Transcripts For CSPAN3 NASA Administrator Bridenstine Testifies On Future Missions 20240712

All right. This hearing will come to order. 2020 has been a year of challenge and triumph for Americas National space agency. The covid19 pandemic has disrupted planning and daytoday operations, but nasa and its commercial partners have achieved many successful outcomes. These include launching american astronauts to the International Space station and returning them safely to earth. Returning that launch vehicle safely to earth. Launching a perseverance rover to mars, and preparing the space launch systems, sls, rocket and orion crew capsule for the first deep Space Exploration Program Mission next year. Im pleased that nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine is here to provide us with an update on nasas missions and programs and the agencys plans for the future. Further progress on the art miss program is critical to achieving the goals of landing the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024, and establishing a sustainable presence on or around the lunar surface by 2028. Congress has given clear support for many key component of artemis, notally the sls rocket, the orion crew capsule, human lander system competition, and various rovers and instruments to study the lunar surface. Last week administrator bridenstine announced a detailed plan for the Artemis Program projecting total cost of 28 billion between fiscal years to 21 and 2025, continuing bipartisan support for artemis is essential. Members need confidence in nasas longterm plan. I hope the administrator will lay out the detailed cost and schedule for artemis to help give us that confidence. The Program Receives a justifiable justifiably large amount of attention. We should also recognize the tremendous success of the commercial crew program. On may 30, the nasa spacex team launched american astronauts on american rockets from american soil for the First Time Since 2011. Commercial crew represents a True Public Private Partnership where the government buys services from space companies. It would be helpful if the administrator would highlight how nasa is implementing Lessons Learned from commercial crew development. In november of last year, this committee passed the nasa authorization act demonstrating strong support for artemis and commercial crew. The legislation also strongly supported nasas key science priorities, aeronautics research, planetary exploration, s. T. E. M. Education, and other initiatives. Today administrator bridenstine can provide an update on these missions and describe any major impacts on costs, schedule, or operations caused by the pandemic. Nasa plays an Important Role in americas whole of government approach to securing the space domain for exploration science and commerce. Great power competition in space is a reality. Chinas space ambitions are wellknown. And the Chinese Communist party has devoted enormous resources to military and civil Space Programs. Nasa recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the newly created u. S. Space force to bolster collaboration on standards and best practices for Space Operations, Scientific Research and planetary defense. Administrator bridenstine may want to comment on the memorandum of understanding, and where he Sees Opportunities for collaboration with the space force. Even with this years successes, Program Vulnerabilities remain. As the Artemis Program progresses, we should remain vigilant to protect and strengthen International Partnerships, particularly those built around the International Space station and low earth orbit research. We should ensure that groundbreaking initiatives such as robotic Mars Missions and planetary observatories continue making progress, maintaining forces maintaining focus on artemis and other missions will require continued support and funding from congress. I look forward to todays conversation with the administrator and now turn to my dear friend and colleague, the ranking, for her remarks. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for the bipartisan leadership on the nasa reauthorization bill. Im pleased to join you and senator cruz to author the nasa inflation act of 2019. Among other things this legislation would provide authorization for nasas human exploration programs including the lunar lander needed to return humans to the moon. There is agreement between the bills sponsors about how to proceed on the authorization, and i hope the senate will consider this important bill this year. Nasas recent Economic Impact Analysis Shows that in 2019 the agency generated more than 64 billion in economic output, supported more than 312,000 jobs nationwide, and nasa and the space industry, particularly important in the state of washington where space activities account for 1. 8 billion of our states economy, with Companies Like blue origin, spac spacex, and arrow jet, rocketdyne, thousands of jobs are dependent on the growing space industry. I always say theres a reason we have the space needle. So 2020 was a significant year for nasa. For the first time in nine years, nasa astronauts launched to space from the u. S. Soil. For the first time ever, those astronauts launched on a commercial spacecraft marking the dawn of a new era for nasa. 2021 promises to be an even bigger year for the agency. Two commercial providers will begin regularly carrying astronauts to the International Space station. 2021 will also see the first launch of nasas space launch system which will return astronauts deep space in a few years. I am looking forward to watching americans exit the lunar lander which will be built in the state of washington and step on to the surface of the moon for the first time in more than 40 years. I am very enthusiastic about the Artemis Program which will put the first woman on the moon. Now we need more than just that womens first step, we need women and minorities to be represented at every level of the nasa and Space Programs. So i look forward to working with you and the chairman on how we increase the diversity in all our aerospace industry. Given the many new rockets and spacecraft nasa astronauts will fly over the next decade, its imperative the agency remain committed to safety. Safety must always be the top priority, and in order for that to happen, nasa engineers and Program Managers must have insight into the design and testing of new spacecraft. A major safety issue for nasa is the threat of orbital debris. Just last week the space station was forced to maneuver away there a piece of space debris. In february, the Committee Held a hearing on threats to space, and i called for increased investment in mapping of space of debris and improve Space Situational Awareness. So mr. Chairman, i know you are also committed to addressing this threat, and i look forward to working with you on that issue. While nasas human spaceflight programs are often in the spotlight, the agencys other missions and research are also critical to the country. As i said in washington, many western states we face an unbelievable threat from devastating wildfires. Nasas satellites provide data that enables Disaster Management teams to measure the intensity and development of fires as they burn. And i also want to highlight nasas Space Grant Program. Again, a consortium at the university of washington doing tremendous work to engage High School Students and undergraduates in these areas of research and study which i think just helps us get the next generation of work force. The covid19 pandemic has impacted many nasa programs, as well as the people who support them, whether they are employees or contractors or researchers. So i look forward to hearing how this committee might work with nasa to keep the program on track while keeping people safely employed. This is a challenge, but obviously we want to keep moving ahead. So well look forward to your comments and testimony, administrator bridenstine. Thank you for being here today. