NASA completed a monumental and comprehensive
shift in management philosophy and structure during a
busy and exciting year. NASA is flourishing with the
vision of exploration and discovery, as the agency
continues to strive to understand and protect the
Earth; explore the Universe and search for life; and
inspire the next generation of explorers, as only NASA
can.

Sean O’Keefe, the former Deputy Director of the Office
of Management and Budget, became the agency’s 10th
Administrator, and former Space Shuttle Commander,
Frederick Gregory, was appointed as NASA’s first
African American Deputy Administrator.

The agency is realigning strategically and emphasizing
the “One NASA” management philosophy. The philosophy is
robust, flexible, and research driven. “One NASA”
focuses all agency elements on collaborative and common
missions.

“The NASA family has much to be proud of as we reflect
on the agency’s accomplishments in 2002,” said
Administrator O’Keefe. “We are facing the most exciting
period of challenges, changes and expanding scientific
accomplishment since the early days of space flight.
The new Integrated Space Transportation Plan and ‘One
NASA’ philosophy provides us with a systematic approach
to address future space transportation needs. It will
guide our role as the leader of space-based scientific
research and exploration,” he said.

PROTECTING AND UNDERSTANDING EARTH

NASA is conducting research that may allow public
health officials to better track and predict the spread
of West Nile Virus or similar diseases. NASA’s goal is
to provide people on the front lines of public health
with innovative technologies and data from the unique
vantage point of space. NASA’s products are tailored
into useful tools and databases for streamlining
efforts to combat disease. NASA observed the Antarctic
Larsen Ice Shelf and the seasonal acceleration of the
Greenland ice sheet.

The study indicated glaciers could dramatically affect
global ocean currents, marine life, terrestrial
productivity, and the ocean food chain. NASA airborne
and spaceborne observations are helping to improve
prediction of hurricane tracks and to increase warning
time. NASA is using data to improve our knowledge of
how clouds insulate the Earth and reflect heat in and
out of our atmosphere. NASA continues to develop
cutting-edge technologies that will increase our
weather forecasting capability from the current three-
to-five-day accuracy level up to a seven-to-ten-day
level within this decade.

BETTER LIVING THROUGH SPACE AGE TECHNOLOGY

NASA scientists helped develop several potentially life
saving devices. The Child Presence Sensor uses
precision materials and electronics to alert parents
when a child, seated in an automobile infant or booster
seat, is left in the vehicle. Other technology was
adapted to create a portable, non-invasive fetal heart
monitor. NASA researchers demonstrated a prototype
device to automatically and continuously monitor the
air for the presence of bacterial spores. The device,
about the size of a home smoke detector, may be used to
detect biohazards, such as anthrax. A new high-strength
aluminum-silicon alloy promises to lower engine
emissions, which will improve air quality.

INTEGRATED SPACE TRANSPORTATION PLAN (ISTP)

NASA launched a new and historic ISTP dramatically
changing the way the agency does business. Using
existing funds, NASA revised the ISTP to match its new
management philosophy. The new ISTP restructures and
improves the existing Space Launch Initiative. It will
benefit the International Space Station, Space Shuttle,
Orbital Space Plane Program, NASA’s science and
research objectives.

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY

The International Space Station, the largest and most
sophisticated spacecraft ever built, celebrated a
second year of continuous human habitation. During
2002, the Space Shuttle fleet turned 21 and
successfully flew five missions, four to support
Station expansion and one unique mission to upgrade the
Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Astronaut John B.
Herrington, on the Shuttle Endeavour (STS-113), became
the first Native American to walk in space.

CONTINUOUS PRESENCE…CONTINUOUS RESULTS

Astronaut Peggy Whitson, the first NASA Space Station
Science Officer, reflected the agency’s increased
research tempo. Approximately 48 research and
technology development experiments were conducted.
Crewmembers conducted the first materials science
research, which tested medical procedures for
controlling the negative effects of space flight and
increased our understanding of changes to bone and the
central nervous system that occur in space. Astronauts
conducted advanced cell culturing research, broke new
ground in the study of dynamic systems, made up of tiny
particles mixed in a liquid (colloids), and they
installed three new Station experiment equipment racks.

OUR QUEST TO GO FASTER AND FARTHER

A new program to develop the future of spacecraft
propulsion and power, the Nuclear Systems Initiative,
was announced in the FY 2003 budget request. The
approximate $1 billion, five-year program supports
research into nuclear reactor technology, nuclear
electric propulsion and other advanced power systems
for deep space exploration.

HUBBLE GETS UPGRADE… 250 MILES FROM HOME

The crew of the Shuttle Columbia (STS-109) installed
new solar panels, a better central power unit, and a
new camera that increased Hubble’s “vision” tenfold.
The new Advanced Camera for Surveys sent back
spectacular images. The HST provided data to help
measure of the age of the Universe by uncovering the
oldest stars. The new measurements confirmed other
methods of measuring the age of the Universe.

INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION

Barbara Morgan was named NASA’s first Educator
Astronaut and assigned as a crewmember on Space Shuttle
Columbia (STS-118), a November 2003 mission. Her
assignment fulfills the commitment to send an educator
into space to help inspire a new generation of
explorers. Educator Astronauts will be fully trained
Shuttle crewmembers. They will perform mission tasks,
such as coordinating resupply operations and
spacewalks, as well as interacting with students from
space to encourage interest in science, mathematics and
the space program.

NASA CONTINUES TO RECORD MAJOR DISCOVERIES

NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft measured enormous
quantities of water ice buried deep under the poles of
the mysterious red planet. It found enough water, if
thawed, to fill Lake Michigan twice over. Are we alone
in the universe? NASA planet-hunters found a planetary
system, which has some important similarities to our
own, with a Jupiter-sized planet at about the same
distance from its parent star as our own Jupiter is
from our Sun. This discovery enhances the possibility
that Earth-like planets could exist in similar systems.
For the first time, astronomers tracked the life cycle
of X-ray jets from a deep space black hole. A series of
images from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
revealed the jets traveled at near light speed for
several years before slowing down and fading. Chandra
also produced stunning photographs of a high-energy
panorama from the central regions of our Milky Way
galaxy. The findings are an important step toward
understanding the most active area of the Milky Way and
other galaxies.