NASA/SP-2007-563, FORMULATION OF NASA\'s CONSTELLATION PROGRAM (IAC-07-B3.1.06)

NASA/SP-2007-563, FORMULATION OF NASA\'s CONSTELLATION PROGRAM (IAC-07-B3.1.06). NASA has recently formed the Constellation Program to achieve the objectives of maintaining American presence in low Earth orbit, returning to the moon for purposes of establishing an outpost, and laying the foundation to explore Mars and beyond in the first half of the 21st century. The Constellation Program’s heritage rests on the successes and lessons learned from NASA’s previous human spaceflight programs: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). This paper describes the rationale behind the formulation of the Constellation Program, including organizational structure, and workforce structure, as well as the approaches to requirements generation, budget formulation, operational philosophies, and procurement strategies.