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this importance hearing. I think i heard the state of washington mentioned several times in senator cantwells Opening Statement. Clearly i should have mentioned in my Opening Statement the Important Role of the state of mississippi in all of the activities that we have planned, particularly the Stennis Space Center in hancock county, mississippi. So at this point, administrator bridenstine, we have your prepared statement consisting of seven pages in small type. We will enter that into the record at this point. And you are recognized for five minutes or so to summarize your statement. Thank you, chairman wicker, and Ranking Member cantwell. Its an honor to be here. I will tell you, i want to start by thanking you for the support we received in the c. A. R. E. S. Act which ultimately enabled us to move forward on some of our very Important Missions. We call them Mission Essential functions of nasa. So we needed that personal protective equipment, we needed the ability to make sure that our crews could socially distance and do all of the things necessary to be safe and the c. A. R. E. S. Act was really a part of that. And we thank you for that. So nasa is is really up to some really amazing things. The two of you highlighted them very well. Lower earth orbit, we are commercializing rapidly. We have been under way with commercial resupply now for a number of years. And now were moving forward with commercial crew, which we are all very, very excited about. Demo two is complete. That was a test flight here at the end of october. We were going to launch crew one. Were going to have a full complement of four astronauts including one International Partner from japan. And so this is a very exciting time for the agency as we move rapidly to commercialize space. Its not just about commercial resupply and commercial crew. We also want commercial space stations themselves eventually. The International Space station has been an amazing asset for the United States. It still is, and it will be for years to come. But we all know that a day is going to come when it comes to the end of its useful life. When that happens, we need to have funded the resources necessary to commercialize lower earth orbit for cohabitation. We want to make sure in the United States and with your help we can ensure that we have no gap in low earth orbit. We think about apollo, we had during the apollo era, as much as we loved it, it came to an end. We had a gap of about eight years before Space Shuttle. Then after Space Shuttle retired, we had another gap of about eight years before commercial crew. And we want to make sure that there is no gap in lower earth orbit for the United States of america as we transition from the International Space station to commercial space stations. But as both of you have identified, whats happening in lower earth orbit, as awesome as it is, pales in comparison to what were going to see when we land the first woman and the next man on the surface of the moon under the Artemis Program. Were going to the moon for a lot of important reasons. The chief reason to go to the moon is because it accelerates our path to mars. And we believe it is important for the first person to land on mars to be an american astronaut. And when we do go to mars, we want to go with our International Partners. This is about american leadership. And of course what we just saw, just, in fact, yesterday, japan announced its biggest budget for its space agency in its history. In fact, it was a 50 increase over the previous year. That is a massive increase for a nation like japan. And theyre focusing it on the Artemis Program. They are focused on supporting us as we lead the world to the moon. I will say that that is not unique, though. Weve seen budgets coming from europe that are also increasing. Commensurate with the Artemis Program and nasas budget. So a lot of really exciting things in the future. And of course im grateful to you, chairman wicker and ranking cantwell, for the continued bipartisan support for these Important Missions for our country. So with that, sir, ill ill yield back whatever time i have remaining. And certainly open to any questions. Well, thank you very, very much. You recently announced that the artemis 1 mission will take place at the end of november of next year. Part of the role of my home state of mississippi is in the testing space launch system rocket engine. How is the green run testing at stennis progressing, and do you have a target date for the full duration hotfire test . Yes, sir. So the green run testing is progressing very well. The rocket this is the core stage of the sls rocket. It is proving itself to be an extremely capable system. We still have a good bit of testing in front of us, including the full green run where we we fire all four rs 25 engines at the same time. Thats going to be an amazing sight to see. Likely to happen in november. And so were moving rapidly toward that. Weve had some challenges, of course, with some hurricanes. Weve had some other challenges with covid. But we have weve also had some successes. And so were moving forward, and we think that the green run test will be done in november, november, and we also believe that this sets us up for the first launch of the sls system with an o ryan crew capsule in november 2021. You think were still on track to meet the november 2021 date . As of right now, yes, we are. There are challenges, and depending on how covid affects us in the months ahead, it could be more challenging. But i will say because this is a mission that is so unique, we do have margin in the schedule. We have reserve in the schedule and in the cost. And nasa does that for all of its missions. As of this point, we have not determined that we need to move off of the november date of next year. Well, ive been very impressed with how nasa has moved forward in any number of target dates. Let me ask you about the continuing resolution. Yes, sir. Weve seen a continuing resolution this week and, obviously, thats never ideal, but the covid19 pandemic pretty much dictated that. This is a brief cr. It doesnt carry on into next year. You have spoken about the problem of a longterm continuing resolution. If you will, please discuss the broader impacts of if we cant get our job done in november and december, what that would mean for your programs. Yes, sir. So the hardest part right now is the human landing system. That human landing system is what right now were not funded to develop in its entirety. We are funded through what we call the base period, weve got the resources to go through basically february of 2021. And so between now and february of 2021, i think were okay. But if we get to february of 2021 without an appropriation, thats going to really put the brakes on our ability to achieve a moon landing by as early as 0 2024. So its important to get these appropriations. I will also tell you, sir, the sooner we get the appropriations, the higher the probability of success. So were very grateful. I know that the house and the senate are moving towards a cr rather than a shutdown. Were very grateful for that. And i speak for the entire nasa workforce when i say that. But i will also say that the sooner we can get an appropriation, the higher the probability of success to the moon landing as soon as 2024. Thats the appropriation. What about the authorization bill . How important is it to pass an updated authorization bill . So in my view, very important. I was an authorizer in the house of representatives and i can tell you what the authorization bill enables me to do as the administrator is demonstrate that this has strong bipartisan support that is lasting. Appropriations are one year in nature, and they give us what we need to fund the programs. But an authorization bill this is a fundamental question i get everywhere i go as a nasa administrator, people ask me, how do you ensure that this program doesnt get canceled . Like nasa has had a history of seeing programs get developed and then canceled. And the answer is we need the authorization bill that codifies that what were doing has Broad National consensus and bipartisan support. I think were there, but putting that into law really would be meaningful for the agency. Thank you very much. Senator cantwell. Thank you. Administrator bridenstine, one of the things we hear a lot about as, again, we change and innovate, as the skill level of the workforce and s. T. E. M. , we work very hard on s. T. E. M. Education in the state of washington and certainly want to work on it on a national perspective, so i want to hear your thoughts on what else we need to be doing, what does that skills gap look like. Im also interested in nasas explane flight Demonstration Program for a tran sonic wing. One of the things were interested in is composites and continuing the develop of composite manufacturing. So i want to understand what you think we should be doing on that kind of technology for the future as well. Yes, very good questions. And ill tell you the transonic truss brace wing has me very excited about the future of aviation. When we think about the value of nasa to the United States of america, a lot of people, they think about space and the moon and mars and Robotic Exploration of the solar system. But the aeronautics piece is probably the most impact to the american economy, because this is a major export for the country. And weve been leading here for so many generations. Of course, we had the challenge with the max 8, weve had the challenge now with covid and when we think about aeronautics, its kind of right now its being stressed significantly. But i think we have to as a nation take this opportunity and lead. And when i say lead, that transonic truss braced wing is a key to that leadership. Were talking about increasing what we call the aspect ratio of a wing, making it longer and thinner. The big thing that that does is it reduces what we call induced drag, which is the drag you get from the lift created by the aircraft. Basically it spreads out the amount of downward thrust that you get from the wing. It does increase what we call parasitic