Transcripts For CSPAN2 NASA 20240703 : vimarsana.com

CSPAN2 NASA July 3, 2024

The committee will come to order, without objection, the chair is authorized to declare recesses of the committee at any time. Welcome to the hearing entitled an overview of the Budget Proposal for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for fiscal year 2025. I recognize myself, for five minutes for the opening statement. Today, we hear testimony from bill nelson about the Budget Proposal for nasa to fiscal year 2025, this committee plays an Important Role in the mission by providing policy direction and authorizing activities for the agency. While we make progress with language included in the 2022 chips and science act, it has been more than seven years since the last comprehensive nasa reauthorization bill was signed into law. I am certain everyone, including the administrator, can agree seven years is far too long, as experts have highlighted in Committee Hearings this year, a lot has changed for nasa since 2017. We must approach an authorization built with these changes in mind and address a few major topics. The first topic is artemis, i speak with members on both sides of the aisle when i express the strongest support for americans returned to the lunar surface, but support means asking tough questions about the plant architecture and execution of the program. The second topic is the nasa role in fourth urban with the orbit when the space station is retired. We heard about this in february and i look forward to continuing the dialogue. A third topic is the management of Science Missions within the agencys portfolio. We support nasa daring to do big things, particularly in science, but how can congress insure these projects, particularly flagship missions, remain on schedule and within budget . As we think about these topics and consider this important reauthorization legislation, we must keep in mind recent budgetary issues. Nasa does not like plans for future exploration efforts, whether returning astronauts to the moon, exploring our solar system, or developing new Aviation Technology but these ambitions come at a cost. In may of 2023, President Biden sign the fiscal responsibility act capping federal Discretionary Spending for fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2025. One of our challenges is to draft an authorization bill that complies with the law while providing sufficient support for nasa to execute these inspiring missions. Failing to do so will force nasa to take on more work than they have the funding to accomplish. Which will not only set nasa up for failure but asking them to do too much with too little by providing proper oversight and clear direction and authorizing language, this committee can create the framework for Adequate Funding for the activities of the agency, a common theme among the hearings this Committee Held is the importance of ensuring u. S. Competitiveness in research and Technology Development globally. And today is no different. While the u. S. Remains the Global Leader in Space Exploration, we face increasing challenges internationally. Just last week, china reiterated its commitment to leading two astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030. Later this week, china intends to launch a mission to bring samples from the far side of the moon. If they are successful, china will be the first country to do so. We cannot allow china to become the front runner in Space Exploration. There are too many consequences for competitiveness, National Security, and continued ability to explore space. With clear direction from congress, nasa will ensure that u. S. Remains a Global Leader in space and continues to inspire millions of people around the world. I want to welcome administrator nelson back to the committee. Where he served for many years. I look forward to working with you as we move forward with our nasa authorization bill. I now recognize the Ranking Member, the gentleman from california for an opening statement. I joined the chairman and welcoming administrator nelson back to the committee to discuss the president s Budget Proposal to nasa. We appreciate your leadership at nasa and that you were here today. Amidst what could be at times in geopolitical, economic, and environmental strife, nasa continues to be a bright spot, a northstar that sparks a sense of wonder and curiosity about our planet, solar system, and the universe. The mission of nasa to event space and science and human exploration, aeronautics, space technology, and education continues to bring us together and that is something we need. In congress, there is broad bipartisan support for the mission of nasa beyond the United States, nasa leads us in activities that serve for the peaceful exploration and utilization of our space. The value of these intangible benefits cannot be underestimated. Nor can we forget the direct value that nasa has had on societal challenges such as climate change, space weather, and even on tracking and characterizing potentially hazardous near earth asteroids. The discussion provides an important opportunity to examine that progress towards meeting our policy goals for United States and the Space Program. To identify opportunities for improvement and understand what nasa needs and budget for workforce and Infrastructure Resources to accomplish its inspiring mission. The fiscal year request for nasa is 25. 