[House Hearing, 109 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
LIVE FROM SPACE:
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE AND AERONAUTICS
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JUNE 14, 2005
__________
Serial No. 109-17
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Science
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/science
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
21-710 WASHINGTON : 2005
_____________________________________________________________________________
For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; (202) 512�091800
Fax: (202) 512�092250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402�090001
______
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE
HON. SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York, Chairman
RALPH M. HALL, Texas BART GORDON, Tennessee
LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois
CURT WELDON, Pennsylvania EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
DANA ROHRABACHER, California LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California
KEN CALVERT, California DARLENE HOOLEY, Oregon
ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland MARK UDALL, Colorado
VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan DAVID WU, Oregon
GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota MICHAEL M. HONDA, California
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma BRAD MILLER, North Carolina
JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois LINCOLN DAVIS, Tennessee
WAYNE T. GILCHREST, Maryland RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
W. TODD AKIN, Missouri DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas
J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia BRAD SHERMAN, California
JO BONNER, Alabama BRIAN BAIRD, Washington
TOM FEENEY, Florida JIM MATHESON, Utah
BOB INGLIS, South Carolina JIM COSTA, California
DAVE G. REICHERT, Washington AL GREEN, Texas
MICHAEL E. SODREL, Indiana CHARLIE MELANCON, Louisiana
JOHN J.H. ``JOE'' SCHWARZ, Michigan DENNIS MOORE, Kansas
MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas
VACANCY
VACANCY
------
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
KEN CALVERT, California, Chairman
RALPH M. HALL, Texas MARK UDALL, Colorado
LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas DAVID WU, Oregon
DANA ROHRABACHER, California MICHAEL M. HONDA, California
ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland BRAD MILLER, North Carolina
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas
J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia BRAD SHERMAN, California
JO BONNER, Alabama JIM COSTA, California
TOM FEENEY, Florida AL GREEN, Texas
MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas CHARLIE MELANCON, Louisiana
VACANCY
SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York BART GORDON, Tennessee
BILL ADKINS Subcommittee Staff Director
ED FEDDEMAN Professional Staff Member
KEN MONROE Professional Staff Member
CHRIS SHANK Professional Staff Member
ROSELEE ROBERTS Professional Staff Member
RICHARD OBERMANN Democratic Professional Staff Member
TOM HAMMOND Staff Assistant
C O N T E N T S
June 14, 2005
Page
Witness List..................................................... 2
Hearing Charter.................................................. 3
Opening Statements
Statement by Representative Ken Calvert, Chairman, Subcommittee
on Space and Aeronautics, Committee on Science, U.S. House of
Representatives................................................ 12
Written Statement............................................ 13
Statement by Representative Mark Udall, Ranking Minority Member,
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, Committee on Science,
U.S. House of Representatives.................................. 13
Written Statement............................................ 14
Prepared Statement by Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Member,
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, Committee on Science,
U.S. House of Representatives.................................. 14
Witnesses:
Dr. John Phillips, NASA Astronaut, Science Officer and Flight
Engineer, ISS Expedition 11 (April 2005-present)
Dr. Peggy A. Whitson, NASA Astronaut, Science Officer and Flight
Engineer, ISS Expedition 5 (June-December 2002)
Oral Statement............................................... 15
Written Statement............................................ 17
Biography.................................................... 20
Lt. Col. Michael Fincke (USAF), NASA Astronaut, Science Officer
and Flight Engineer, ISS Expedition 9 (April-October 2004)
Discussion
Lessons Learned for Long-Duration Space Flight................. 21
Safe Haven..................................................... 22
Resource Consumption........................................... 22
Effects of Long-Duration Space Flight.......................... 23
NASA's Role in Inspiring Youth................................. 24
Language Barriers.............................................. 26
Space Suits.................................................... 27
Radiation...................................................... 27
Lessons Learned for Long-Duration Space Flight (cont.)......... 28
ISS and the View of Earth...................................... 29
ISS Orbit...................................................... 30
ISS Completion................................................. 30
ISS Research Accomplishments................................... 31
The Impact on ISS From the Shuttle Grounding................... 32
Russian Cooperation............................................ 32
Safety......................................................... 33
Research Aboard the ISS........................................ 33
Radiation...................................................... 34
Benefits of Human Space Flight................................. 35
ISS Configuration and Schedule................................. 36
ISS Resupply................................................... 37
Resupply: ISS vs. Moon......................................... 38
ISS Configuration and Shuttle Launch Rates..................... 39
Challenges of Human Space Flight............................... 40
Future CEV Designs............................................. 41
Microgravity Research.......................................... 42
Appendix: Additional Material for the Record
NASA's Space Station Program: Evolution of Its Rationale and
Expected Uses, Marcia S. Smith, Specialist in Aerospace and
Telecommunications Policy Resources, Science, and Industry
Division, Congressional Research Service....................... 46
LIVE FROM SPACE: THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
----------
TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2005
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics,
Committee on Science,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 2:05 p.m., in Room
2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ken Calvert
[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
hearing charter
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE AND AERONAUTICS
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Live From Space:
The International Space Station
tuesday, june 14, 2005
2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
2318 rayburn house office building
Purpose
On Tuesday, June 14, at 2:00 p.m., the Committee on Science,
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, will hold a hearing via
satellite with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
astronaut John Phillips, a member of the current crew of the
International Space Station (ISS). The other crew member on board ISS
is Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, the Commander of Expedition 11,
who will not be participating in the hearing.
