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Presidential commission

Final Report: President's Commission on Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy

A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover

Cover of the 2004 report of the President's Commission on Implementation of the United State Space Exploration Policy.

On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush announced a new vision for America’s civil space program that calls for human and robotic missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This vision set forth goals of: returning the Space Shuttle safely to flight; completing the International Space Station (ISS); phasing out the Space Shuttle when the ISS is complete (about 2010); sending a robotic orbiter and lander to the Moon; sending a human expedition to the Moon as early as 2015, but no later than 2020; conducting robotic missions to Mars in preparation for a future human expedition; and conducting robotic exploration across the solar system. Such a focus for the American space program has not existed since the Apollo era and establishes a much-needed direction and purpose for our national space efforts.

Board members included:

Commission Chair: Edward C. Pete Aldridge, Jr. (Former Under Secretary of Defense)
Carleton S. Fiorina, (Chair and CEO of Hewlett Packard)
Michael P. Jackson (U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation)
Laurie Ann Leshin (Planetary Geochemist, Arizona State University)
Lester L. Lyles (General, U.S. Air Force Materiel Command, RET)
Paul Spudis (Lunar Geologist, Johns Hopkins University)
Neil deGrasse Tyson (Astrophysicist & Director, Hayden Planetarium)
Robert Smith Walker (Former Congressman & Chair of Science Committee, R. Pa)
Maria Zuber (Mars Geophysicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

View the Final Report (PDF, 2.2 MB)

Final Report: Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry

Anyone, Anything, Anytime, Anywhere

Cover of the 2002 Final Report of the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry.

View the Final Report (PDF, 20 MB)

The Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry was formed by United States President George W. Bush and the United States Congress in 2001. The commission was formed to study the future of the U.S. aerospace industry in the global economy, particularly in relationship to U.S. national security; and to assess the future importance of the domestic aerospace industry for the economic and national security of the United States.

Commissioners Appointed By President Bush:

Buzz Aldrin (Apollo Astronaut)
Ed Bolen, (President of General Aviation Manufacturers Association)
John Douglass (President & CEO, Aerospace Industries Association)
Neil deGrasse Tyson (Astrophysicist & Director, Hayden Planetarium)
Commission Chair: Robert Smith Walker (former Congressman & Chair of Science Committee, R. Pa)
Heidi Wood (VP & Sr. Analyst, Aerospace & Defense Sector, Morgan Stanley)

Commissioners Appointed By Congress

Tom Buffenbarger (President of International Machinists and Aerospace Workers)
Tillie Fowler (former Congresswoman & Member Armed Services Committee, R. Fla)
John Hamre (former Deputy Secretary of Defense)
Whitten Peters (former Secretary of the Air Force)
William Schneider (Chairman, Defense Science Board)
Robert Stevens (COO Lockheed)