384 billion on a 3 increase from the enacted fiscal year 2023 appropriation. I believe this request allows us to keep the artemis 2 mission on track and investing in Sustainable Aviation among other activities. However, the agreement last year does post caps on Discretionary Spending and that presents challenges for all of our federal research and development agencies, nasa is no exception, under the 2025 request for nasa, high Priority Sites recommended National Academy surveys could not be initiated. The timeline for mars sample return is to be determined previously selected Science Missions are being pushed into the future or cancel, while observatories are proposing to be phased out. For human exploration, spaceflight, the plants calls for transitioning from use of the International Space station to commercial low worth platforms at the end of the decade while nasa also plans to begin an annual cadence Artemis Mission to the moon. No sugar coating the current Budget Proposal, i recognize tough decisions need to be made. It is essential that this committee understand what roles and decisions in the proposal over others as we evaluate tradeoffs. It is imperative nasa has clear plans for action on either side of the present budget horizon. A lot is at stake. I am concerned, as the chairman is mentioned, but reductions in workforce, including those of my home state of california, resulting from prolonged mission timelines. Losing skill talent is a further setback and cannot be erased. We need to look holistically at the implications of the 2025 proposal and the health of nasa now and in the future. How will we position nasa to be in the future, or will we stay on the tail as other nations, that do not share our values, i will continue to ensure that we position nasa for success and the United States continues to lead in the expiration of outerspace. I want to thank you, administrator, for direct leadership, thank you for your service. I yield back. Our witness is bill nelson, who serves as the 14th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. His career includes over four decades in Public Service representing florida in both chambers during his 30 years in congress. I would most importantly include six years of chairing the house science committees Space Science and application subcommittee. That is a real resume item, mr. Director. Thank you for joining us. I recognize administrator nelson to present his testimony. Mr. Chairman, with your permission, to submit my written statement in the record. If i may, to give you a couple of thoughts and lets get your questions. Without opposition. Absolutely. Nasa is a storied organization. This agency does Amazing Things. A lot of the things that we do is on the edge. Next monday, about 10 30, at night, we will launch another vehicle, it is a human rated, the first time america has ever had three human rated spacecraft. The one that will go to the moon, which is orion on top of the big rocket, the sls. The dragon, witch flies on the falcon 9, which goes to and from the International Space station. Now, the third one, the boeing star liner, this is the first test flight. We have two test pilots, which will more, and sunny William Butch wilmore, and sunny williams. If successful, we will have three, the first time this has ever happened. It is all a part of us continuing to come in the human Space Program, explore the heavens. We are learning so much on the International Space station. It is an international station, 15 nations anticipate. There is science that is just coming of age. Some of the pharmaceutical research is just going to knock our socks off. We are also going back to the moon after a halfcentury. We are going back, not just to go to the moon, for the reason of learning enough to send humans to mars in the decade of the 2040s. Nasas science program, you read about it all the time, the James Webb Space Telescope, look at what it is discovering. I could go on and on. The aviation program, we will fly a needle nose jet this year, proving the different design that we can fly passengers supersonic across populated areas, and not have the big bang bang of the sonic boom, but more of a muffled roar. So, it goes on and on. I will stop right there well before the five minutes, mr. Chairman, and be delighted to try to answer your questions. Thank you, director nelson, for your testimony. The chair recognizes himself to five minutes administrator nelson, it was recently reported that nasa is considering changing the Mission Profile for artemis 3, scheduled for september of 2026, currently intended to land humans on the lunar surface. The potential change in profile would result in a mission where astronauts do not land on the lunar surface but rather remain in low earth orbit. Is nasa actively considering an alternative for that Mission Profile to artemis 3 . What is going on . This is part of our commercial program, spacex is signed up to land in september of 2026. Next year, september of 2025, we are going to launch a crew of four, three americans and the canadian. They will test out the spacecraft. It will circle the moon and come home. A year after that, spacex is signed up to provide a lander where we would go into a new kind of orbit, a polar orbit, on a regular an elliptical orbit, the crew would transfer to the lander. That is what is provided in the contract. The article you are referring to is speculation on what happens if they are not ready. Naturally, people think about these things. But the plan is to land, and it would be two astronauts on a crew of four that would get into the lander and go down and land. I might say, think about the Apollo Program and the Artemis Program. Artemis 3, the first lander spacex is contracted for, is the equivalent of apollo 9, apollo 10, and apollo 11. So, it is a very accelerated program. Very much so. The 2023 strategy for Planetary Science suggests a total cost of 5. 