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The basic premise of the study was that the U.S. leadership position in space should be retained. Leadership does not require that the United States be preeminent in all areas and disciplines of space enterprise. In fact, the broad spectrum of space activities and the increasing number of spacefaring nations make it virtually impossible for any nation to dominate in this way. Being an effective leader does mandate, however, that this country have capabilities which enable it to act independently and impressively when and where it chooses, and that its goals be capable of inspiring others--at home and abroad--to support them. This country must move promptly to devise a coherent strategy to retain leadership in those areas we deem important. 

But the goals must be carefully chosen to be consistent with the national interest and consistent with NASA capabilities. It is not appropriate for NASA to set the goals of the civil space program. But NASA should lead the discussion of thosegoals, present options, and be prepared to make recommendations. 

To energize a discussion of the long-range goals of the civil space program, we identified four candidate leadership initiatives. Each initiative was developed into a coherent proposal, then the implications and requirements of each were assessed. This process was not intended to culminate in a selection of one initiative and the elimination of the other three, but rather to provide four concrete examples which could catalyze and focus the discussion of the goals and objectives of the civil space program, and of the NASA efforts required to pursue them.

The initiatives selected for definition, study, and evaluation were:

MISSION TO PLANET EARTH

Mission to Planet Earth is an initiative to understand our home planet, how different forces shape and affect its environment, how that environment is changing, and how those changes might affect us. The goal of this initiative is to obtain a comprehensive scientific understanding of the entire Earth system, describing how its various components function, how they interact, and how they may be expected to evolve on all time scales. 

The challenge is to develop a fundamental understanding of the Earth System, and of the consequences of changes to that system, to eventually develop the capability to predict changes that might occur--either naturally, or as a result of human activity.