drag from the wing, but that parasitic drag is less than the induced drag. So overall you get a much more efficient aircraft. It drives down the amount of fuel that you have to use, it drives down the amount of carbon emissions, it drives down the cost to the airlines. The challenge with that high aspect ratio wing, the challenge with that is that it becomes really long and thin and so it doesnt have the structure necessary to hold up, you know, a large body aircraft. So im a huge proponent of that. Weve been advocating for that inside not just the agency, but inside the administration in general. And were getting some traction on it. Any support that you can provide would be fantastic. Lets see, the well, s. T. E. M. And so in this case, this is a composite issue, right . So we need more composite r d and more understanding then on the composite manufacturing side . Yeah, so this is, again, very important when it comes to s. T. E. M. , we need that next generation workforce, and so weve got to be inspiring people at a young age. I think the best thing nasa can do for encouraging people to go into s. T. E. M. Is inspire them and do these stunning missions like landing the first woman on the moon and those kind of activities. Were also very involved at the Mission Directorate level in funding programs like first robotics, which is a capability that gets High School Kids and even younger involved in robotics. So we do those things direct impact to nasa missions. If you look at robotics on mars and robotics throughout the solar system with satellites and orbiters of other planets. So i think theres a lot that nasa does and we need to continue to do for s. T. E. M. I dont know what it is about material science, but we have been able to attract more women. Structural engineering may not have been something that immediately appealed to them, but certainly we attracted them into aviation. Were having more success on the material science side and i dont know if thats a marriage of Chemical Engineering and other things, but i think we should figure out how to put this challenge to, as you said, the youngest of americans as theyre thinking about these issues and i dont know why this isnt, you know, a marriage of ideas, given that youre talking about, again, fuel efficiency, american jobs, leadership, all of these things that would come from this. This is, you know it is as exciting as the other missions, too. So thank you. Yes, maam. Administrator bridenstine, the Ranking Member mentioned space debris. Lets drill down on that. Yes, sir. Is the frequency of avoidance maneuvers increasing . Just a few days ago nasa maneuvered the International Space station to avoid a piece of unknown space debris. This has happened three times this year. Is that increasing . Yes, sir, it is. Now, i will tell you so this year weve maneuvered the space station three times in order to avoid orbital debris. That has not happened since 2015. Now, in this year weve done it three times. So its just a coincidence . I dont think that this is a coincidence. I will also say in the last two weeks, or maybe three weeks at this point, we have had three potential conjunctions that made us very nervous, and thats in the last two or three weeks, apart from the maneuver that we actually had to make. Close calls . Yes, sir, yes, sir. We knew about them, but it was far enough away that you didnt have to maneuver . Yes, sir. So we monitored them very closely and we made a determination that it didnt require a maneuver. What is the source of this debris . So theres a lot of reasons for it. Theres a lot of commercial activity in space right now, which we fully, fully support. Weve got to be able to use space for all of its benefits for humanity. And a lot of that commercial activity is launching, you know, low earth or bit Remote Sensing satellites and communication satellites. Low earth orbit is tremendously valuable for communications because its low lateens see. When you think about geostationary orbit, which is very far from earth, you have to use different protocols. So lower earth orbit is where all of these constellations want to be. The challenge is we dont have as a nation or even as a world a robust architecture for how were going to integrate all of these capabilities into this small space. And its becoming more and more of a problem. The president its not a small space, but its a finite space . It is, it is. And the challenge is the probabilities of impact are measured based on the amount of data that we receive, the probabilities of impact are measured in, you know, one in 1,000 chances, one in 5,000 chances, one in 10,000 chances. For us as an agency with the International Space station, which is a 100 billion investment, we take those probabilities and we say, okay, we need to maneuver. Are these functioning objects or are they junk . Both. When i hear debris, i think of something left over from something in the past. Yes, sir, so this object that we had to maneuver for just a few days ago is unidentified. We dont know what it is. We dont know where it came from. It is not something that is operated. It is junk. It is literally junk in space. Now, there are also satellites that have become debris because they just came to the end of their useful lives and they dont deorbit themselves. They will over a number of years, but theyre still there now. And then we also have we also have just a lot more activity from our international friends, if you will. And they dont necessarily all follow the debris mitigation guidelines established by nasa and supported by the u. S. Government. So theres no International Protocol yet on space debris . What we have is we have International Guidelines that nasa creates, the u. S. Government adopts, and then those get adopted, you know, at the u. N. And other places. The question is, what are we doing to make sure that people adhere to those guidelines. Anybody can say they follow them, but the question is how do you follow up and make sure that they actually are, and how do you prove that theyre not if theyre not. So there are guidelines that have that have been developed by the United States and have been adopted by the United Nations . Yes, and in fact and the individual countries, then they just sign on . Yeah. Is that ideal . Well, yes, i mean its better that they sign on than not sign on. But a lot of countries sign on and then they dont fully adhere to those principles. Just one other thing and then ill recognize senator gardner, who is in the queue. The department of commerce intends to or has taken over the Space Situational Awareness mission for civil and commercial entities. Do you support that, and how would authorizing the office of space commerce to take over this function from dod be helpful . A couple of things. Right now you have the department of defense that is responsible for fighting and winning wars in space now with the space force and u. S. Space command. The challenge is we are having them at the combined Space Operations center, were having them operate as though they are the faa for space. So theyre doing conjunction analysis and warning for all of the commercial activities in space, theyre doing it for all of the International Activities in space, and all of those international and commercial folks that are using that facility, that capability, theyre not paying for it. So were providing basically global Space Situational Awareness and space Traffic Management to the world for free. In order to relieve them of that duty, we need to have think about the 1950s, you know, we had the department of defense responsible for air Traffic Control throughout the nation. Now i now, it wasnt as crowded back then, but there came a time in 1958 when president eisenhower said were done with this, because there were too many midair collisions. He said were done with this. We need a civilian agency that can do this activity. We are now there for space right now. We need to take the unclassified data from the combined Space Operation center and we need to flow that to the department of commerce and we need to combine that data with commercial data. Its all about data. Its about quantity and quality of data. We need to take that data, combine it with commercial and International Data to create a single integrated space picture that can be shared with the world. And by the way, the world needs to support us in that effort. So if were doing Space Situational Awareness and space traffic, and the world is not, that creates a big problem. Is there broad consensus within the administration for this move . Yes, sir, 100 . And its being done administratively, i understand . Well, when you say administratively, right now these activities are being done by the department of defense. The challenge right now is the department of commerce under an executive order, basically a space policy directive iii from the president , the department of commerce should be picking up these missions. But they dont have the authorities provided by congress at this point, nor do they have the appropriations provided by congress. So were kind of in limbo right now. So you need the appropriators to address this issue, hopefully later in the year or early next year and this needs to be a provision in the next authorization bill, is that correct . I would be very supportive of that. Thank you very much. Senator gardner. