Both ESA's Aurora programme and the United States' Presidential initiative on Mars propose programmes of exploration, laid out over decades, involving a partnership between human and robotic platforms. However, the UK's continuing lack of involvement in the field of human space flight remains a subject of much controversy.

The knowledge that we seek of the Moon and of Mars is central to our understanding of the history of the solar system and our own planet. It is likely that human spaceflight operations will underpin the future exploration of both of these destinations, and will prove necessary in providing definitive answers to essential scientific questions. Moreover, the potential benefits that might be derived from programmes of human space flight are not limited to planetary science. For example, life science research in zero and low gravity environments stands to yield fundamental physiological and biological knowledge, some of which may have medical applications. Moreover, potential benefits extend not only across the boundaries between scientific disciplines, but beyond those that exist between science, education and culture; a property that few other subjects can boast.

The UK must consider strategic initiatives that will facilitate further involvement in the international programmes of astronautics. There exists at this time in the UK a working strategy for the development of a space life and medical sciences capability featuring programmes of education and research as well as public science communication. The steering committees associated with this effort have close links with the human space exploration programmes of international agencies and are well placed to identify and capitalise upon those areas of existing human space flight programmes that are of genuine benefit to the UK.

PROFESSOR MICHAEL RENNIE: Near earth orbit spaceflight: a chance to do unique research on bone and muscle wasting

Muscle and bone wasting occur at rapid rates during space flight and unless counter measures are developed or gravity generating craft are used long term spacleflight is doomed. However, whatever the benefits to space exploration, zero gravity conditions offer a chance to pathophysiological studies on bone and muscle gene expression which could to be done on earth. Travelling into zero gravity casuses a large step wise change in the imposed starin on muscle and bone which cannot be reproduced on earth. Modern physiological and molecular genetic techniques applied to samples taken from astronauts to the SSI could provide important information on the gravity sensors useful to help counter saropenia and osteopenia here on earth.

[Unfortunately, Professor Rennie was indisposed on the day of the meeting and was unable to present his talk in person -- some of his points were however covered by Dr Kevin Fong in his presentation.]

MR BERNHARD HUFENBACH: Human Spaceflight Achievements, Benefits and Future Opportunities from a European Perspective

Europe started to invest in human spaceflight activities in the early 1970s with the development of the Spacelab, a versatile scientific laboratory including large instrument positioning system elements, that was launched with the US space Shuttle. Between 1983 and 1998 23 Spacelab missions were implemented, with European scientist being involved in more than half of these missions. In 1994 and 1995 two European astronaut missions to the Russian Mir Station took place lasting 31 and 179 days, respectively. In 1998 Europe joined the International Space Station (ISS) Programme upon the invitation of the then US President (R. Reagan), and is today a major contributor to the development and user of the ISS infrastructure. Today Europe invests about 700 million euros annually in human spaceflight and related research activities, and is in the process if defining its future contribution to international space exploration activities in a way that combines the skills and capabilities of automatic and human missions. While past investments in human spaceflight were largely political driven, clear achievements and benefits can already be identified, in particular in the gain of knowledge and innovation. These achievements and benefits are described and assessed as as basis for consolidating future European plans and priorities in the field of human spaceflight and space exploration.

DR PAUL SPUDIS: The Moon in the New Presidential Space Vision

President Bush recently has articulated a new vision for space exploration that calls for returning to the Moon with humans and using it and its resources to prepare for missions to Mars and other destinations. This new vision has given NASA a long-range strategic goal that has significant implications for the future of space flight. By using the near-limitless materials and energy of space, we can create new capability that dwarfs our current efforts, in which everything needed for space must be launched from the deep gravity well of Earth.

Recent discoveries have shown that hydrogen, probably in the form of water ice, is present in substantial quantity in the dark cold areas near the poles of the Moon. Ice can be processed to yield both rocket propellant (hydrogen and oxygen) and consumables to support human life. Obtaining both of these products from the Moon has the potential to revolutionize space logistics and create a true interplanetary space-faring infrastructure.

The perennial debate in the scientific community over the role of humans and robots over the last 50 years largely has devolved into a philosophical argument, devoid of hard data. With the advent of the long-term presence of people on the Moon and other planetary destinations, we will obtain significant new opportunities to evaluate the efficacy of humans and robots as explorers in a real planetary environment. A human lunar outpost is an excellent place to test the principal advantages of people, both in the conduct of field science and the maintenance of complex machines. The operational experience of living and working on the Moon will allow us to resolve this old debate by determining which jobs are best done by robots and which ones require people. We can also test the efficacy of robotic telepresence as a surrogate for actual human presence.

DR JIM GARVIN: Accelerating the Pace of Scientific Discovery: Human-based Exploration of Mars and the Moon

How should the planned scientific trajectory for the exploration of Mars be influenced by human-based exploration? Could human-based exploration of Mars, in spite of its complexity and developmental costs, increase the pace of the discoveries we are just now amassing? In the eyes of some scientists, the answer to this question is an emphatic "yes" on the basis of our current knowledge of the "real" Mars, and what we expect to learn by the middle-to-end of the next decade. Key to this question is understanding of what we do NOT know and what we need to do in order for definitive measurements to be achieved.