In addition to Phillips appearing via satellite, there will be two
astronauts appearing in-person who have flown in space as part of the
ISS program. The hearing will provide Members with the opportunity to
interact directly with those who are operating and performing research
on ISS.
This is the first hearing in Congressional history with a witness
testifying from space. It is possible because of advanced
communications technology on ISS and significant preparation and
coordination by NASA and the Committee. For technical reasons, the
video communication link will only be available for a limited period of
time, approximately 15 minutes.
Overarching Questions
The hearing will review the current activities onboard ISS,
accomplishments of the crew, status of current research on the Station,
and observations on extended human space flight, and explore the
following overarching questions:
1. What are the biggest challenges and opportunities of living
and working on ISS?
2. What are the scientific (research) and engineering
accomplishments that have resulted from operation of ISS?
Witnesses
The hearing will feature the following witnesses.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Detailed biographies of the witnesses are included in Appendix
A.
Dr. John Phillips is a NASA astronaut and is currently living and
working aboard ISS as the Science Officer and Flight Engineer of
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Expedition 11.
Dr. Peggy Whitson is a NASA astronaut, and was formerly a member of the
ISS crew during Expedition 5 (June-Dec. 2002).
Lt. Col. Michael Fincke (USAF) is a NASA astronaut, and was formerly a
member of the ISS crew during Expedition 9 (April-Oct. 2004).
Background
In-orbit assembly of ISS began in 1998 with the launch of the first
two segments: the Zarya (``Dawn'') module, built and launched by
Russia, but paid for by NASA; and the Unity module, built by NASA and
launched on the Space Shuttle in late 1998. In total, there have been
16 Shuttle missions to ISS (for assembly, logistics and utilization),
as well as 30 Russian launches to ISS (which includes three launches of
ISS modules, 10 Soyuz crew launches and 17 unmanned Progress re-supply
launches). In addition, astronauts have performed 58 spacewalks in
conjunction with ISS (25 Shuttle-based, and 33 ISS-based), totaling
more than 348 hours.
ISS has been permanently occupied by joint U.S.-Russian
``Expedition'' crews, rotating on four to six month shifts, since
November 2000. The current crew is the 11th rotation, or increment, and
is thus designated Expedition 11.
The United States is building ISS in partnership with Russia,
Canada, Japan, and 10 European countries. In addition, Brazil has a
bilateral agreement with NASA to participate in the program. The
attached diagram illustrates the layout of the various segments of ISS.
ISS assembly was approximately 50 percent complete (by mass) before
the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia in February 2003 halted
construction. Because the Shuttle is the primary means of both assembly
and re-supply for ISS, this has presented the ISS program with
substantial challenges in conducting normal operations for the past two
years. Without Shuttle, ISS crews have relied on unmanned Russian
Progress vehicles as the primary means for re-supply of spare parts and
consumables (water, food, etc.). Additionally the Russian Soyuz
vehicles have been the only means of ferrying crew to and from ISS. (A
single Soyuz vehicle is always docked at ISS at any one time to provide
the crew with a lifeboat in case of emergency. Each Soyuz must be
replaced every six months.)
Prior to the Columbia tragedy, ISS Expedition crews were composed
of three members: two Russians and one American or one Russian and two
Americans. After Columbia, the crew size was reduced to two (one
Russian and one American) to reduce the need for ISS to be re-supplied.
The partners plan to restore the three-person crew size this fall with
the addition of a crew member who would be transported to ISS on STS-
121 (the second Shuttle mission after return-to-flight), scheduled for
later this year.
Despite the reduction in crew size, ISS Expedition crews have
continued to conduct research while the Shuttle is grounded, primarily
using equipment already aboard ISS. (For a list of experiments being
conducted by the Expedition 11 crew, see Appendix B.) The post-Columbia
accident Expedition crews have dealt with a variety of equipment
failures, such as repeated shutdowns of the Russian oxygen generating
device, known as the Elektron. According to NASA, there are sufficient
alternate supplies of oxygen aboard ISS, or scheduled to be delivered
by re-supply missions, that the Elektron failure is not currently a
safety issue. A new Elektron unit is scheduled to be delivered to ISS
later this summer.
There have also been failures of two of the four Control Moment
Gyros (CMGs) that help keep the space station oriented properly. One
CMG failed permanently and is scheduled to be replaced on the next
Shuttle flight. A second CMG was repaired by crews on spacewalks, but
has failed again. NASA hopes to repair this second unit on the next
Shuttle flight as well. Only two CMGs are required to maintain the
Station's proper orientation. If another were to fail, however, proper
orientation can be maintained using rocket thrusters on one of the
Russian modules. In order to conserve rocket propellant, though, such
an arrangement is not preferable.
