Im very pleased to im very pleased to see a hearing on stem and math and science and precision starting at precisely 2 30 and zero seconds. That is an auspicious way to begin this discussion. Earlier this year on one of the hottest nights of the summer, nearly half a Million People crowded on to the national mall. They were not there for a protest or to celebrate a National Holiday and they were not there for a concert or to watch a fireworks show. No, instead half a Million People went there drenched in sweat to watch the story of the apollo 11 mission as it was projected on to the washington monument, commemorating the moment 50 years ago when Neil Armstrong and buzz aldrin took that giant leap for mankind. As everyone in d. C. Knows, if there is half a Million People on the mall and it is not a protest, Something Big is going on. And landing the first humans on the moon and returning them safely to earth marks as one of the epical moments in the epochal moments in the history of mankind. As we look over out on our space landscape of today, what we see now is very different than the landscape of 1969. Indeed, not only did we succeed going to the moon and back again but we have gone on to put robotic rovers on distant planets, celestial observatories in orbits that can literally peer into the beginnings of the universe, and we have established a human presence in lower earth orbit. In the span of a single lifetime, we have seen space fundamentally transformed from an uninhabited void or a scientific novelty to an integral part of our daily lives and the world economy. Space is often referred to as the last frontier, and rightfully so. Much like the first frontiers of exploration, space is hard. It takes meticulous planning and extraordinary determination and even then nothing is guaranteed. It is dangerous. But the last frontier shares a critical aspect with the first frontiers, through its power now and tomorrow to inspire us. The space race of the 1960s inspired americans to aim higher, to dream bigger than they ever had before, to literally shoot for the moon. I believe the burgeoning space sector of today can do the same for a bigger and broader swath for the United States and the world. Just a few weeks ago, we witnessed the historic allfemale spacewalk on the International Space station. The first ever. And when the United States returns to the moon as part of the artemis program, artemis, of course, being the twin sister of apollo, nasa has committed that we will land the first woman ever on the surface of the moon, and it will be an american astronaut who steps forth on the moon. As the father of two young daughters, that makes me very proud indeed. As we return to bold Space Exploration, we do so not only with a much more diverse astronaut corps, but also with a much more diverse set of commercial and nongovernmental partners. As we move out on these plans, it is worth remembering the success of apollo 11 and the National Space program as a whole is due in no small part to the contributions of a workforce including countless women working behind the scenes whose stories have only recently become household names. One of those women, dr. Christine darden, testified before the subcommittee earlier this year. Dr. Darden was one of the famed Human Computers at nasa, and without her work and the work of many other socalled computers, many of them africanamerican women, we never could have sent astronauts into space, let alone brought them back safely. Unfortunately for far too long, dr. Darden and the other human dr. Darden and the other Human Computers contributions were hidden, relegated to the background for a time. Her story and the story of others like her serves as a reminder of the lessons we need to learn to ensure we are cultivating and elevating talent and leadership not based on race or gender but based on merit, hard work, skill and passion. Todays hearing is about building the kind of workforce that ensures nasa and the first the Diverse Group of partners we return to Space Exploration has the skilled base of people it needs to be successful now and in the future. That ensures the space economy can continue to grow, we will be successful in establishing the United States of america as the leader in a true space fairing nation. To accomplish this, we can and should leverage the inspiration of space and Space Exploration to get kids of all ages, backgrounds, resources, excited about science and technology and engineering and math. But that alone is not enough. Creating the space workforce for the future will require us to take a serious look at the road ahead, to explore unconventional partnerships and roles in of responsibility, and to take other decisive actions as needed to maintain u. S. Leadership in space. Getting it right will be a complex and challenging undertaking. After all, space is hard. But im reminded and encouraged by something the apollo 11 flight director said when he testified in front of this subcommittee in july of this year. What america will dare, america will do. I look forward to hearing from our Witnesses Today about their work in Stem Education and what suggestions they might have for how we in congress can act. I want to thank, in particular, the Ranking Member for her initiative for