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you, administrator bridenstine for your service and all the work you do for nasa and our Aerospace Companies in colorado and beyond. Its imperative that we preserve americas innovation and leadership in science. We certainly know our adversaries are working diligently to undermine our Space Programs and we continue to be envy of the world and nations like china and others are trying to steal our ingenuity and displace u. S. Leadership. I would like to enter into the record a cbs council dated march, entitled one in five corporations say china has stolen their ip within the last year. I would also like to enter a may 12th, 2020 space news article entitled Space Force Vice commander, china cant be allowed to buy bupt u. S. Space companies, which highlights concerns raised by lieutenant thompson, regarding how chinese entities may seek to invest in companies being squeezed by the covid19 pandemic. Additionally i would like to enter into the record a routers article, entitled exclusive, white house has auld agencies to detail china related funding, to understand how funding may be aiding china in unintended ways. We know that chinese actors are stealing intellectual property from american businesses and we know they are using their corporate social Credit System in a worrisome way and that many of the criteria of this system envisions that it could be used to require the transfer of technology or make it easie for chinese interests to steal intellectual property. Its estimated that china steals up to 600 billion worth of American Intellectual property every year. Put that in perspective, every single year chinese is stealing property from the United States worth nearly three times the size of the gdp of the nation of portugal. That theft is enabled through chinas Internet Security law which was implemented back in 2017 which allows them to review Sensitive Company Information that puts ip and human rights equally at risk. But its not just the misguided law or chinas unyielding quest to upend freedoms across the globe. China thinks theyll get away with this kind of behavior. Administrator bridenstine, do you believe that senator gardner, as for three items to be admitted into the record, without objection, that will be done. Now ask your question. Thank you. Administrator bridenstine, do you agree that china has a Clear History of stealing American Intellectual property . There is no question. And on the reuters story regarding the request to federal agencies. I would like to share a quote from the article, a spokesman confirmed that the agencies telling reuters to ensure the u. S. Remains strong and in a position of strength against china, theyve asked federal agencies for all funding meant to Counter China or which could aid china. Do you share the concern and belief that we should be taking a hard look at how our efforts at the federal level could be benefiting china . Yes. Do you agree we should be kern concerned with potential chinese interests seeking to invest in companies and what that could mean to our security . Yes. Do you agree it only makes sense for nasa to consider Chinese Investment as part of its contracting process . Yes, the answer is absolutely 100 yesterday. Just so you know, were grateful for your leadership on this. I can tell youre very passionate. I would also say how thats done really matters to nasa. What we have to do as an agency is make sure that we dont put ourselves in the role of the department of justice or the fbi. We have to be really careful that we do the things that we are good at, like getting to the moon and onto mars. We have to be careful about how 100 agree with everything you just said, but were not really an investigative agency. So we need to be careful about how we go about doing this. I just want to make sure that we are investigating Chinese Investments into u. S. Aerospace companies and making sure that were treating nasa as important to this issue as we are tiktok with Chinese Investments and concerns. I would think that our space force, Space Force Command and nasa are equally important that we give the attention to that with china in regards to china as we do to tiktok with china. So administrator bridenstine, thank you. Mr. Chairman, thank you for your time. Thank you very much, senator gardner. Let me say, there are no other senators in line. I have another question. I know a number of offices are listening, and if members of the committee intend to ask questions, they should let us know, because if not, this may be the last round of questioning. Mr. Administrator, lets talk about the enhanced upper stage, eus. The enhanced upper stage will allow nasa to make full use of the sls. Im concerned that the budget request defers funding to develop this. How necessary is this and what suggestion do you have for the senate and the house . Yes, sir. So to start, because congress and the senate have fully funded all of our activities for the exploration of upper stage, just so you know, those activities are under way and we are, you know, getting to the point now where weve got key Decision Point c or, you know, Critical Design review right in front of us. So all of this, to say that were talking enhanced upper stage . Yes, sir, yes. All right. Well, eus, some people call it enhanced, some people call it exploration upper stage. Were talking about the same thing. I just wanted to make it clear. So to the extent that we have an exploration upper stage or an enhanced upper stage, that would be gratefully beneficial to the agency and we can use it. And so thats important to note. It is also true that when we go to the moon by 2024 with artemis 3, were going to be going with what we call an interim cry oh jenk propulsion station. The icps is a system that is in place that we can use and it will get us to the moon by 2024. When we think about what happens beyond that, depending on if the senate and the house make it available to us, we can certainly use the exploration upper stage or the enhanced upper stage. At this point, we think that there are opportunities to use commercial vehicles potentially in the future, but of course all options should be considered. Thank you. Senator udall is next. Chairman, do you got me there . We can hear you well. Okay. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for the recognition, and let me welcome the administrator here. I remember having a good conversation with him when he came through. So good to see you. Satellite servicing and debris removal are becoming an increasingly important part of Space Operations as low earth orbit and other heavily populated orbits become increasingly congested by small satellites. Last october i introduced Senate Resolution 386, a resolution supporting improvements in Space Situational Awareness and advances in technology and calling for International Cooperation to address the increasing dangers of space debris. Do you support the kind of improvements to and advancements in Situational Awareness technology called for in my resolution . Yes, sir, without question. The challenge that we have as an agency not as an agency, but as a federal government, is data. And so we need the ability to get as much information on the debris that is in lower earth orbit as possible to keep our mission safe. Yes, sir, we need new, more and Better Technology and data. Appreciate that answer. How important is it to ensure International Cooperation on this issue and implement the 21 guidelines for space sustainability agreed to by the United Nations committee on peaceful uses of outer space . So without international support, you know, we end up not getting the results that were going to need. So without question, the United States of america is the preeminent space nation, but others are very rapidly developing and deploying space assets and creating debris that needs to be dealt with. So im very supportive of International Agreements that mitigate the debris. And of course International Agreements that enable us to see and respond to the debris as well. Thank you for that answer. New mexicos space industry is growing rapidly, companies such as virgin galactic, spin launch, and aerospace call new mexico home, and im glad to hear that nasa is beginning to partner with some of these commercial space Flight Companies as well as others. Besides using these commercial space entities to eventually take individuals to the International Space station and conduct other training for nasa personnel, is this an opportunity for nasa to increase other spermts and tests, and if so, what sort of experiments would nasa conduct . Yes, sir, we do these activities through what we call the flight opportunities program, which is resident in the Space Technology Mission