NASA also is currently reformulating its scientific research
program for ISS in light of President Bush's directive that the
research be focused on projects that support the Vision for Space
Exploration. In addition to gaining information about human adaptation
to weightlessness that may be needed for eventual human trips to Mars,
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin has cited the importance of the
Station's potential role in testing hardware intended to go to the Moon
or Mars. One example could be closed-loop life support systems.
The Crew
NASA astronaut John Phillips currently serves as Science Officer
and Flight Engineer for ISS Expedition 11. Phillips flew aboard the
Space Shuttle in 2001 on STS-100, logging nearly 12 days and five
million miles in space. He also served as a backup crew member to ISS
Expedition 7, completing that assignment in February 2003.
The other crew member on board ISS is Russian Cosmonaut Sergei
Krikalev, the Commander of Expedition 11, who will not be participating
in the hearing. As commander, Krikalev is responsible for the overall
safety and success of the mission. Krikalev is a veteran of five
previous space flights, including two missions to the Russian space
station Mir and two Shuttle flights. He was a member of the first ISS
crew (Expedition One), serving aboard a much smaller ISS than that of
today, from Nov. 2, 2000, to March 18, 2001. Before Expedition 11, he
had spent a year, five months and 10 days in space. At the conclusion
of this mission, he will be the world's most experienced space
traveler.
Expedition 11
Phillips and Krikalev are currently living and working aboard ISS
on a six-month tour of duty. Expedition 11 was launched from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 14, 2005 aboard a Russian
Soyuz, which docked with ISS on April 16, 2005.
Expedition 11 replaced Expedition 10, which was on ISS from October
2004 until April 2005 (191 days). Expedition 11 is scheduled to return
to Earth in October after approximately 180 days on orbit. Plans call
for Phillips and Krikalev to perform one spacewalk. The astronauts will
continue outfitting the exterior of ISS and work with scientific
experiments.
Phillips and Krikalev will also welcome the arrival of two Russian
Progress unmanned supply vehicles, one of which is scheduled for launch
on June 16 (and should reach the Station on June 18), and the other is
scheduled for launch near the end of August.
Highlights of the Expedition 11 crew's mission are scheduled to
include welcoming the return of Space Shuttle crews, STS-114
(Discovery) and STS-121 (Atlantis), if the current Return-to-Flight
schedule holds. The Shuttle missions will deliver several tons of
supplies and research equipment to ISS, and the Shuttle crews also are
expected to conduct spacewalks. As noted, STS-121 may leave a third
astronaut aboard ISS to serve as a long-duration crew member.
Questions for the Witnesses
The witnesses were asked to address the following questions in
their testimony:
Questions for Dr. John Phillips
In your testimony, please describe (and, to the extent possible,
show during the hearing) how you conduct a typical day on the
International Space Station and what are the greatest challenges, with
specific attention to the following questions:
1. How have the loss of the Columbia Shuttle and the inability
to use the Shuttle to re-supply the Station affected its
operations during the last two years?
2. How do you deal with safety-related issues while on board
ISS, such as taking shelter from solar flares, maintaining
oxygen supplies, or keeping fit to reduce the bone loss
associated with long-duration space flight?
3. What research does the crew of Expedition 11 plan to
conduct while on board the Station?
Questions for Dr. Peggy Whitson
In your testimony, please describe your most important
accomplishments (both for assembly and operations) during your stay on
the International Space Station, as well as problems you may have
experienced, with particular emphasis on the following questions:
1. What are the challenges of performing extravehicular
activity (EVAs, or spacewalks) from the Station? What can EVAs
from the Station teach us that we can apply to future
Exploration-related activities?
2. What role does the micrometeoroid shielding you helped to
install play in the operation and maintenance of the Station?
3. What impacts did your stay aboard the Station have on your
health? How quickly did you become re-acclimated to Earth? How
did your experience in that regard compare to that of other
astronauts?
4. What did you learn about the psychological dynamics and
stresses of living with a small crew in space? What was most
unexpected about your experience?
Lt. Col. Michael Fincke was added to the witness list after the
delivery of the formal invitation letters, and thus did not receive
questions to address for the hearing.
Appendix A
Expedition 11 Crew Bio
John Phillips (Ph.D.), ISS Science Officer and Flight Engineer,
Expedition 11
John Phillips, 54, received a Bachelor of Science degree in
mathematics and Russian from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1972 (where he
graduated second in his class), a Master of Science degree in
aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida in 1974, and a
Master of Science and doctorate in geophysics and space physics from
the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1984 and 1987
respectively. He has been awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal and
various military awards.
Phillips received a Navy commission upon graduation from the U.S.
Naval Academy in 1972 and was designated a Naval Aviator in November
1974. He trained in the A-7 Corsair Aircraft at Naval Air Station
Lemoore, California and made overseas deployment with Attack Squadron
155 aboard the USS Oriskany and USS Roosevelt. Subsequent tours of duty
included navy recruiting in Albany, New York, and flying the CT-39
Sabreliner Aircraft at Naval Air Station North Island, California.
