Orion is inside it. Its all wrapped up there. We just transported this, this space capsule to ohio, i think it was last week, for thermal vacuum and electromagnetic testing. Due to its size and weight, its pretty difficult just to transported so we had to use the special aircraft. Heres another picture of it. It got my attention. This is the orion capsule. The Service Module is below it, if you around for apollo you know what that is, and that was built by the European Space agency here and that is what will go to the gateway. The gateway is a maneuverable command module providing power, communications, docking, avionics and life support and the gateway will be the transfer point for our astronauts to go to a human landing system which will descend to the moons surface. Let me show you a quick video that will put this all together i think for you on what were talking about. Fifty years ago, we pioneered a path to the moon. The trail we blazed cut through the fictions of science and showed us all what is possible. Today, our calling to explore is even greater. To go farther, we must be able to sustain missions of greater distance and duration. We must use the resources we find at our destinations. We must overcome radiation, isolation, gravity and extreme environments like never before. These are the challenges we face to push the bounds of humanity. We are going to the moon to stay by 2024, and this is how. This all starts with the ability to get larger, heavier payloads off planet and beyond earths gravity. For this, weve designed an entirely new rocket. Sls will be the most powerful rocket ever develop. With components and protections this system is capable of being the catalyst for deep Space Missions. We need a capsule that can support humans from launch and return safely back to earth. This is nasas nextgeneration human space capsule. Using data from lunar orbit as they continue to reveal the moons hazards and resources, we are currently developing an entirely new approach to landing and operating on the moon. Using our commercial partners to deliver science instruments and robotics to the surface we are paving the way for Human Missions in 2024. Our charge is to go quickly and stay, to press our collective efforts forward with a fervor that will see us return to the moon in a manner that is wholly different than 50 years ago. We want lunar landers that are reusable. The easiest way to do this is, give them a platform in orbit relevant from which to transition. And orbiting platform to deep space experiments and be a weighing point for human capital. We call this outpost gateway. The beauty of the gateway is a can be moved between orbit. It will bounce between to earth and moans gravity. In a position that is ideal for launching even deeper space mission. In 2009 we learn the moon contains millions of tons of water ice. This ice could be extracted and purified from water, separated and oxygen for breathing. It will prepares and propel us to mars and beyond. This is what we are rebuilding. This is what we are training for. This we can replicate throughout the solar system. This is the next chapter of human Space Exploration. Humans are the most fragile element of this entire network, a yet we call for humanity. We go to the moon and on to mars to seek knowledge and understanding and to share it with all. We go knowing our efforts will create opportunities that cannot be foreseen. We go because we are destined to explore and see it with her own eyes. We turn towards the moon now, not as a conclusion, but as preparation, as a checkpoint for all that lies beyond. Our greatest adventures remain ahead of us. We are going. Were going. We are going. We are going. Were going. To say the least its a little exciting at nasa right now. Really with the president and the Vice President s of leadership we are going to land the first woman on the moon, and the next man, by the way. The ancient poet homer called artemis the torchbringer, and these words remain true today. William shatner just said the most fragile element is the human system. When he said that, we are still dealing with issues like radiation. One of ken bowersox who has been working in the human exploration division, done a tremendous job, and i asked him once, what was it like to sleep in space . He said you know, you want to have that pillow and that blanket tucked up next you like we all do. He said, you are kind of floating and he said i found some water satchels and i try to wedge myself in between a bulkhead and the water satchels just to feel that pressure that we all enjoyed when were trying to sleep in bed. And he said, but i would also wanted to get the protection of the water from radiation. Its a constant concern our astronauts. But its not just radiation. We have blood flow issues within the human body that we are addressing. With bone and muscle loss issues. Weve got to make sure if you watch the movie the martian, having Sustainable Food available to you is a serious challenge. You have a crop failure or you dont have preposition food, you will starve to death. Theres also the psychosocial challenges of living in a confined space for long durations. I guess what im trying to say is we still have a few things to figure out. But really in the early steps of a journey, that leads american astronauts into deep space. And at the same time we are leaving the scientific and engineering communities to new discoveries. Today, science goes handinhand with human exploration. And we have new leadership in the human expiration mission directorate, and thats part of this is were going to be working much closer together with the Science Mission directorate. We go to the moon not as a destination, but as shatner said, as a preparation. And at the same time we are launching new missions to study our solar system. This is the james Webb Telescope which is really trying to peer be on our solar system. Ive had the honor to work with Jim Bridenstine, the nasa administrator come to try to lead this agency for over a year now. And i continue to see the talents and disciplines that represent americas capabilities. They are in this room today. Space exploration is no longer exclusive. This is a this is a picture of the first female allfemale spacewalk. There were an estimated 5. 8 billion Media Connections about this event. In apollo, the astronauts were mostly test pilots. And today weve got a diverse astronaut corps. Christina koch who is in this picture is an electrical engineer. And the other is jessica meir. Shes got a doctorate in marine biology. If you have the time, look up jessica on youtube. You will see her doing research under the ice in antarctica as well as doing research on geese that fly at high altitudes, and how they can perform at such high levels without oxygen. What im trying to say is we want inclusion and we want it at the industry and the international level, too. Who leads the space revolution is critical to who dominates the world in the future. And its beacons of light like artemis. Weve got to Work