In a recent blog, I noted the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's famous speech on the nation's space effort. That speech is especially relevant today in light of NASA's current work to launch humans to destinations in deep space. These missions will involve formidable challenges, but they will drive the creation of exciting new capabilities and unprecedented technologies. One thing is clear: such an awesome undertaking will require the best talent our nation has to offer, just as it did in 1962 when President Kennedy vowed that America would lead the world in space exploration.

In 2009, more than 1.5 million U.S. citizens earned bachelor's degrees in this country, but only 4.4 percent were in engineering, and only 1.1 percent were in the physical sciences. Only 2.4 percent of our undergraduates earned degrees in computer sciences and only 1.0 percent in mathematics. When we consider the numbers of women and minorities earning degrees in these fields, the situation is even worse. According to the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, 0.8 percent of all bachelor's degrees earned in 2009 were by women in engineering and only 0.2 percent of those earned were by African Americans in engineering. These numbers are simply unacceptable for a world leader in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) like the United States.

At NASA, we take seriously our responsibility to help inspire our nation's future scientists and engineers and provide them with experiences and opportunities. We also want the nation's STEM degree programs to be more welcoming, supportive, and accessible to all students. With that in mind, this week we launch MissionSTEM.nasa.gov, a Web site created by our Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, to assist colleges and universities in strengthening their STEM programs. MissionSTEM informs our grantee universities and science centers and museums of their EO compliance responsibilities, but it goes far beyond compliance. The Web site also will connect NASA with its grantees, professional STEM organizations, and other interested stakeholders, to creatively address issues such as recruitment and retention of diverse students. It will serve as a conduit for information-sharing on topics of common interest, such as promising practices to lead educational institutions that help create more inclusive learning environments and more broadly diverse student bodies.

Where will we find our future STEM talent? We will find it in every community, in every university and college, and in students of every socio-economic background. The talent is out there. It always has been. I am confident that American students have the intelligence, curiosity, and tenacity to excel in STEM fields. We, as a nation, must commit to encouraging and supporting them to pursue their dreams. Take a few minutes to look at MissionSTEM.nasa.gov and see how you can help foster the future talent for America's STEM workforce.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting with two groups of workers in Alabama that are critical to ushering in NASA’s new era of spaceflight. First, I met with one of NASA’s key commercial partners -- the team at United Launch Alliance in Decatur, Alabama. I went there to talk about the progress we are making to return NASA space launches to U.S. soil, develop the next generation of spacecraft that will take us farther than ever before, and continue our cutting edge science missions.

Just last month, NASA announced that ULA has completed the fifth and final milestone for its Commercial Crew Development Round 2 agreement with the agency's Commercial Crew Program.

With the completion of these milestones, ULA establishes a technical foundation for potentially certifying its Atlas V rocket for crewed missions. It also marks the development of the design criteria for the rocket's emergency detection system, which would allow crew members to escape if something were to go wrong with either the launch vehicle or spacecraft.

The development of a commercial crew industry is critical for NASA because it will ensure we launch American astronauts from U.S. soil, fueled by American ingenuity, American companies and American workers. This new way of doing business will also reduce the cost of missions to low Earth orbit while allowing NASA to focus our resources on deep space missions back around the moon, to an asteroid and eventually to Mars.

The other team I met with is hard at work on doing just that. Just down the road from ULA at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, NASA workers are developing our Space Launch System that will provide an entirely new capability for deep space human exploration.

Designed to be flexible for launching payloads and spacecraft, including NASA's Orion spacecraft that will take humans beyond low Earth orbit, SLS will enable the agency to meet the Obama Administration's goal of sending humans to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars in the 2030s.

My visits to ULA and Marshall gave me a chance to see NASA’s new era in spaceflight taking shape. And more importantly, I got to meet some of the exceptional men and women who are bringing it to life.

With a big splash in the Pacific Ocean today, we are reminded that American ingenuity is alive and well and keeping our great nation at the cutting edge of innovation and technology development. Just a little over one year after we retired the Space Shuttle, we have completed the first cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Not with a government owned and operated system, but rather with one built by a private firm – an American company that is creating jobs and helping keep the U.S. the world leader in space as we transition to the next exciting chapter in exploration.