It is well known, and has been since the 1970's, that return of martian materials in context and selected on the basis of specific scientific criteria, is an essential part of any scientific trajectory for understanding the planet and its potential for life, as well as its geologic history. The US National Resource Council has assessed NASA's current robotic Mars exploration program strategy twice during the past several years, and its recommendation has been consistent and emphatic: more than one sample return mission to Mars is critical for developing any real understanding of whether the planet has ever harbored life and its geological and geochemical evolution. Comparison of the remarkable capabilities of the NASA Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) and their scientific accomplishments over the past ~ 300 days of surface-based exploration with what an APOLLO-class mission to Mars could accomplish suggests that the 10's of kg of martian samples even the most primitive human mission would be capable of returning to Earth from a scientifically-compelling site could have enormous breakthrough potential. Recent studies have suggested that human-based sample return missions to Mars could provide key capabilities that today are difficult to enable robotically, including adaptive on-side sample collection and triage, in situ sample handing and analysis before return to Earth, subsurface access to depths where unique materials may be isolated, and on-the-fly adaptation to subtleties of the martian geologic setting to enable more informed sampling, analysis and selection for return to Earth. Thus, a scientific strategy for Mars exploration that extends the current robotic plans (i.e., the NASA plans for a 2005 Reconnaissance Orbiter, a 2007 ice-lander, a 2009 mobile analytical laboratory, and eventually a robotic sample return, plus the ESA plans for ExoMars, Networks, sample returns, etc.) to a science-enabled period of human exploration, perhaps emphasizing in situ sampling and informed analysis, is amply warranted on the basis of the challenges Mars will likely pose. Ongoing analysis of the timing of first human-based missions to Mars suggests that the period from 2020 to 2040 may be an optimal "window" for the transition from increasingly capable robotic missions to the first tactical human missions. The human-based APOLLO missions to the Moon demonstrated the value of human explorers "on site" even with limited surface residence time, and the increase in knowledge of the Moon from the APOLLO samples is a testament to the scientific value of this approach. An increased pace of scientific discoveries will be possible when human exploration of Mars is enabled by technology and capability-driven programs at NASA and elsewhere over the next 10-15 years. Finally, the use of human-based exploration of the Moon, as both an operational and scientific "stepping stone" to human missions to Mars offers to optimize the potential of the first wave of human missions to Mars for discoveries not possible today.

DR CHARLES COCKELL: Using Humans to Search for Life on Mars

I will crudely estimate the number of rocks that can be examined by a biologist in one day in the field (for subsequent detailed laboratory analysis) compared to a robot to be approximately two orders of magnitude greater. The pattern recognition and processing skills of a biologist also far exceed that of a robot both in the laboratory and in the field. Using examples from the polar regions I argue that there is an overwhelming scientific and logistics case for considering humans to be 'complex robotic biologists' and for sending them to Mars to explore, using existing mehanical robots to assist them.

DR BERNARD FOING: Rationale and Roadmap for Moon-Mars Exploration

We discuss the rationales for Moon and Mars exploration. This starts with areas of scientific investigations: clues on the formation and evolution of rocky planets, accretion and bombardment in the inner solar system, comparative planetology processes (tectonic, volcanic, impact cratering, volatile delivery), records astrobiology, survival of organics; past, present and future life.

The rationale includes also the advancement of instrumentation: Remote sensing miniaturised instruments; Surface geophysical and geochemistry package; Instrument deployment and robotic arm, nano-rover, sampling, drilling; Sample finder and collector. There are technologies in robotic and human exploration that are a drive for the creativity and economical competitivity of our industries: Mecha-electronics-sensors; Tele-control, telepresence, virtual reality; Regional mobility rover; Autonomy and Navigation; Artificially intelligent robots, Complex systems, Man-Machine interface and performances. Moon-Mars Exploration can inspire solutions to global Earth sustained development: In-Situ utilisation of resources; Establishment of permanent robotic infrastructures, Environmental protection aspects; Life sciences laboratories; Support for human exploration.

Finally, we discuss possible roadmaps for exploration, starting with the Moon-Mars missions for the coming decade, and building effectively on joint technology developments.

DR IAN CRAWFORD: Towards an Integrated Scientific and Social Case for Human Space Exploration

I will argue that an ambitious programme of human space exploration, involving a return to the Moon, and eventually human missions to Mars and elsewhere, will add greatly to the storehouse of human knowledge. Gathering such knowledge is the primary aim of science, but science's compartmentalisation into isolated academic disciplines tends to obscure the overall strength of the scientific case. This is especially evident when individual disciplines attempt to conduct 'cost-benefit' analyses of the issue solely from their own perspective, and relying solely on their own particular expertise. In fact, naïve analyses of the costs and benefits of human spaceflight from the point of view of a single discipline (say of the astronomical case for establishing a lunar observatory) are meaningless in isolation, given that the same 'costs' may confer simultaneous 'benefits' in areas as diverse as observational astronomy, lunar geology, cellular biology, materials science, and human physiology and medicine. Any consideration of the scientific arguments for human space exploration must therefore take a holistic view, and integrate the potential benefits over the entire spectrum of human knowledge.

Moreover, science is only one thread in a much larger overall case for human space exploration. Others threads include the economic (e.g. enhanced employment in key industries, and the resulting positive multiplier effect on the wider economy); the industrial (e.g. the development new skills and innovative technologies likely to have wider applications); the educational (particularly the inspiration of young people into science and engineering); the geopolitical (especially the opportunities for, and encouragement of, peaceful cooperation between nations); and the cultural (i.e. the stimulus to art, literature and philosophy, and a general enrichment of our world view, that inevitably results from expanding the horizons of human experience).