BEYOND INCREMENTAL CHANGE

In the next 25 years NASA has ambitious goals: It wants to accurately predict climate and resources over decades, not just daps. It wants to detect Earth-sized planets 600 trillion miles away with a telescope p owerful enough to determine signs of life. It wants to use the Interna tional Space Station as a platform for an astronaut to visit Mars. Thi s is the big vision, and to many it may sound more like science fictio n. To help achieve these goals, in 1997 NASA and the University of Vir ginia's Center for Advanced Computational Technology began planning an d developing the Intelligent Synthesis Environment. The ISE aims to li nk scientists, design teams, manufacturers, suppliers, and consultants in the creation and operation of an aerospace system and in synthesiz ing its missions. The ultimate goal is to significantly increase creat ivity and knowledge and eventually dissolve rigid cultural boundaries among diverse engineering and science teams.