Congratulations to SpaceX and the NASA team that supported them and made this historic mission possible. With the successful return of SpaceX's Dragon capsule – the first of at least 12 cargo resupply missions – we've brought space station resupply missions back to American soil. Under President Obama's leadership, NASA initiatives are helping develop a robust U.S. commercial space transportation industry with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the space station and low Earth orbit. In addition to cargo flights, NASA's commercial space partners also are making progress toward launch of our astronauts from the U.S. again in just a few years.

A new era of space exploration is underway, with the commercial spaceflight milestones like we see today, and the recent opening of the nation's newest American spaceport in Virginia, from which Orbital Sciences will launch its space station resupply missions. NASA's other commercial partners like Sierra Nevada, Boeing, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance are making progress on an array of systems and technologies to open the next generation of low Earth transport to more users.

By allowing the private sector to take over routine transportation to the space station and other low-Earth orbit destinations, NASA can focus on the things that are too big for any one company to do right now -- send our astronauts back around the Moon, to an asteroid and eventually to Mars. The Space Launch System that will carry astronauts once again to deep space and the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle in which they'll travel are also making great progress, and in 2014, partnering with our prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, we'll test fly Orion out to the reaches of space where the Apollo astronauts once traveled.

However, in order to focus on these deep space missions, we must have a successful partnership with private industry to take our astronauts and their cargo to the International Space Station. This is critically important to insource jobs, stimulate the economy and continue to bring crew and cargo launches back to U.S. soil, ensuring that American companies are transporting our astronauts and their supplies.

With today's mission, we've closed the loop and demonstrated that American industry is ready to step up to the plate and meet our needs for transport to low Earth orbit. This work will transform our relationship to space, save money and create jobs. America remains the leader in space and technology development. A driving force toward a bright and innovative future for this nation, and an inspiration for generations to come. And we've just begun our march to the future.

Over the past few days, we've taken significant steps to implement America's ambitious new space exploration plan, with progress made on our deep space exploration program, the rollout of another commercial rocket, and discoveries on Mars that will guide our way on future missions to the Red Planet with U.S. astronauts.

Today, we announced contract awards to improve the affordability, reliability, and performance of an advanced booster for the Space Launch System (SLS) -- the rocket that will launch humans on missions of deep space exploration. The companies selected will develop engineering demonstrations and risk reduction concepts that will inform our work on this crucial system that will help us reach those destinations farther in our solar system.

The initial 77-ton (70-metric-ton) SLS configuration will use two 5-segment solid rocket boosters similar to those that helped power the space shuttle to orbit. The evolved 143-ton (130-metric-ton) SLS vehicle will require an advanced booster with more thrust than any existing U.S. liquid- or solid-fueled boosters. These new initiatives will demonstrate and examine advanced booster concepts and hardware demonstrations during a 30-month period.

The Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle in which astronauts will travel to these deep space destinations recently completed a set of tests to simulate various water landing scenarios to account for different velocities, parachute deployments, entry angles, wave heights, and wind conditions the spacecraft may encounter when landing in the Pacific Ocean. The next round of water impact testing is scheduled to begin in late 2013 using a full-sized model that was built to validate the flight vehicle's production processes and tools. In 2014, Orion will make its first test flight to simulate re-entry from a lunar mission. As the next class of astronauts is selected, NASA continues to ensure they will be able to travel to low Earth orbit as well as other destinations farther into our solar system.

However, in order to focus on these deep space missions, we must have a successful partnership with private industry to take our astronauts and their cargo to the International Space Station. This is critically important to insource jobs, stimulate the economy, and bring crew and cargo launches back to U.S. soil, ensuring that American companies are transporting our astronauts and their supplies.

Today's rollout of Orbital Sciences' Antares test vehicle to the launch pad at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia marks yet another milestone in the development of the commercial cargo resupply program. Next Sunday in Florida, SpaceX plans to launch the first commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station, marking the return of cargo launches to America's shores.