After leaving the Navy in 1982, Phillips enrolled as a graduate
student at UCLA. While at UCLA he carried out research involving
observations by the NASA Pioneer Venus Spacecraft. Upon completing his
doctorate in 1987, he was awarded a J. Robert Oppenheimer Postdoctoral
Fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. He accepted
a career position at Los Alamos in 1989. While there, Phillips
performed research on the sun and the space environment. From 1993
through 1996 he was Principal Investigator for the Solar Wind Plasma
Experiment aboard the Ulysses Spacecraft as it executed a unique
trajectory over the poles of the sun.
After being selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1996 and completing
astronaut candidate training, Phillips has held various jobs in the
Astronaut Office, including systems engineering and as International
Space Station Spacecraft Communicator (ISS CAPCOM).
In addition to his current space flight experience as Science
Officer for ISS Expedition 11, Phillips flew aboard Space Shuttle
Endeavour on the STS-100 mission (April 19 to May 1, 2001). During the
12-day, 187 orbit mission, the Shuttle crew successfully delivered and
installed the Canadarm-2 Robotic Arm on ISS. They also delivered
experiments and supplies aboard the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
Raffaello on its maiden flight. Phillips was the Ascent/Entry Flight
engineer and was the intravehicular activity coordinator during two
space walks. Phillips also served as a backup crew member to ISS
Expedition 7, completing that assignment in February 2003.
Witnesses Appearing In-person
Peggy Whitson (Ph.D.), NASA Astronaut, ISS Science Officer, Expedition
5
Peggy Whitson received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology/
chemistry from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1981, and a doctorate in
biochemistry from Rice University in 1985. She has received numerous
awards and honors, including the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the Group
Achievement Award for Shuttle-Mir Program. Dr. Whitson has also had two
patents approved.
Upon completion of her graduate work, Whitson continued at Rice
University as Postdoctoral Fellow until October 1986, at which point
she began her studies at NASA Johnson Space Center, as a National
Research Council Resident Research Associate.
In 1992, Whitson was named the Project Scientist of the Shuttle-Mir
Program (STS-60, STS-63, STS-71, Mir 18, Mir 19) through 1995. From
1993-1996 she held the additional responsibilities of the Deputy
Division Chief of the Medical Sciences Division at NASA-JSC. From 1995-
1996 she served as Co-Chair of the U.S.-Russian Mission Science Working
Group.
In April 1996, Whitson was selected as an astronaut candidate. Upon
completing two years of training and evaluation, she was assigned
technical duties in the Astronaut Office Operations Planning Branch and
served as the lead for the Crew Test Support Team in Russia from 1998-
99. From November 2003 to March 2005 she served as Deputy Chief of the
Astronaut Office.
Whitson served as NASA Science Officer on the Expedition 5 crew for
ISS, which launched on June 5, 2002 aboard STS-111 (Endeavour) and
docked with ISS on June 7, 2002. During her six-month stay aboard ISS,
Whitson installed the Mobile Base System, the S1 truss segment, and the
P1 truss segment using the Space Station remote manipulator system,
performed a four hour and 25 minute spacewalk to install micrometeoroid
shielding on the Zvezda Service Module, and activated and checked out
the Microgravity Sciences Glovebox, a science payload rack. She
conducted 21 investigations in human life sciences and microgravity
sciences, as well as commercial payloads. The Expedition 5 crew (one
American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts) returned to Earth aboard
STS-113 (Endeavour) on December 7, 2002. Completing her first flight,
Whitson logged over 184 days in space.
Michael (``Mike'') Fincke (Lt. Col., USAF) NASA Astronaut, ISS Science
Officer, Expedition 9
Lt. Col. Fincke graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology on an Air Force ROTC scholarship in 1989 with a Bachelor of
Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as a Bachelor of
Science in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. He then received
a Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford
University in 1990 and a second Master of Science in Physical Sciences
(Planetary Geology) from the University of Houston, Clear Lake in 2001.
He is the recipient of two United States Air Force Commendation Medals,
the United States Air Force Achievement Medal, and various unit and
service awards.
In April 1996, Lt. Col. Fincke was selected as an astronaut
candidate. Upon completing two years of training and evaluation, he was
assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station Operations
Branch serving as an International Space Station Spacecraft
Communicator (ISS CAPCOM), a member of the Crew Test Support Team in
Russia and as the ISS crew procedures team lead. He also served as
back-up crew member for the ISS Expedition-4 and Expedition-6 and is
qualified to fly as a left-seat Flight Engineer (co-pilot) on the
Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
Lt. Col. Fincke served as NASA Science Officer on the Expedition 9
crew for ISS, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome,
Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, docking with ISS on April 21,
2004. He spent six-months aboard the station during which time he
continued ISS science operations, maintained Station systems, and
performed four spacewalks. The Expedition-9 mission concluded with
undocking from the Station and safe landing back in Kazakhstan on
October 23, 2004. Lt. Col. Fincke completed his first mission in 187
days, and logged over 15 hours of EVA time.