proposing that we hold this hearing, her leadership, bipartisan leadership that has strengthened this committee, and i look forward to continuing working alongside her for many years to come. With that i recognize the Ranking Member. Senator sinema thank you, chairman cruz, for holding this hearing. Im excited about today. Our stem workforce is at a critical juncture. The u. S. Space economy is booming, but if we dont build a strong Stem Education pipeline we will face a deficit of millions of workers over the next decade, putting our economy and National Security at risk. Congress, federal agencies like nasa, Industry Partners and most importantly educational institutions must Work Together to develop and prepare a 21st century workforce so we continue to lead in space and our economy remains innovative and strong. Thank you to our guests today for joining us to discuss this important issue. Since it was established in 1958, nasa has productive partnerships with universities across the country, including a few in arizona. As we develop more advanced space technologies, set large goals for the countrys space program, and grow our aerospace industry, we must ensure we have a strong workforce. This starts with educating students and giving them handson Research Opportunities to excel in stem fields. Universities and students across the country currently work with nasa on important projects such as mission monitoring, research and analysis. In my home state of arizona, Arizona State university, university of arizona and Northern Arizona university all work with nasa to further its missions big and small. The talented faculty across the state propose innovative ideas and bring new opportunities to students. When administrator bridenstein testified in front of the Commerce Committee earlier this year, he said, nasa has had amazing success with university partnerships. Arizona universities are leading the world when it comes to University Engagement with nasa and developing those programs and projects. For example, at a. S. U. , dr. Elkinstantons mission, psyche marks the first time a university has led a deep space nasa mission. She and her team will be the first scientists to study an asteroid, which is remarkably similar to a planetary core. University of arizona is also paving the way for future missions with its work on osiris rex. Dr. Loretta leads the science team and the Mission Science observations. The team is critical to this mission that will bring the first asteroid sample to earth. All three of arizonas public universities also participate in the arizona Space Grant Consortium, which is jointly funded by nasa and the three universities. This space grant works to attract and retain students. In arizona the Space Grant Consortium partners awarded 175 paid internships and fellowships to arizona students in 2018 alone, which allowed students to work alongside investigators on missions like psyche or osiris rex. These missions and Research Advancements offer us critical insights into space and spark an interest and passion in our next generation of scientists, mathematicians and engineers. But students are not the only ones benefiting. Because nasa gains innovative ideas, which when paired with their expertise and resources can push the boundaries of what we thought were possible. When the administrator testified, he said that University Projects typically meet costs and schedule. At an agency like nasa where money and time are limited and projects are sometimes overbudgeted and behind schedule, these partnerships are key to maximizing science and to discovery across the universe. As we look ahead, we must grow these partnerships, retain the knowledge that is gained from them and train the next generation. That is the only way we can ensure we have a workforce ready to keep america at the forefront of space. This week were introducing legislation to help address the stem workforce concerns that are raised today. The National Aeronautics act of 2019, which im looking forward to introducing with chairman cruz, wicker and cantwell to encourage students to pursue careers in Technical Education and give nasa the ability to establish and grow lasting partnerships between itself and universities through research centers. Im also proud to work with the senator on legislation which will modernize the Space Grant Program for the First Time Since 1988. Our bill will streamline the program and ensure states have the resources to recruit and retrain the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on ways we can address these issues. Thank you so much, mr. Chairman. I yield back. Senator cruz thank you. I now recognize the chairman of the full committee for his opening statement. Senator wicker well, i want to congratulate my two colleagues on their excellent opening statements. Senator cruz described the crowd witnessing the 50th anniversary in dramatic, vivid, almost poetic words. I could almost sense the pungent fragrance of that sweaty throng, gathered on the mall. Senator cruz almost like a senate hearing. [laughter] senator wicker and the clerk will note cross talk. Just say cross talk. [laughter] senator wicker in the 50 years since the apollo 11, nasa has continued to achieve incredible feats. None of these missions would have