We look forward to Orbital soon joining SpaceX in regular service missions to the space station and helping our international crews continue the breakthroughs in human health and technology that will help us travel farther.

In addition to this extraordinary progress, all eyes continue to be on Mars -- and the Curiosity rover does not disappoint. Last week, we announced an incredible new finding -- one of many to come that we know will transform our understanding of the Red Planet and help pave the way for human landings there.

Curiosity has found evidence a stream once ran vigorously across the area on Mars where the rover is driving. Such a running stream could have provided an environment hospitable to life. There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on Mars, but this evidence -- images of rocks containing ancient streambed gravels -- is the first of its kind. During the two-year prime mission of the rover, researchers will use Curiosity's 10 instruments to investigate whether other areas in Gale Crater have ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. All of this furthers scientific discovery, but also paves the way for human exploration in the not-too-distant future.

It's been a great few days, but we've only just begun to carry out the ambitious exploration plan to which President Obama and Congress have agreed, positioning America to continue to lead the world in space and changing the way we see our home planet.

Landing the Curiosity rover on Mars was a big feat for NASA, but we could not have done it without the work of small businesses.

On Wednesday, Sept. 19, I'm joining Administrator Karen Mills of the Small Business Administration for a Google+ Hangout with ATA Engineering, one of the small businesses that made the Mars Science Laboratory mission landing a success.

Google+ members and reporters are welcome to join the discussion from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday. Administrator Mills and I will talk with representatives of ATA about their work to design and analyze the design of the entry, descent and landing process – known as "Seven Minutes of Terror" – as well as other systems operating the Curiosity rover.

The Google+ Hangout will go live here: Http://plus.google.com/+NASA

Reporters wishing to join the Hangout should e-mail lauren.b.worley@nasa.gov for more information. You can join in the conversation on Wednesday by submitting your questions during the Google+ Hangout and on Twitter using the hashtag #AskNASA.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's "Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort," when the young president shifted our efforts in space from low to high gear. In proclaiming, "We choose to go to the moon," Kennedy propelled our space program to the forefront of American culture and consciousness, galvanizing an historic effort on which we continue to build today.

Accomplishing Kennedy's goals, both tangible and intangible, we have taken on his vision to create new challenges and now reach toward new capabilities and destinations. Neil Armstrong first left humanity's footprint on the moon, and more importantly helped raise the "banner of freedom and peace," fulfilling Kennedy's vow to "not see [space] governed by a hostile flag of conquest."

And we now stand on Armstrong's shoulders to create a sustainable vision for the future exploration of space. Much like those aboard the Apollo 7, 8, 9, and 10 missions cleared the path for Apollo 11 and Armstrong to land on the moon, our Curiosity rover on Mars is clearing the path for humans – Americans – to land on Mars. Our space program has developed new technologies that made human expansion into the solar system a reality. It created a global enterprise, now spinning off into the private sector, which continues to advance our nation and our world.

We realize now as we did then that we are not just on a mission to discover the universe; we are on a mission to discover ourselves. As astronaut Bill Anders, one of the first three humans to see the far side of the moon, put it, "We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth." We cannot forget that the purpose of space exploration is to make life on Earth better, even as we "increase our knowledge and unfold our ignorance," as Kennedy said, and as we continuously raise the bar of human achievement.

As Kennedy hoped for greater achievements in science and education, in culture, and for peace, he could not have foreseen the degree to which we have unfolded our ignorance. He envisioned "new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school."

There are literally thousands of examples of exploration technology being adapted for life on Earth, and a few areas where we have surpassed Kennedy's greatest dreams: artificial hearts; retrofit systems that convert gas-powered vehicles into gas-electric hybrids, used in such trucks as mail delivery trucks for the U.S. Postal Service; health and fitness monitoring technology capable of measuring and recording vital signs of soldiers, first responders, professional athletes, and consumers seeking to get in shape; and parachutes capable of rescuing entire planes.

Our fleet of Earth observation satellites track hurricanes and wildfires and are able to analyze landslide motion and keep watch on agricultural fields. They provide continuity of data over the long term to help us see how our planet continues to change as a unified system. Our research on the International Space Station has helped us understand processes such as bone and muscle loss especially applicable to our senior citizens.