Appendix B
Expedition 11 Science Overview
(The following section is adapted from the Expedition 11 press kit,
available from: http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/EXPEDITION11/index.htm)
Expedition 11--the 11th long-duration crew on ISS--began in April
2005, when the 11th crew arrived at the Station aboard a Russian Soyuz
spacecraft. NASA ISS Science Officer Phillips and Russian Commander
Krikalev, will maintain the Station and work with science teams on the
ground to operate experiments and collect data.
During Expedition 11, two Russian Progress cargo flights are
scheduled to dock with ISS. The Progress re-supply ships will transport
supplies to the Station and carry scientific equipment. Much of the
research activities for Expedition 11 will be carried out with
scientific facilities and samples already on board ISS, as well as with
new research facilities transported by the next two Space Shuttle
missions--STS-114 scheduled for launch in July 2005, and STS-121
scheduled for launch later in 2005. Additional experiments are being
evaluated and prepared to make use of limited cargo space on the Soyuz
or Progress vehicles. The research agenda for the expedition remains
flexible. While most equipment and samples can remain on board the
Station with minimal or no detrimental effects, a few perishable
samples--urine samples, for example--may be returned to Earth on the
Soyuz.
The Expedition 11 crew has more than 100 hours scheduled for U.S.
payload activities. Space Station science also will be conducted by
remote ``crewmembers''--the team of controllers and scientists on the
ground, who will continue to plan, monitor and operate experiments from
control centers across the United States. A team of controllers for
Expedition 11 will work in the ISS Payload Operations Center--NASA's
science command post for the Space Station--at NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center Huntsville, Ala. Controllers work in three shifts around
the clock, seven days a week in the Payload Operations Center, which
links researchers around the world with their experiments and the crew
aboard the Station.
EXPERIMENTS USING ON-BOARD RESOURCES
Many experiments from earlier Expeditions remain aboard the Space
Station and will continue to benefit from the long-term research
platform provided by the orbiting laboratory. These experiments
include:
Crew Earth Observations (CEO) takes advantage of the crew in space to
observe and photograph natural and man-made changes on Earth. The
photographs record Earth surface changes over time, as well as more
fleeting events such as storms, floods, fires and volcanic eruptions.
Together they provide researchers on Earth with vital, continuous
images needed to better understand the planet.
Dust Aerosol Measurement Feasibility Test (DAFT) tests the ability of
different equipment to measure the levels of dust and air quality in
order to improve fire detection capabilities in space.
Materials on the International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) is a
suitcase-sized experiment attached to the outside of the Space Station.
It exposes hundreds of potential space construction materials to the
environment. The samples will be returned to Earth for study during a
later expedition. Investigators will use the resulting data to design
stronger, more durable spacecraft.
Protein Crystal Growth Single-locker Thermal Enclosure System (PCG-
STES) will continue to process crystals that have been growing since
Expedition 6, launched in October 2002. Crystals that also were grown
on Expeditions 2 beginning in March 2001, as well as Expedition 4
launched in December 2001, and Expedition 5 beginning in June 2002,
were returned to Earth for analysis. The facility provides a
temperature-controlled environment for growing high-quality protein
crystals of selected proteins in microgravity for later analyses on the
ground to determine the proteins' molecular structure. Research may
contribute to advances in medicine, agriculture and other fields.
Space Acceleration Measurement System II (SAMS-II) and Microgravity
Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS) sensors measure vibrations
caused by crew, equipment and other sources that could disturb
microgravity experiments.
HUMAN LIFE SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS
Many continuing experiments will use measurements of Expedition 11
crewmembers to study changes in the body caused by exposure to the
microgravity environment.
Chromosomal Aberrations in Blood Lymphocytes of Astronauts
(Chromosome), will study space radiation on humans. The expected
results will provide a better knowledge of the genetic risk of
astronauts in space and can help to optimize radiation shielding.
Promoting Sensorimotor Response to Generalizability: A Countermeasure
to Mitigate Locomotor Dysfunction After Long-duration Spaceflight
(Mobility) studies changes in posture and gait after long-duration
space flight. Study results are expected to help in the development of
an in-flight treadmill training program for Station crew members that
could facilitate rapid recovery of functional mobility after long
duration space flight.
Behavioral Issues Associated with Isolation and Confinement: Review and
Analysis of Astronaut Journals collects behavioral and human factors
data for analysis, with the intention of furthering our understanding
of life in isolation and confinement. The objective of the experiment
is to identify equipment, habitat and procedural features that help
humans adjust to isolation and confinement and remain effective and
productive during future long-duration space expeditions.
Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity (ADUM) involves crew
members conducting ultrasound exams on one another with minimal
training and with direction from a ground based sonographer.
Verification of these advanced ultrasound techniques and telemedicine
strategies could have widespread applications in emergency and rural
care situations on Earth.
The Biopsy experiment allows researchers to take biopsies of the
astronauts' calf muscles before and after their stay on board the Space
Station. This will allow scientists to begin developing an in-space
countermeasure exercise program aimed at keeping muscles at their peak
performance during long missions in space.
Foot/Ground Reaction Forces During Space Flight (Foot) studies the load
on the lower body and muscle activity in crew members while working on
the Station. This study will provide better understanding of the bone
and muscle loss in the lower extremities experienced by astronauts in
microgravity. The results of this experiment will help in future space
flights, as well as have significance for understanding, preventing and
treating osteoporosis on Earth.
