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Jasin's New Job is Out of This World; Former ISC Exec Heads NASA Lunar Robotics Program, Studies Ways to Make Moon Surface Livable for Humans.

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 March 2005, 12:00 CST

Thomas Jasin has gone from legal trouble and public scrutiny into a career any young explorer would envy.

The former International Signal & Control Corp. executive is now head of the Lunar Robotic Program for NASA. His directive is to bring science fiction and reality together for the next generation.

During a telephone conversation last week from his Washington, D.C., office, Jasin said his new charge is not only exciting, it's opening the way for our children to explore the moon and Mars.

The Lunar Robotic Program was born out of President George W. Bush's Vision for Space Exploration to return humans to the moon as early as 2015. The robotic missions, the first of which is scheduled for 2008, will prepare for and support the human exploration activities.

"Today's youngsters that look out at the night sky and wonder what is out there are the explorers of tomorrow," Jasin said. "We are preparing the moon and Mars for the children's arrival."

Jasin, who has degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering, is looking to the future with great zest. The former ISC executive was convicted in 1992 of conspiracy to smuggle South African-made missiles destined for the People's Republic of China after ISC went belly-up in 1991.

Years of court battles found him in prison before he won an appeal from federal court in January 2004. He served 18 months. The government dropped the indictment.

"I don't like to look back on the past when my life was exposed to so many negatives, and I was the subject of wrongful accusations," he said. "That is all behind me, and I like to look ahead."

Looking ahead, Jasin, who lives in Manheim Township, said his new task is really a journey that will take many generations. The first step is making the moon's surface livable for humans. To that end, NASA will be using robotics to set up mini factories that can produce water and hydrogen, communication systems and roadways.

"Lunar dust is a big problem, and we have to keep it down," he said. The idea is to thermally move the debris and make roadways. Some materials found on the moon will also have to be made into shelters.

"The health and safety [of the astronauts] needs to be satisfied before they get there," Jasin said. The robotic missions will do just that.

"This is science fiction merging into reality," he said. "It is a privilege to be working on this project with NASA and the people in the science community."

This is not his first work for NASA. Jasin has served as a member of the Deep Space Missions System Operations Assessment Review Board, Independent Review Boards for space flight projects and the Ground Network, a delegate member of the NASA Engineering Management Board, a delegate member of the NASA Program Management Council, and is chairman of the NASA Project Review Standards Panel.

But the best is yet to come, he said. By 2008, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will be launched.

"We're going places we don't know about," Jasin said. "The dark side [far side] of the moon is where we think the water is" but no human has ever landed there.

The robotic flights will produce hazard maps and locate resources on the moon. "It will help us narrow the field of potential sites [for human habitation].

"We may have to go to 50 different sites to ensure there are enough resources to sustain life."

The question is how much water is available. Clementine, a joint venture with the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA in 1996, found water at the south pole of the moon. NASA's Lunar Prospector launched in 1998 confirmed those findings.

While the LRO is in the works, planning for the second mission is also underway. "We need to go over all the requirements for human exploration and fill in any additional gaps. We are looking at four robotic missions," he said.

"We think the second one will be landing [on the moon]. It's not guaranteed, but we need to get on the surface to test and drill."

Once the infrastructure of sorts is established, a colony can be created. "We want humans on the surface by 2017," he said.

The intent is to use the moon as a training facility for the astronauts. "They will need to learn to live and sustain themselves by using the resources found there," Jasin said. "They will use robots as their partners, but they will learn to live in a place other than earth."

Once trained, the astronauts will head for Mars. Jasin said NASA can't look directly to Mars because "it would take an awfully large aircraft and boosters to get straight to Mars."

But, he said, Mars should be easier to inhabit than the moon because the moon has no atmosphere.

Part of the excitement, he said, is answering some of the questions facing scientists today. A big one is how to get to Mars most efficiently. Jasin said ships may be built in segments in space or smaller vessels may use the moon as a refueling station.

It's those and other questions the team at NASA hopes to answer with the robotic missions.

And they won't be alone. Jasin said NASA is looking to embrace the private sector. "We need entrepreneurs and the imagination you get from private industry," he said.

The general public will be included in the excitement, too. Jasin said NASA plans to use high-definition television to make the missions available to the general public.

While Jasin has not been in space yet, he said, "I would like to go on a mission to the moon."

Source: Intelligencer Journal

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