3 billion for the mars sample return, significant increases to that estimate cost have triggered several project reviews including the nasa ongoing efforts to reassess the program. Has nasa reconsidered the approach for the mars sample return . Is nasa still targeting a total project cost of 3. 5 billion . 3. 5 billion is unrealistic. I pulled the cord on it, mr. Chairman, two weeks ago, because the independent review boards had said the cost was going up to 11 billion. And, it was very possible that we were not even going to get the sample back until 2040. That is simply unacceptable. So, what i did, i said, i want to go out to all nasa centers, including the jet Propulsion Laboratory. I want to go out to industry, which we now have done with a request for information. To come up with new ideas. I checked in yesterday with the head of the jet Propulsion Laboratory on how their ideas are, and they are quite excited about coming up with new ideas that can bring that cost down and get that sample back earlier. Certainly, we wait with enthusiasm. One last question, in october, the president submitted a domestic supplemental request to congress requesting funding for a u. S. Orbit vehicle to safely decommission the iss, and funding to rebuild the nasa facilities in guam and the Armstrong Flight Research center. Congress has not passed the supplemental appropriation package yet to date, is the funding for the guam hurricane package including in the budget request for 2025 . No, sir just like the department of defense, that request for guam is request in an emergency supplemental because that was as a result of a typhoon. Our request is 400 million, of which we have been cutting and pasting and chewing gum and bailing wire as an interim solution. Our request pales by comparison to dod, dod is Something Like 2 billion request. Ours is 400 million and also in that request is the request for the funding for the deorbit vehicle. Why is it an emergency . It should not be yet, the regular request for appropriations. Because we dont know what putin is going to do. We built the International Space station with the russians and operate it with the russians, we have had no hiccup at all with the cosmonauts for moscow, mission control, and Houston Mission control of which we have both russians and americans in both. We do an integrated crew, an american astronaut on the dragon. A russian cosmonaut. But we dont know what the president of russia is going to do and we could be an emergency situation where we have to get the structure, as big as a football stadium down safely in 2031. That is why i am pleading to you while in the Appropriations Committee to put that in the emergency supplemental bill that will be coming up later. How much money are we talking about for the deorbit vehicle . Fiscal year 2024, 180 billion for a total cost of over six years, 1. 5 billion. My time is expired. I will turn to the Ranking Member. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman and mr. Administrator. You have to make tough decisions given the budget and i dont envy you. Interesting to hear about the mars sample return decision, and i understand it better now that you have given us your testimony. Are we really starting over with a clean slate on this . What is the need for additional Technical Analysis . Where are we on this . We are not starting over. As a matter of fact, i am just saying, we cannot do it at 11 billion. I am not disagreeing. And a sample not returning until 2040. Let me give you an example of what the director of the jet Propulsion Laboratory said, they are looking at, instead of this huge margins lander huge mars lander, and a vehicle , which was the original concept and one thing of many that was running up the cost. Use existing legacy, proven techniques and hardware. Such as the sky crane that landed two landers, rovers, the size of the truck. We have perseverance up there now. Digging around. These samples are about the size of a cigar sealed in titanium tubes. We want to get most of those back. So, come up with new concepts, bring new ideas come in this case it was using a particular legacy. But we want all those ideas to come forth. Then, sometime this fall, when they are on a deadline, we will evaluate them. At that point, make a decision Going Forward and hopefully it will be much more and what is in line with what the independent review board said and we have had about three of those. That was that the cost should not exceed somewhere in the 6 billion range. Let me go to another topic. In the nasa authorization act of 2022, we extended the enhanced use Leasing Authority for 10 years. That allows nasa to lease underutilized nonexcess property owned by the federal government under the nasa jurisdiction to privatesector amenities, state and local governments, academic institutions, other federal agencies did in terms of ames, this has been successful with cal berkeley about open, carnegie mellon, and various other entities. Usgs, a synergy has been created. How has this work around United States . And goo

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