They did not achieve that in the last Congress. Four Space Policy Directives that affect NASA and commercial space activities directly or indirectly have been issued, the commercial space sector continues to make strides, and the White House has directed NASA to put astronauts back on the surface of the Moon in the next 5 years.Ī new NASA authorization act is timely although it remains to be seen if the House and Senate will be able to reach agreement and get a bill through both chambers. Much has changed since that act was signed into law by President Trump in March 2017. NASA’s last authorization bill, the 2017 NASA Transition Authorization Act, expired at the end of FY2017 although the policy provisions remain in force until and unless they are changed by a subsequent law. That apparently will be the thrust of the new NASA authorization bill. Our goal for the next 50 years should be to emphatically establish the United States of America as a true, space-faring nation.” - Sen. “In short, the next 50 years in space have the potential to be even more consequential than the last, but this will require a serious, sober look at the road ahead of us. He also wants to search for life within our solar system, especially on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Cruz’s vision does not stop with human spaceflight. The hearing was focused on the bigger picture, however, not just 5 years but 50 years. Capito is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee that funds NASA so it is surprising that she did not know about it earlier and illustrative that word is not getting out. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) said she had not heard of Artemis until NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine spoke about it at the ceremony to rename NASA’s Independent Validation and Verification (IV&V) facility in Fairmont, WV in honor of Hidden Figures’ Katherine Johnson. Kranz worries that the country lacks the national unity that helped propel the Apollo program and without it the space exploration program “will be grounded.” Dittmar emphasized that accelerating plans to return to the Moon must be met with significant national investment above current levels, while Hickam stressed that “what we do on the Moon must make sense to the American people.” Some of the witnesses offered cautionary notes, however. “On behalf of my two young daughters, let me say, thank you and it’s about time!” He sees the return to the Moon as a step to establishing commerce there and as a launching pad to Mars. Joining them were the presidents of two industry associations: Mary Lynne Dittmar of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration and Eric Stallmer of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.Ĭruz praised the Artemis program, especially the part about landing a woman on the Moon. Witnesses included three Apollo-era icons: Gene Kranz, Apollo flight director Homer Hickam, former NASA engineer and author of Rocket Boys and mathematician and aerospace engineer Christine Darden, one of the “Hidden Figures” celebrated in the book and movie by that name. Today’s hearing was a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and a look forward to the next 50 years. To mention just a few, NASA’s Johnson Space Center and test facilities for Blue Origin and SpaceX are in Texas Mississippi is home to NASA’s Stennis Space Center several commercial space companies, from entrepreneurial Blue Origin and SpaceX’s Starlink to established Aerojet Rocketdyne, call Washington home and, as Sinema pointed out, Arizona has a long history supporting the space program especially with its research universities like the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. All have space interests in their states. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the full committee, Sen. Aviation and Space Subcommittee chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) made clear that his goal is for America to continue to lead in exploring space and make sure the “first boot to set foot on the surface of Mars will be that of an American astronaut.”Ĭruz said he is developing the new bill along with subcommittee Ranking Member Sen. Key members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee are working on a new NASA authorization bill that will spell out a “bold” vision for the agency’s future.
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