been possible without the support and partnership of americas education system, in particular the talent and expertise found at our universities. That is why im here today and why we are here today. University researchers continue to lead groundbreaking projects in Space Technology and scientific discovery. In doing so, they involve students, some of whom become scientists. Some of whom become engineers. Others mathematicians. For nasa and in the private sector. Maintaining this pipeline is vital to maintaining americas preeminence in outer space. Im glad to be a cosponsor of the legislation senator sinema mentioned. Todays panel represents a crosssection of the nasa Stem Education ecosystem. I would like to extend a particular welcome to dr. Josh gladden, vice chancellor for research from my alma mater, the university of mississippi. Ole miss worked with research on graphene, a material with transformative potential for many applications, including spaceflight. This past weekend nasa launched a graphene payload to the International Space station. Thank you all for being here today. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I look forward to a great discussion on stem engagement to help build the space force. Senator cruz thank you, mr. Chairman. I will say your remarks reminded me, growing up, both of my parents are mathematicians an old engineers joke about the washington monument. A mathematician, a physicist, and an engineer go to the washington monument. They are each discussing how to figure out how tall it is. The mathematician says it is very simple. All i need a length of string and a transit. I can measure the distance to the transit. I can measure the angle to the top of the monument. It is a simple matter of trigonometry. The physicist says it is much simpler than that. Ill take the elevator to the top. I will tie the string around the transit and lower it down and measure the length of the string. The engineer looks at both of ill take the elevator to the top. Them and looks at the tour guide and says how tall is the damn thing . [laughter] senator cruz with that, im happy to introduce our witnesses. Our first witness, dr. Linda tarbox elkinstanton is the managing director of the Interplanetary Initiative and the Principle Investigator of the Nasa Psyche Mission at Arizona State university. Her research revolves around terrestrial planetary formation, magma oceans, and subsequent planetary evolution including magnetism and interaction between rocky planets and their atmospheres. She also promotes and participates in education initiatives such as inquiry and exploration, teaching methodologies, and leadership and Team Building for scientists and engineers. Dr. Elkinstanton currently serves on the standing review board for the Europa Mission and served on the mars panel of the Planetary Decadal survey and on the mars 2020 rover science definition team. She received her ph. D. In geology and geophysics from m. I. T. Our second witness is dr. Jeffrey manber, who is the founder and c. E. O. Of nanoracks. Since 2009, nanoracks has created products and offered Research Services for the commercial utilization of space. Today nanoracks is the single largest private investor on the International Space station with over 40 million of private capital dedicated to commercial facilities and equipment. Nanoracks employees 70 people in texas and has launched 250 small satellites and over 800 experiments to the i. S. S. Mr. Manber is also chairman of dreamup, an educational Public Benefit corporation that lets students pursue opportunities in spacebased research and education. He is a graduate of northwestern university. Our third witness is dr. Josh gladden, who is the vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs at the university of mississippi. In this role, he works in research and Research Funding and provides support for all funded projects at the university. Prior to this role, he served as associate vice chancellor for research and is the director at the National Center for physical acoustics. He also served in elected National Positions as a member of the executive committee and chair of the physical Acoustics Technical Committee of the Acoustical Society of america. Dr. Gladen received a phd degree in physics from Pennsylvania State university. And finally ms. Shella condino is a physics teacher at Oakton High School in vienna, virginia. She is also the founder and still the advisor of the famed Rocketry Club at Presidio High School in presidio, texas. For those of you who dont know, presidio is located along the rio grande river, 240 miles south of el paso, and resides in one of the most remote parts of the continental United States. For most people in presidio, english is a second language. Many people face tough economic challenges, making it hard for students to focus solely on school. However, even under those circumstances, the Rocketry Club has consistently placed well in contests across the country and as a result they have become a well respected Rocketry Team. During her time at presidio, ms. Condino and her students excelled, qualifying for the National Finals at the Team America Rocketry challenge. In 2011, ms. Condino was chosen by the National Aviation hall of Fame Selection Committee to