Directorate at nasa. The program has already conducted, i think its over 700 different experiments and Technology Demonstrations using commercial suborbital vehicles. Everything from vertical takeoff and landing, using, you know, rockets to horizontal takeoff and landing using rockets, but also High Altitude balloons. And so weve done hundreds of these kind of experiments and there are huge opportunities in front of us. So the value is if youre trying to get access to microgravity, theres really only a couple of ways to do it. One is a drop tower. You drop something from the top of a building and youve got a second or two of microgravity. After that, we have parabolic flight where you take an airplane and put it on a parabolic trajectory and you can get 20 to 30 seconds of microgravity. After that, you have to fly all the way to the International Space station, which is tens of millions of dollars, and of course very challenging. It takes years of training, for example. But that commercial suborbital capability you just mentioned gives us a great opportunity to do experiments we have been using it to prove that we can do 3d prints in micro gr microgravity. Ult itluable w 3d printing is hugely valuable. You want to take as few things as possible and be able to make things in space. We think about cryogenic management. Fluids are critically important and different fluids operate very differently in microgravity is important. And not having to fly the experiments all of the way to International Space station is valuable to the taxpayer of the United States of america. There are other experiments that we do. Were looking at, in fact, right now, for the first time one of my initial experiments was human payloads. Some of them wanted human tended payloads. Now we have an opportunity to accept human tended payloads, not astronauts, but commercial, s subo s suborbital vehicles. Ican astforning and eventually use these vehicles for flying astronauts for training in the future. So i think there is a great future here. Thank you so much. S good t thank you for that excellent answer and good to see the good work that youre doing over ere at nasa. I yield back, mr. Chairman. Thank you, sir. I think the bipartisan sentiment expressed by senator udahl is widely shared. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Rcase administrator, it is nice to see you again, however remotely. I really enjoyed your visit to West Virginia when we renamed the imve center for katherine johnson, she hasas since passed away since we met and she was quite a pioneer. The 700 jobs across the state that nasa has and the millions of dollars of economic output of nasa was really a great the partnership alll throughout our state particularly in the regions that we were in. I would like to ask a quick question on the appropiations side. Oc seems it has used development of other major programs and spacecra spacecraft. Have you found it beneficial . How has that rolled out . Yes, it isis a c a criticalls important question. When we think about the al successes that we have had with the commercial crew program, fow example, which we just saw, you know, we launched our american restauran ast astronauts on a commercial vehicle. Whi resuppl the goal that we have is for nasa to be one of many customers in a very robust and commercial marketplace for human activitiei in lowearth orbit. We want numerous suppliers competing on cost, innovation, and safety. We have achieved that with commercial resupply, crew, and habitations. Commercial space stations themselves. We had to answer given all of aa thes programs that nasa has hads in their siblhistory, if were g to go to the moon as quickly as possible, how do we want to organize our efforts . The decision we made is weld l model this over commercial resupply and commercial group. So were going to go sustainably to the moon, again, with the intent that they get customers, maybe not initially, but eventually, that are not nasa. And where theyre competing on cost, innovation, and safety. If we do that we can drive down costs, increase access. We can have sustainability at the moon which the Apollo Program never delivered on, andl that is ultimately our goal. Reda how do we have a program where we go to the moon and stay. And that commercial capability is what we think is a big part of that success that were going to see in the future. So in the initial faze that youre in right now are you nd o finding therese are those priva and commercial entities that want to join the space . That there is enough to provide for competition . Or is this something that maybe our educational institutions ana other private businesses could be developing towards. Ly whe what are you finding in that space . Right now, maam, we had, ls initially, when we did this program to start we had five proposals and a number of those proposals had Large Capital inves heret mements from the pr sector already. I think there is lots of capability already. We selected three of the five m proposals and were grateful for the funding that we got from the house and the senate for what we call the base period. Th three so now we have three commercial lunar landers right now in the base period that ends in february of 2021. From that point in february were going to make a t we m determination whether or not there is one,term intwo, or even of those companies that we believe can get to the moon as soon as 2024. I would say yes, we had a lot of support from private industry for this. I introduced a space nd i tha modernization act that is included in the reauthorization. And i think we talked about how the space Brand Program really benefits people all across this country. Or ar have you had any stops and starts in the covid era with this . Are you still processing the proposals in a timely fashion . What is the status of that program . As of right now, maam, wers okay. But it isgoes on going to be mo challenging as time goes on for sure. So we provide grants to universities for them to deliver on specific tasking d and of course universities are having challenges delivering on that tasking the same as nasa. Th we do things at our centers, if we have a outbreak our people cant go to work any more than the people at a university can go to work. This is a nationwide challenge h that we haveere to deal with. There is a day in the future when were going to have to make tough decisions and the decisions will be that maybe we dont start a new project and we use the funding we received for a continuation of the project thats have fallen behind, or w well have to come back to the house and the senate and request additional appropriations to do the new starts. So i want to be clear, there is an impact from covid. We have been successful as an agencywe moving forward with ine additionsd e that we call essenl and now were opening up very rapidly missions that we call Mission Critical functions which would have an impact to the agency, but theyre not quite as high of an urgency. And a lot of those early s Technology Readiness level capabilities that universities y are involved in will see challenges. Thank you, thank you, i yield back. Thank you. Thank you, senator. Senator peters . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senr and administrator. Good to have you here and hear your testimony. Congress just recently passed a bipartisan proswift act to better predict geomagnetic to u storms. If the pandemicthe econ taught anything it is that we need to be prepared for disruptions tha can upend thebill economy in a significant way. O i knowf you can talk a lot abou this topic. I would like your sense of your concern about space weather and what it can have on every day lives and the threat it can pose and why this legislation is important. Why you authored it, and now that it is passed into law what can we expect . Yes, senator peters, you and senator gardener should be commended for leading on this issue. To support it in the house when i was there, but without your leadership with would not have aed. Use of i i know getting te it dont was not easy. But we think about the moon landing in 1969. Ith a if they were there longer than d they were they would have been hit with a solar flare from the sun. That would have damaged them and could have ended their lives early. But we didnt know that then, but we do now. So understanding the winds, the solar radiation, the flares, these are things that we have ta understand very well ifnd t we going to have a sustainable presence. And that is our goal. We want to explore space. And this bill will go a long ways to entablin to enabling us early warning, not just the detection of thosetivi activitio as the Ranking Member, i was pleased to see in the memorandum of understanding announced last week that general raymond and ed the space force that highlighted the importance of the survey of near ea nearearth objects. The reauthorization act continues an amendment that i offered to support innasas wor in the area. And it was combined with another star system. Can you talk about the survey oe hazardous