On January 14, 2004, the President of the United States (U.S.) announced a new plan to advance the Nation's scientific, security, and economic interests through a robust space exploration program that integrates human and robotic exploration activities. The U.S. Space Exploration Policy commits the U.S. to implement a sustainable and affordable human and robotic program to explore the solar system and beyond. This policy commits the Nation to extend human presence across the solar system, starting with a human return to the Moon by the year 2020, in preparation for human exploration of Mars and other destinations.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Transition Management Plan provides the strategic foundation for the management and execution of transition efforts. This plan contains the Agency-level goals, objectives, roles, and responsibilities necessary to execute NASA Transition efforts. Success requires that all parts of the Agency act as a team to make decisions for the
common good, collaborate across traditional boundaries, and leverage the Agency's many unique capabilities in support of a single focus. The future of human space flight depends on a safe, successful, and smooth transition.
The Space Shuttle transition and phase-out effort will be one of the largest the Agency has undertaken. The SSP occupies 640 facilities, uses over 900,000 pieces of equipment, and employs over 2,000 civil servants and more than 15,000 work year equivalents in prime contractors. In addition, the SSP employs over 3,000 additional indirect workers through Center general and administrative and service pools. The total equipment value is over $12 billion, and there are literally hundreds of locations where Government property is used. The total facilities value is approximately $5.7 billion, which accounts for approximately one-fourth of the value of the Agency's total facility inventory. There are currently 1,542 active suppliers and 3,000 to 4,000 qualified suppliers geographically located throughout the country.
Download the Transition Plan(800 kb PDF)
