Implicitly or explicitly, priorities are set. We need to create an orderly agenda for scientific research in space, based on clearly defined objectives, in order to ensure that it flourishes and contributes to national vitality and the public welfare. A consensus in space research about what is truly most important will serve the best interests of both science and the nation.
Priorities reflect aspirations and values.
They are derived from recognition of motivation and purpose. The governing concept of the space program was created in the early years of spaceflight. Emphasizing flight to orbit, it concentrates on expanding the domain in which humans have been present or might maintain their presence. In its most elegant form, it declares that there is a human need to explore the universe. Within this context, the Apollo mission to the Moon was the greatest success the space program has ever had, for with Apollo humans left the Earth and traveled to a distant heavenly body for the first time.