objects and how the Ot Department of health can help especially with the deployment c of aop new spacebased telescop to help track the threats . Yes, sir. Again, critically important to the nation and the world, in fact. I have often said, and others have said, that the dinosaurs didnt have a space program. And it didnt help them. So we think back to 2013, my first year in the house of representatives, and we saw the incident where an asteroid came in and explode over russia. Over 1,000 people went to the hospital. That was an asteroid, and i in dont remember how big it was, Something Like 30 meters big inf diameter. So we think about that incident and then we think about how those incidents happen throughout history. There have been other incidentst so in the early 1900s there was an incident that took out like 800 square miles in russia, for example. So yes, we need to be able to detect these objects. Arth we need to make sure we have a near earth object Surveillance Mission. Werewith t doing that already the space surveillance telescopr in australia. Thats is nasa partnered with them to put. Our ownwn algorithms into their ur mission. They want to defect nefarious activities, but we put our algorithms into their space tellskotel telescope. So that is a great township and extending it into new domains we would be very supportive of that. Testimony,ou for yourr appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, senator peters. Welcome to thee committee, do you make your trek to south tt dakota . I have not. Covid may have gotten in the way of that one but there will be another day. Youre a little busy and we appreciate that. But th the global space economy greatly expanded in the last ten years meaning the United States leadership in space is more critical now than ever before. Ee i thinknk as you know we have ls of discussions around here about allocation of tax dollars, how to get the best return, if investments in some areas make sense. Could you describe how the american taxpayers continues toi benefit and what it means for job growth, economic advancement, and Economic Prosperity in the United States. Pr yes, sir, i will start with a little history here. A lot of people didnt know what would materialize from the Apollo Program. Now were having a hearing and people are watching all over the country using directv, dish network, or broadband from space. They may have xm radio. These are Communications Born from an agency called nasa tied early nasa era. We think about how we navigate with gps and how it transformed the american economy. We think about precision agriculture. Were uses space assets right m now in order to sense the earth. And every part of the electromagnetic spectrum. How can we increase crop yields and reduce water use. That will feed more world than p ever before. Producing food, and energy cleanly to pipelines, we can detect leaks early. So that Energy Companies dont get fined by the epa. Nasa playing a role there. So the way we do disaster relies is dependent on a lot of deve technologies thatlo nasa developed. We dont do disaster relief, bus we developed technology thats are now commercialized that theh government benefits from. We think about how we predict weather. Understand climate and how it is changing, and National Security and defense, so many capabilities that nasa has entr utilized by the department of defense. And vice versa. Going back in time it was intercontinental ballistic hat missiles that launched allen shepherd to space. So i think the programs have demonstrated that we dont know at the end of the day where all of it goes. We know this, the investment, the return on investment, is huge. Those are things we cant really measure. But i hear a lot about tang and velc velcro, for example, because of the Apollo Program. Impact but it goes so far beyond that. But we did an Economic Impact study. Tioned disregarding everything that i just mentioned, just the direct Economic Impact for the United States to the year 2019 was 64 billion. It was 312,000 jobs in the United States of america, directly impacted from nasa investments and capabilitiecapa. Think,im is tremendously valuable. And i think if you want to get a very specific return on investment it is hard to measure that. We have been working remotely. And i use this little camera int my cellur phone, that camera way developed for a mars mission in the 1990s and it was licensed by nokia and put into a phone and now everybody onn the globe has cell phones with cameras in them used to communicate all over the world and that has been proveen to be very valuable. Eturn so i think the return we get from the nasa is over whelming. I think maybe sometimes it is missed by the public that we as an agency get onethird of one percent of the federal budget. Less than half of a percent of the federal budget and the return has been astonishing. It is a good list and one that i guess a lot of us. Sometimes dont appreciate how much impact that hashat one hae could you share any developmenti on the development of capables at nasa . Yes, so Optical Communications. Basically a very high frequency. That means you can pack more data. That means high data rates and communications, the spectrum is very narrow, so youre able to prevent jamming in a way that you cant with Radio Communications and you can communicate from further away moth larger data rates. It focuses the energy where youo want it to go. Th a h so when we communicate from mars, it is hitting the entire earth, it is just wasted energy. If you can put it into on tptic communications you can target not just the earth, but a very e part. So Optical Communications have tremendously valuable impacts. Right now were partnering with the space force to do a Laser Communication Technology demonstrator that theyre going to fly on our behalf, and were going to use that technology ton create thed great data that we get from mars and other parts of the sow har system. Thank you, senator. Thank you to our administrator. Tha nasa partners all three public universities, computer of arizona, they provide Research Opportunities thanes to the Space Grant Program and other pips. For example the university of arizona is a leader on the commission that will bring the first asteroid sample to earth. And it is the first time they have lead a deep space mission. Once they arrive in 2030, they will be the first scientists tos study a asteroid. D. In the past you have testified toie thisntist committee that University Led missions are more than likely to be on schedule and under budget. But just last week i learned of some potentiall changes to the Surveillance Mission at the university of arizona and that raises some important questions. As you know in 2005 congress required nasa to diskocover objects. The University Leader has been part of that for years. Three months ago nasa approved t plan. But lastst week without any consultation nasa decided to remove her from the role. Ship could you explain this decision to transfer the Mission Leadership . Yes, so thank you for the question. Senator, and i will say that i have been briefed on this. I can tell you that were 100 d committed to the commission and i can also tell you that dr. Amy is somebody that nasa highly regards and she is in the lead on this project and she will be in the lead on this project, period. I will also say that i think the issue here was a communication error. And i would say, he is 100 committed to thisis mission ands making sure that we get this rl organizational structure right. But ily think this has, i want be really careful what i say here, but i think this issue has been resolved. And i think it has been resolved in a way that is very favorable to all parties. And and just know that we want to make sure were getting this done right. We make sure that the doctor is innt communications with your tu office regularly on this issue. I appreciate that very much. H we have not heard any information since last week clarifying this change and of course as you can imagine we in arizona are very interested in insures that the university of arizona, and maintaining this Important Partnership with nasa. Some at nasa said that direct n admissions need to be lead out of nasa centers and not universities. We know that appears to be inconsistent. Could you talk about your position. Should direct add mines be led out of the nasa center . I think there is a lot of opportunities to have these youi missions lead by universities. I think the two that you highlighted are perfect examples of mission thats have been very successful from universities and these are not small. We are talking about, for the first time, we have never been able to or bit an pocket. It is an asteroid in deep space. And for the first time in American History, in october, lb were s going to go down and grd some material and bring it back to earth. Led b so an Asteroid Return Mission and that mission is of course lead by the university of arizona. And you mentioned the asteroid i belt on the other side of pars, a huge steel ball that is likelb to be a planetary ball. We have never been able to study a planetary core before and it is lead by Arizona State university. These two missions are perfect examples of what can happen when you have the university lead. But when a university leads, yoi get the scientists and the engineers that are side by side making decisions. What can you do. And the other Nonprofit Research institutes. You get the scientists and the engineers, and theyre forced to make trades early in the process. And because of those trades, theyre able to keep schedule and theyre able to keep budget. So the engineer says well, were not able to achieve this, if we do this instead, if a scientistt says that willea result in our ability to check this science instead of that science, and those trades made early in the process result in schedule and budget actually being better i maintained. St is that students get involved. So graduate students, under graduate students, government, academia, and students that comd together, make it happen, and fo keep cost and schedule. It is tremendously valuable for our agency and our partners that help us develop capabilities. So im a huge advocate of enabling the universities as pi muchbl as possible. I appreciate that. Ir. Thank you administrator, and thank you, mr. Chair, i yield back. