The NASA Mission: Present and Future

The NASA Mission: Present and Future” lecture, given by NASA administrator James M. Beggs on April 28, 1985, gives us a glimpse into the vision and hope for space exploration at that time. Hosted by the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University, Beggs not only discussed the achievements of NASA up to that point, but he also mapped out a plan for NASA’s future. By the mid-1990s, Beggs said the United States would have a permanently manned space station orbiting the earth, now a reality as the International Space Station. Beggs also envisioned a lunar base, a colony on Mars, and independent life in space.