The Renal Stone experiment collects urine samples from the crew and
tests a possible countermeasure for preventing kidney stone formation.
A Comprehensive Characterization of Microorganisms and Allergens in
Spacecraft (Swab) will use generic techniques for the first time to
comprehensively evaluate microbes on board the Space Station, including
pathogens, and to study how the microbial community changes as
spacecraft visit the Space Station and modules are added. This study
will monitor Station modules prior to launch to evaluate sources of new
germs and find ways of preventing additional contamination onboard
spacecraft.
Space Flight-Induced Reactivation of Latent Epstein-Barr Virus
(Epstein-Barr) performs tests to study changes in human immune function
using blood and urine samples collected before and after space flight.
The study will provide insight for possible countermeasures to prevent
the potential development of infectious illness in crew members during
flight.
DESTINY LABORATORY FACILITIES
Several research facilities are in place aboard the Station to
support Expedition 11 science investigations:
The Human Research Facility is designed to house and support a variety
of life sciences experiments. It includes equipment for lung function
tests, ultrasound to image the heart and many other types of computers
and medical equipment.
The Microgravity Science Glovebox is the other major dedicated science
facility inside Destiny. It has a large front window and built-in
gloves to provide a sealed environment for conducting science and
technology experiments. The Glovebox is particularly suited for
handling hazardous materials when a crew is present. The Destiny lab
also is outfitted with five EXPRESS Racks. EXPRESS (Expedite the
Processing of Experiments to the Space Station) racks are standard
payload racks designed to provide experiments with a variety of
utilities such as power, data, cooling, fluids and gasses. The racks
support payloads in a several disciplines, including biology,
chemistry, physics, ecology and medicines. The racks stay in orbit,
while experiments are changed as needed. EXPRESS Racks 2 and 3 are
equipped with the Active Rack Isolation System (ARIS) for countering
minute vibrations from crew movement or operating equipment that could
disturb delicate experiments.
Chairman Calvert. I call this meeting of the Space and
Aeronautics Subcommittee to order.
Without objection, the Chair will be granted authority to
recess the Committee.
Today, we are going to have a special experience. We are
going from Capitol Hill ``Live to Space Aboard the
International Space Station.'' We will be talking to Dr. John
Phillips, the current U.S. astronaut on the Space Station. From
his current abode in low-Earth orbit, 218 miles above the
Earth, Dr. Phillips will be answering some of our questions
about what it is really like to live in space. This is the
first hearing in Congressional history with a witness
testifying from space.
Our goal today is to hear first hand from the astronauts
what it is like to live and work in space. We will hear
directly from the astronauts on how they are dealing with the
challenges of operating and maintaining the International Space
Station as well as hear about the research they are conducting.
This hearing gives us a chance to learn about what is really
going on in space from those directly involved, rather than
delve into the programmatic and budgetary details of the ISS
program.
Members, you will notice that you have information in your
packets on special considerations in communicating with Dr.
Phillips and today's hearing schedule. The other ISS crewmember
who is currently on board is Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, the
Commander of Expedition 11, will not be participating in the
hearing. We also have two astronauts who have joined us, each
of whom have lived on the ISS previously. First is Dr. Peggy
Whitson, who was on the ISS on Expedition 5 from June through
December of 2002. Our final witness is Lieutenant Colonel Mike
Fincke, who was a member of Expedition 9 from April through
October of 2004.
We are going to have a very--we will be very brief in
today's opening statements, so that when we get the connection
with the International Space Station we can move right on to
the questions. Dr. Peggy Whitson has agreed to deliver the
opening statement on behalf of the three astronauts, giving us
more time for questions for each of the astronauts. Keep in
mind that our connection with International Space Station is a
total of only 15 minutes. So instead of the usual five minutes
for each member, we are going to give each member only two
minutes, which I will strictly enforce to be fair for everyone.
If we have time, we will go back around again. That means you
have two minutes totally for the question and the answer.
Although we will be able to see Dr. Phillips on the
International Space Station, he will be unable to see us, so I
ask that when you ask your questions, please identify yourself.
There will be a transmission delay, so please wait about a
second after you turn on your microphone before beginning to
speak. There is also about a three-second transmission delay
before Dr. Phillips will hear you and will respond. Be sure to
speak clearly into the microphone. Again, please ask only one
question to Dr. Phillips in order to accommodate everyone. When
we lose the connection to the International Space Station after
15 minutes, members will have an opportunity to ask questions
with the standard five-minute rule of our two former ISS
astronauts that we have here with us today.
[The prepared statement of Chairman Calvert follows:]
Prepared Statement of Chairman Ken Calvert
Today, we are going to have a special experience. We are going from
Capitol Hill Live to Space Aboard the International Space Station. We
will be talking with Dr. John Phillips, the current U. S. astronaut on
the Space Station. From his current abode in Low-Earth Orbit, 218 miles
above the Earth, Dr. Phillips will answer some of our questions about
what it is really like to live in space. This is the first hearing in
Congressional history with a witness testifying from space.