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman, can you hear me . Yes, we can hear you. Thank you, thank you for your testimony, you know one of the things that i and we have talked about this quite a lot, but the history of inspiring americans, young americans, and with the 50th anniversary. I think you read this and we talked about this apollo missions, i think with the work youre doing right now, the work that other agencies and Companies Like spacex and others, it is an incredible moment to be inspired, young ng americans, to get involved in this mission. You were talking about your collaboration with universities. I raised the issue of the movie the martian a couple times. Its so inspiring for young people. Can you tell me in more detail about what youre doing, kind of really in spite of the next tor generation of americans, young americans, that we can rely on. Not only involved but leading on the next exciting fazes of nasas mission . The big yes, the biggest thing t we can do as an agency, for the next generation that you talk about, is we have to do stunning achievements. Thats what the american moon shot was like in the 1960s, and thats what the program is all about today. So when we think back to the u t 1960s, if you walk around people at nasa today and say what made you get involved in the space tu business, the ones who are old enough will tell you they can e tell you exactly where they were when Neil Armstrong and buzz aldrin were walking on the moon. And all of the moon trips were inspiring. And it got that generation inspired to do space. My generation, we were inspired by the Space Shuttles. And i remember the first launch. I was in kindergarten and then we think about, you know, some of the set backs that we saw with the shuttles, the where challenger in columbia. Ts happe my generation, we remember where we were when those events happened. I will also tell you that bt sorry to interrupt, but can i ask you what is nasa doing right now to help get the word out. Are you going to campuses . With are you recruiting . Are you collaborating with hollywood . What are you doing right now actively get were at this moment. It is very exciting. I think it is a great opportunity, but what are you doing exactly with some specifics to reach out, make them understand, and americans to lead on the really important issues and of course all kinds of knock off effects for our country and our society. Yes, sir, we invest through w the hidirectorate. It gets young people involved they are filled with people involved in robotics. Were engaging universities from the space grant and moon rep. These are all things that enable us to reach into those younger folks and share with them what were doing and get them engaged in the missions that we do and contracting with universities throughout the United States to do some of the big missions is very big as well. We started what is called the lunar surface anyone novation h0 partnered where we with i think 130 institutions g across the United States. Using the johnsons pohopkins applied physics laboratory. Theyre bringing all of these and they are creating things like surface power on the moon, dust mitigation on the moon, and how were going to maneuver. W wa habitation on the moon. So how were going to use the resources of the moon to live and work for a long time. So were going to initiate those programs. So of course we have programs that reach into elementary and union high through stem engagement. Were working to do missions that might include some ty things there is an opportunity to inspire others they have that ability. Are you doing other media types that can get the word out . Absolutely. Were creating a new program called private astronaut missions. People that are ere day people that want to go to space, that n wereal making Space Available them. Now those missions are going to come with a price tag. Were not flying people to space for free. But certainly there is a love of interest there from hollywood and others. I appreciate it, if there is other issues you want the congress to go with you and it involves inspiring the next generation of americans, let us know. I think it is a bipartisan issue here in the senate that a lot of us want to get behind. So thank you and keep up the good work. Lumentha continues participate enthusiasm. Youre right that there is bipartisan enthusiasm. I am a passionate spotter of pace. My recollection reflecting my n age about theik first Space Exploration. It is a sign of american potential potential failure. And recovery by this country not without its mishappens and obstacles, but very very inspiring in the end and space is always inspired. And my fear is that moment that a lot of young potential scientists and explorers may be seeing right now is their dad being laid off. From an aerospace company, or contracting coronavirus. Here on earth we have a pandemic. And im concerned about the effects of that pandemic on our aerospace industry. Losing a whole class of career scientists. And losing companies that are struggling. I see them in my state of autics connecticut. And in particular in the area ot ae aeronautics. I know the investment is just 3 . Of the total budget. I wonder if it is the important impact not only on scientific development, but also quite honestly on jobs and economic progress, connecticut, is known as, at least we know ourselves, as the aerospace alley. Were prod of our role in air space. And i would like to know if you think that budget should be increased. I think the country has changed. We think about the coronavirus, we think about the challenges h with max has 8. That had a devastating effect on ae aeronautics in general. Now is not the time to rest on our laurels. This is a huge export for our country. Which, as you identified creates tons of jobs and it off sets the trade deficit that we have around the world. We saw when bali had challenges with marx 8 it impacted gdp by half a percent. That is a huge impact. I think the lesson taken from that is that if we were to makei the right investments earlier nt senator that kentwell asked me a trust base wing. That is an investment that would en tremendously valuable. But i will also say, we need small core engines using advanced materials, higher pressure and temperature capabilities. What we needey hav are higher b ratios for more fuel efficiency, fewer carbon emissions, those it are investments that were yeas investing in in i this budget, t as go forward when we think about years in the future, it r would be very few investments i can think of that would have a bigger impact than sustaining our leadership in aeronautics. I think we have a good investment for where we are now. But as years go by it is an area we have to consider even more. Will you commit to a larger investment given that were in competition with other nations as well . I can commit that i will work towards that end. Let me ask about a different ar area. The he impnasa office of inspec general notified the congress of an impending audit. N the next generation of space chutes for lunar suits. I have about the potential effect it could have. Should we be concerned that hat there aree technical and schedue issues with the next Generation Space suit and what are you doing about them . Yes, sir. So the key, i think, on the space suit issue is that when we go to the moon, it is a different suit. The the suit on the moon is very different from the one we use to do space walks on the International Space station. So were developing capability. O for the moon landing, were going to be developing that internally but were doing it with an intent and forethought to make sure that what we want to see in the future is all of t the production capabilities on the moon. When we talk about the commercial