Memorandum 53
Submission from Jerry Stone
I have had a keen interest in space research
and exploration since early childhood, following the space programmes
of the USA and USSR. I have built up a large collection of material
on the subject, which I use in presentations and public exhibitions.
I gave my first talk on space exploration in 1969 whilst still
at school, and since then have given several hundred. My work
has been recognised by various organisations, including NASA.
I am now a freelance presenter on space and
astronomy, and give presentation across the UK and abroad to all
types of audiences. I am currently developing a range of workshops
for schools on astronomy and space.
I am a Fellow of the British Interplanetary
Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, a Director of the
Mars Society UK and Vice-Chair of the Space Education Council.
I am also Director of the Sir Arthur Clarke Awards, which recognise
and reward the best of UK space achievement.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Space probably affects more aspects of our lives
than any other subject. For many, particularly young people, it
is the most inspiring topic. Yet most of that inspiration comes
from the activities of other nations. I believe that the UK's
position with regard to space could be much greater than it is.
Were this to be so, there could be great economic benefit to the
country, and yet this could be achieved without additional Government
spending, but merely by reallocation of existing funds.
This situation could be achieved via the following
recommendations:
— Greater emphasis on space topics
in schools, tapping in on the highly inspirational value of the
subject, and encouraging pupils to study the STEM subjects—science,
technology, engineering and mathematics. This would help reverse
the appalling downturn in the number of students taking these
subjects at A-Level.
— A UK manned space programme, providing
for involvement on the International Space Station, and—in
the future—the possibility of UK involvement with plans
for missions to the Moon and Mars.
— A UK Space Agency, with the ability
to direct space policy, and the budget to realise it.
One result of the above actions would be to
help ensure that we had the technological resources—in personnel,
research and facilities—to meet the many challenges that
we will face as a nation in the future.
Other outcomes would be an increase our national
self-esteem, and placing us more at the forefront of Europe, which
has been a stated aim of the Prime Minister.
GENERAL STATEMENT
The UK public is extremely interested is space
research, and even more so when the project concerned has a high
UK involvement. This was dramatically borne out with the Beagle
2 project, and, to a slightly lesser degree, the Huygens probe
which landed on Titan. Yet many people were unaware that the UK
had a space programme that pre-dated Beagle 2. This was reflected
in the cover of a brochure from the "Case For Space"
group, which had a cover which read; "Space: Britain's best
kept secret!"
The situation is that, for the most part, our
involvement with space is low-key. In the field of space exploration,
it is current policy only to be involved with robotic probes,
in the belief that they provide the best value for money. However,
during the first 330 days on the surface of Mars, the Spirit rover
only covered 3.9km. This can be compared with the 35km covered
in just three days by the astronauts of Apollo 17. In addition,
in their 22 hours on the surface, the Apollo 17 astronauts obtained
a 3 m deep core sample of the regolith, measured the lunar heat
flow by sinking thermocouples about 2 m below the surface, deployed
eight explosive packages around the Taurus-Littrow valley as part
of an active seismic profiling experiment, measured the local
gravity field, measured the mechanical and electrical properties
of the lunar regolith, and performed a number of additional surface
experiments—all in just three days of field work! Although
we are not yet in a position to send astronauts to Mars, there
can be no doubt that human exploration is order of magnitude more
efficient than robots, and they can perform activities that robots
simply cannot.
Space research, and particularly space exploration,
is the most exciting and inspiring human activity there is. I
will never forget that magical night back in 1969 when Apollo
11 landed on the Moon, and I was able to watch, live, as men from
Earth walked for the first time on the surface of another world.
Now I give presentation to audiences who weren't born until after
the last man had walked on the Moon, and, until recently, they
had always asked: When will we go back?". Nowadays people
ask; "Why isn't the UK involved? Why don't we have astronauts
on the International Space Station?".
In July, I gave a presentation in the Space
Pavilion at the Farnborough Air Show. I mentioned that the recent
space shuttle mission had included Piers Sellers, who was born
in Sussex, but had to become a US citizen in order to become an
astronaut. Another member of the crew was Thomas Reiter, a German
astronaut who is staying on the ISS for six months as a member
of the main crew. Reiter is one of four German astronauts, who
are in turn members of the European astronaut corps. The others
include four from Italy, three from France, and once each from
Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and even Belgium,
which spends far more per head of population on space than the
UK. The question I put to the audience, and to you now is; "Are
all these countries wrong in their belief in the value of a manned
space programme—or is it the UK that is out of step in its
thinking?"
Yet the situation used to be different. British
explorers used to cover the world. Drake, Raleigh, Cook and Shackleton
were among those whose names stand out in history. Why shouldn't
the UK once again have explorers that we can look up to, who can
help expand the frontiers of our knowledge?
I took part in a meeting earlier this year at
the British Interplanetary Society, on the subject of human space
exploration. The meeting was convinced that the arguments put
forward showed the benefit of UK involvement, and voted overwhelmingly
in favour of a resolution which stated the belief that the UK
should play an active part in a human spaceflight programme, and
thereby reap the benefits that such involvement would offer, and
that such activities should be managed by an appropriate national
body. This is described more fully in the October issue of the
BIS magazine "Spaceflight". It suggests a programme
at £10 million per year, providing for two UK astronauts
to fly two mission by Soyuz to the ISS over a five-year period.
This would give the ability to carry out UK science programmes,
which is currently impossible due to our lack of funding for elements
of the ISS, such ass the European Columbus module.
Inherent in the recommendation is the establishment
of a national space agency, which would have a different function
from the BNSC, whose remit is to co-ordinate UK space activity,
rather than to direct it. I believe that the lack of such an agency
is holding us back from being able to propose and carry out national
space activities.
Such a programme would have an enormous inspirational
effect on school pupils, and would help reverse the current downturn
in the numbers taking science and mathematics at A-level. The
following in appendix 1 shows the reduction of A-level entries
between 1991 and 2003.
This represents a wastage that we cannot afford.
It also reduces our ability for future involvement in activities
in science and technology to come, for the youngsters of today
will be involved in the projects of tomorrow.
The question that is most often put is how the
UK could afford to be involved in space exploration. Firstly the
fact is that the UK has the world's fifth greatest economy. I
have also show above that the costs of a programme need not be
dramatic. However, there is already an area of government funding
that could provide far more than the most ambitious programme
would require. The following graph shows the amounts that were
assigned to cover the costs of clinical negligence between 1996
and 2003. The blocks in green represent the amounts actually paid
out during this period, which fortunately have declined. However,
in addition, other amounts, shown in red, were put into a fund
intended to cover future claims. What is remarkable is that, although
in 2003-04, only £10.5 million was paid out, nearly £2
billion was added to this fund, increasing its total to nearly
£8 billion. The small light-blue block show the annual UK
space budget, and the dark blue block shows the expected cost
of involvement in the construction of a lunar base by the European
Space Agency.
I believe that the benefits of space research
should be promoted more widely to the public and in schools. 2007
marks the 50th anniversary of the space age, and would be an ideal
time for such a programme of outreach and education.
October 2006
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