The International Space Station (ISS) has been permanently occupied
by joint U.S.-Russian ``Expedition'' crews since November 2000. Dr.
Phillips is a member of the 11th Expedition. ISS is approximately 50
percent complete and we are waiting to see what NASA plans to do for
the final assembly complete. Since the Columbia accident, the Russian
Soyuz has been the means to ferry crew, and the Russian Progress launch
vehicle has been the means for re-supply of spare parts and
consumables. Prior to the Columbia tragedy, the ISS Expedition crews
were composed of three members--two Russians and one American or two
Americans and one Russian.
After Columbia, crew size was reduced to two persons--one American
and one Russian. Despite this reduction in crew size, ISS Expedition
crews have continued to conduct research while the Shuttle is grounded,
primarily using the equipment that is already aboard. NASA will be
reconfiguring the scientific research program for the ISS to focus on
projects that support the Vision for Space Exploration. The ISS will be
a great platform to study humans and their potential adaptation to
weightlessness as well as for testing hardware intended to go to the
Moon or other destinations.
Members, you will notice that you have information in your packets
on special considerations in communicating with Dr. Phillips and
today's hearing schedule. The other ISS crew member who is currently on
board is Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, (pronounced sir-gay kree-ka-loff)
the Commander of Expedition 11, who will not be participating in the
hearing. We also have two astronauts who have joined us--each of whom
has lived on the ISS previously. The first is Dr. Peggy Whitson who was
on the ISS on Expedition 5 from June through December 2002. Our final
witness is Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Fincke (USAF) (pronounced fink)
who was a member of Expedition 9 from April through October 2004.
We are going to be very brief in today's opening statements, so
that when we get the connection with the ISS, we can move right on to
questions. Dr. Peggy Whitson has agreed to deliver the opening
statement on behalf of the three astronauts, giving us more time for
questions for each of the astronauts. Keep in mind that our connection
with the ISS a total of only 15 minutes to the ISS. So instead of the
usual five minutes for each Member, we are going to give each Member
only two minutes, which I will strictly enforce to be fair to everyone.
Although we will be able to see Dr. Phillips on the ISS, he will be
unable to see us, so I ask that when you ask your questions, please
identify yourself. There will be a transmission delay, so please wait
about a second after you turn on your microphone before beginning to
speak. There is also about a three second transmission delay before Dr.
Phillips will hear you and will respond. Be sure to speak clearly into
the microphone. Again, please ask only one question to Dr. Phillips in
order to accommodate everyone. When we lose the connection to the ISS
in 15 minutes, Members will have an opportunity to ask questions with
the standard five-minute rule of our two former ISS astronauts that we
have here with us today.
Chairman Calvert. And with that, Mr. Udall, you may begin
your opening statement.
Mr. Udall. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to join the Chairman in welcoming today's witnesses,
especially Dr. John Phillips, who will be with us from the
International Space Station. I would also like to take a moment
to express my personal appreciation to our witnesses, and to
all of the astronaut corps for the service that you render to
our nation.
Human space exploration involves risk, yet it is an
undertaking that I and you, obviously, believe is important to
the future of our nation. You have been willing to accept the
risk, because you also believe in the importance of human space
exploration.
Fundamentally, NASA's science and exploration programs are
about pushing back the boundaries of our ignorance. And,
properly utilized, that is what I believe that we can do with
the International Space Station, push back the boundaries of
our ignorance across a range of scientific and technological
disciplines.
The advances we make on the ISS have the potential to
prepare us for the challenging human missions beyond low-Earth
orbit. They also have the potential to benefit life back here
on Earth if we are willing to invest in the necessary
fundamental and applied research.
To that end, I would hope that as NASA contemplates a
restructuring of the ISS research program, it does not unduly
narrow its focus. We have spent too much time to build the
Space Station not to try to make optimal use of its
capabilities. However, that is an issue for another day.
At today's hearing, I look forward to learning more about
what it is like to actually live and work in space. And I would
also like to learn more about how the astronauts on the Station
are coping with the impact of the Shuttle fleet's grounding.
Mr. Chairman, today's hearing should be fascinating. I want
to thank you for holding it, and I look forward to the
testimony of our witnesses.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Udall follows:]
Prepared Statement of Representative Mark Udall
Good afternoon. I want to join the Chairman in welcoming the
witnesses to today's hearing--especially Dr. John Phillips, who will be
talking to us live from the International Space Station. And I'd also
like to take a moment to express my personal appreciation to our
witnesses--and to all of the astronaut corps--for the service that you
render to our nation.
Human space exploration involves risk. Yet it is an undertaking
that I believe is important to the future of our nation. You have been
willing to accept the risk, because you also believe in the importance
of human space exploration.
Fundamentally, NASA's science and exploration programs are about
pushing back the boundaries of our ignorance. And, properly utilized, I
believe that that is what the International Space Station program can
do--push back the boundaries of our ignorance across a range of
scientific and technological disciplines.
The advances we make on the International Space Station have the
potential to prepare us for challenging human missions beyond low-Earth
orbit. They also have the potential to benefit life back here on Earth,
if we are willing to invest in the necessary fundamental and applied
research.