landing system, we want space suits developed commercially as well. Ban work on Different Things together. I would likegest to e work w you, but may i suggest that engaging the industry perhaps more positively and proactively might be useful as well. Yes, sir. You thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for your enthusiasm. Ia you mentioned tang awhile ago. It brought back a lot of deal childhood memories for me. My mom would put tang on the breakfast table and that was a big deal for us and im glad that you mentioned women and minorities in research. You several programs to support states with research and to retain students from underpopulated stations. As you know, the central and state programam allows for more states like nevada to participate in research. Bue minority education resource educationt process serving institutions with the diversifying of the staff resource. Im happy to note that for the first time in our states history, we were selected for a threeyear fellowship. M and theyre working on a project to develop a worldwide platform that can traverse unique terrains. However, despite the success of nasa, other education programs. Budget requests terminating so administrator, youre so passionate about this program, can you describe your familiarity about the importance of increasing the research. Yes, the program is doing amazing work. Of course it does payti tivdivi. The budget request focuses on the Mission Directorates. Now i will be clear, if the senate you know, funds as it has, were going to move forward and execute and those programs will serve nasa very well. But i also l. Would you like to see the fund the office of s. T. E. M. Engagement . I will tell you it has been tremendously valuable. I will also tell you i think there are other opportunities to fund those types of programs that would be more in alignment with nasas missions. Thats where the budget is focused. Can you share some of those with us . What is that . Thi can you share some of those t programs with us. Sure, for example, when we i think about contracting with universities, you know we have the aeronautics directorate. That will include Unmanned Systems and things like that isn that have a direct impact to the mission. We have other programs that were doing as it relates to tg robotics for going to the we surface of the moon and other things. Eving so i think were all committed i to achieving what you have highlighted which is creating that diversity for the workforce and that diversity for studentsr andly opportunities and i think and i can clearly say that wer. Committed to that agenda. I appreciate that youre not die luting the mission by pulling it into other programs , andnd speaking about our budget and how are we going to inspire those futurere generations, our space ambitions, if we dont invest in the next generation . Yes, maam, i think we are e 100 investth and doing really amazing and stunning achie achievementsou nob where were t taking just the first man, but the first woman. Ind no one is as excited for that as my 12yearold daughter. So i think these are the kinds of things that were focused on and we want to move out on. And certainly engage along the way. New reps and other institutions that encourage that next ciate generation to get y involved in the stem fields. Thank you, i appreciate your service and i yield back. Thank you, senator. Senator scott . To tha thank you, chairman. Wicker thank you for hosting this, and i want to thank the chairman for his commitment to nasa and spacs exploration. A lot of years up here and what i have watched your continued commitment to your home state. As you know, nasa is pretty important to florida, mississippi, and a few other states. I thin i became governmeor in 2010 and the space industry was pretty bad then. I think we lost over 7,000 jobs in 2009 with the obama cuts and when they stopped manned flights. Since then the forecast government has been a good partner. We put up a lot of money every year and to bring backSpace Exploration. I want to thank nasa for using their privatete sector. It was a big tale to see the d n paceds x launch. My 8yearold grandson is excited to be the first on marsa he told me in is not dangerous to go to space any more. I think you have done a good job creatingng excitement for these young people and i think that will pay off not just for space, but for education in the country. Thank you for doing to that. So what do you need that you dont have to continue the goal that i know that you have and t the president has, i and the chairman has though continue to explore space and to do it in a responsible manner. Ieyes, sir, i think the most important thing, and i want to say the state of florida had benefitted greatly when you were governor with the establishment of space florida and all of those commercial activities andr your leadership on that. Can and now they are multiuser space ports. Hink the vision there has been helpful to usportant as an agen were grateful for that. Ote, a couple things that i think are important to note. We all know that the internation gnat spa International Space stationse ia come to the end of its life at some point. We are celebrating 20 years of a continually occupied space station. He amazing. But we need to start making the investments for what comes nexte and what comes next is the commercialization of low earth orbit. Ast ther we have done commercial resupply. Lawn issuing them from the space close there all of the commercial Crew Missions need a place to go. We d and if the International Space station comes to the end of iti life and we dont have space stations there is a lot of rockets that will not get ats i launched. We put that in the budget request in years past and it wai not funded. That is important for the country. We ha isorking building a chine International Space station. Theyre working hard to attract our International Partners which we have helped build their to p capacity and nowre theyre goin potentially take that to china. We need commercial resupply and commercial crew. Nasa needs to be a customer there. We need to change the paradigm like we have done with launch vehicles. We need to change for habitation in space and apply what we learned to commercial access to the moon. We are happy and excited that we will launch the most powerful. Rocket ever built. Families about what goes on in space. Thank you for great j being a pa i know they worked hard and wants to excite kids to explore pace. It is an amazing place. Confhank you for that shout out. Administrator, you had a little bit of a rocky confirmation process. I dont remember what this y for this committee, and let me just say that you have won over a number of businesses. And for the job youre doing, it has been indicated, very profoundly today. And i preernt the job that youre doing. The drink tank has been ew, a mentioned. Every time you havenk come on t screen you have been an advertisement for mountain dew and i think pepsi co needs to lt make ahe great contribution to nasa based on all of the said, publicity that you have given w themee today. Nators a that said the hearing record. Will stay up for two weeks. And with that we conclude the di hearing andne we express our appreciation to the administrator. Thank you, chairman. Thank you, all, so much. Thank you. I wont come shake hands, but i appreciate it. Good to see you. Yes, sir, thank you, guys. Okay, well get you a front row seat. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. Congress is expected to be out of session for much of october. The senate meats today for legislative business, but no votes are planned for the next couple weeks. They could meet later in october for a possible vote on amy coney barrett. Until then work continues off of the floor on her nomination. The house has no plans to meet for legislative business, but if there is a new agreement there will be live coverage. Weeknights this month on American History tv were featuring the contenders. Looking at 14 candidates that had an impact on the elections. Tonight, henry clay. John c. Calhoun, and daniel webster. Watch tonight, beginning at 8 00 eastern. Enjoy American History tv. This week and every weekend on cspan 3. Tonight on the communicators, tech issues that may play a role in campaign 2020. Theyre trying to narrow the protection for content moderation to websites would no longer be protected if they tried to remove content they thought was false. Im no fan of big tech platforms, and how they have abused their workers and how they have abused the privacy rights of their users. But frankly going after section 230 is not the right approach to the very real problems that were seeing with online platforms. Berin szoka and Jessica Gonzalez tonight on cspan2. Watch live coverage of the Senate Confirmation hearings starting on monday, october 12th, with Opening Statements by Committee Members and judge barrett. Listen live on the radio app, and make sure to view a play list of Amy Coney Barretts llo. Views. Next a look at voting righta and the security of mail in