All this innovation has saved countless lives and billions of dollars, all the while creating thousands of jobs.

And we continue to reach higher. We have opened a new door to commercial space, for instance, helping facilitate a new space transportation industry to low Earth orbit.

Today, to "organize and measure the best of our energies and skills," as Kennedy charged us, we're doing things like landing that small SUV-size rover on Mars, now transmitting high definition images and information, which will lead to a better understanding of the Martian environment and the different ways Mars and Earth evolved. By 2018 we will launch our new James Webb Space Telescope, which will serve as our eye in the sky, peering deeper into the universe than ever before.

We're building our Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket in history, and Orion, the new multi-purpose vehicle crew capsule, which will lead to the first-ever crewed missions beyond the low Earth orbit and the Moon into deep space. President Obama charged us with increasingly difficult challenges, beginning with sending astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars by the mid-2030s. The journey there will be full of discoveries and new technological breakthroughs.

So while President Kennedy christened our sails on the new sea of space exploration, our work is far from done. Thanks to President Obama, this generation's young president, we are witnessing a christening of a rejuvenated space program, where we will traverse previously untouched terrain, learning from our past and building on it to forge a bright future.

To watch President Kennedy's historic speech, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=151776051

NASA is back on Mars – and getting ready for the next mission to the Red Planet! After an astounding 352 million mile journey and a harrowing landing that demonstrated cutting-edge technology, Curiosity, the largest rover ever sent to another planet, is in place and ready to work. This robotic laboratory will seek answers to one of humanity’s oldest questions as it investigates whether conditions have favored development of microbial life on the Red Planet. The mission is a critical planetary science mission -- and a precursor to sending humans to the Red Planet in the 2030’s, a goal set forth by President Obama.

It’s another great leadership moment for our nation and a sign of the continued strength of NASA’s many programs in science, aeronautics and human spaceflight. It’s also important to remember that the $2.5 billion investment made in this project was not spent on Mars, but right here on Earth, supporting more than 7,000 jobs in at least 31  states.

With the retirement of the Shuttle program after its final flight in July 2011, some have suggested that NASA’s leadership in the exploration of space, including our extraordinary successes on Mars, was coming to an end. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Curiosity mission is only the latest in a long list of extraordinary NASA missions that established the United States as the undisputed world leader, and it will help guarantee that remains the case for many years to come.

When our Orion deep space crew vehicle takes its first test flight in 2014, it will travel farther into space than any spacecraft designed for humans has flown in the 40 years since our astronauts returned from the moon.

In 2017, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit, will launch Orion.

We also reached a critically important milestone in May when SpaceX became the first private company to send a spacecraft -- the Dragon cargo capsule -- to the International Space Station and return it with cargo intact. This successful mission ushered in a new era in spaceflight -- and signaled a new way of doing business for NASA. And just a few days ago, we announced the next step in the Obama Administration’s aggressive plan to once again launch our astronauts from U.S. soil on spacecraft built by American companies.

As part of our commitment to maintain American leadership in the exploration of Mars beyond the Curiosity mission, NASA will launch the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter next year. Earlier this year, I directed NASA’s science mission director, along with the head of human exploration, Chief Technologist, and Chief Scientist to develop a more integrated strategy to ensure that the next steps for Mars exploration will support the nation’s planetary science objectives as well as our human exploration goals. They are looking at many options, including another robotic mission to land on Mars in this decade.

I am so proud of the NASA team that has made tonight’s challenging milestone possible. However, tomorrow we begin to plan for the next great challenge -- and start compiling incredible scientific data from Curiosity. For the past 50 years, NASA has specialized in doing the hard things. Thanks to the ingenuity of our teams across America and the world, we are poised for even greater success.

For more information about Curiosity and NASA's missions to Mars, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mars

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team in the MSL Mission Support Area reacts after learning the the Curiosity rover has landed safely on Mars and images start coming in at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in Pasadena, Calif. The MSL Rover named Curiosity was designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)