As with any pioneering adventure, trailblazers must clear the way to the frontier. In the case of the Final Frontier, it requires building a highway to space. Ocean-going vessels enabled discovery of the New World and initiated global commerce. The stagecoach transported early settlers and cargo across the untamed American West, and the transcontinental railway opened up this new frontier to vast numbers of settlers and commerce.
Modern airways are a critical element of international travel today.
And with the dawn of the new century, space transportation can expand our global economy to a universal economy. The opportunities for scientific research and new space industries are limitless. Marshall's Advanced Space Transportation Program is pushing technologies to reduce that cost to only hundreds of dollars per pound by 2025 and a bargain price of tens of dollars per pound midway through the new century. At the same time costs are decreasing, safety and reliability will be increasing to a level that will surpass today's airline transportation. In fact, spacecraft of the future will be equipped with intelligent vehicle health management systems that allow a launch vehicle to determine its own health without human inspection.