WHAT IS HEDS?

The Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) is NASA's Strategic Enterprise that encompasses NASA’s programs of human space flight. The goals of the HEDS are to:

• Increase human knowledge of nature's processes using the space environment
• Explore and settle the Solar System
• Achieve routine space travel
• Enrich life on Earth through people living and working in Space

This endeavor currently is represented in NASA by several programs:

• The Office of Space Flight is responsible for developing and operating the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.
• The Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences conducts research on the effects of the space environment on humans and on utilizing human space flight opportunities to conduct scientific and technological experiments in the life sciences and materials sciences.
• The Office of Space Sciences conducts robotic flight missions which prepare the way to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere for human explorers who will follow.

All three offices are working to develop an integrated approach to the human exploration and development of space. The Enterprise is a long-term affair, which will encompass ground-based research, space flight experimentation, and exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit. Link to an update on current programmatic thrusts of HEDS (Modification date).

The Exploration Office at the Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas, is the lead office for the post-space shuttle/space station elements of the HEDS program. Emphasis at this time is on the robotic and human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Offices at most NASA Centers are also involved. Click on the center to discover what its roles are in the HEDS enterprise:

• Lewis Research Center (Cleveland, OH)
• Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, AL)
• Langley Research Center (Hampton, VA)
• Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, MD)
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA)
• Ames Research Center (Moffet Field, CA)