To that end, I would hope that as NASA contemplates a restructuring
of its ISS research program, it does not unduly narrow its focus--we
have spent too much to build the Space Station not to try to make
optimal use of its capabilities. However, that is an issue for another
day.
At today's hearing, I look forward to learning more about what it
is actually like to live and work in space. I'd also like to learn more
about how the astronauts on the ISS are coping with the impact of the
Shuttle fleet's grounding.
Mr. Chairman, today's hearing should be fascinating. I want to
thank you for holding it, and I look forward to the testimony of our
witnesses. Thank you.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman for his testimony.
Without objection, the additional statements of other
Members will be put into the written record, so we can get
right to the questions. Hearing no objection, so ordered.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Jackson Lee follows:]
Prepared Statement of Representative Sheila Jackson Lee
Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member Udall,
I am honored to be here today for this historic Subcommittee
hearing with American astronauts who have been on the International
Space Station. I want to welcome our distinguished panel of witnesses
to the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. Indeed, we have a unique
opportunity to interact with Dr. John Phillips who will be testifying
live from the ISS; the first time in history such testimony has taken
place.
While I appreciate the Chairman and Ranking Member of this
subcommittee for organizing this hearing, I would be remiss if I did
not reiterate my belief that we need to hold a hearing on safety. After
the tragic Columbia Space Shuttle accident safety has been the number
one priority of this subcommittee. I believe there should be a safety
hearing not only for our Space Shuttle which is returning to flight,
but also for safety on-board the ISS.
I have long been a supporter of the ISS and its mission. Indeed,
this mission is unique among other space exploration missions because
of the cooperation between nations. The ISS is truly an international
program with the original partnership being established in 1988
including the U.S., Japan, and the European Space Agency. Russia was
later invited to joint the partnership in 1993, and revised
international agreements governing the program were signed in 1998.
Since that time, the ISS has pushed the boundaries of what had been
previously achieved in space. The first ISS modules were launched in
1998 and astronauts began continuous occupation of the ISS in November
2000. At the start permanent crews consisted of three astronauts,
however, since the tragic Columbia Space Shuttle accident grounded the
Shuttle fleet in 2003, crew size has been limited to only two
astronauts.
Because of the current limitations of our Space Shuttle program and
that of the Russian space program, the ISS has undergone some recent
challenges in maintaining safe and sustained operations. In fact
recently the Russian Elektron oxygen generator has been having repeated
problems. Water and food have also been carefully rationed. In late
2004, the Expedition 10 crew had to limit its food intake due to
shortages on-board the ISS. These problems are being addressed but they
only underscore the fact that safety on-board the ISS must be more
closely scrutinized.
At this time the ISS assembly is scheduled to be completed around
2010, but little is certain as far as a timetable as NASA is currently
reviewing the assembly schedule and content. As I stated, I am a strong
supporter of the ISS and hope that we can move forward with its
mission. However, our mission for discovery can not be done in haste;
instead we must ensure that all steps have been taken to minimize the
risk to astronauts on-board.
Chairman Calvert. I also ask unanimous consent to insert at
the appropriate place in the record, the background memorandum
prepared by the Majority staff for this hearing. Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
Today, we will begin our hearing with testimony from Dr.
Peggy Whitson, a NASA astronaut who was formerly a member of
the International Space Station crew during the Expedition 5
from June to December of 2002, as I mentioned earlier. If we
have time before we are connected to the International Space
Station, we can allow a couple of brief questions of Dr.
Whitson and to Lieutenant Colonel Michael Fincke sitting at the
witness table. However, once we begin the connection to
International Space Station, we will immediately move to the
two-minute rounds of questions to Dr. Phillips. Once we lose
the connection, we will resume the questions to Dr. Whitson and
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke.
And with that, Dr. Whitson, you may begin your opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF DR. PEGGY A. WHITSON, NASA ASTRONAUT, SCIENCE
OFFICER AND FLIGHT ENGINEER, ISS EXPEDITION 5 (JUNE-DECEMBER
2002)
Dr. Whitson. Well, Mr. Chairman and Members of the
Committee, it is a real honor for us to be here today to
testify about the International Space Station. As mentioned, I
am here with Lieutenant Colonel Mike Fincke. He was Flight
Engineer and Science Officer on board during Expedition 9, and
Dr. John Phillips is serving in that same role on board the
International Space Station right now.
I thought I would start off with just a few comments about
my experience on board the International Space Station and give
you a big picture of where John and Sergei's mission is on
orbit and what we plan on as part of the next six months of
their stay.
As a scientist, it was really exciting for me to be the on-
orbit hands of the investigators on the ground. And as
uniquely, probably, or nearly uniquely, as the daughter of a
farmer, it was also a very exciting thing to do a soybean,
commercial soybean plant growth experiment while on board the
International Space Station. I think my dad had a greater yield
of soybeans than I did, but it was still a lot of fun to
compare stories.
We also got--I also got to participate in another
experiment that I am a principle investigator on looking at the
efficacy of potassium citrate and reducing the kidney stone-
forming potential in astronauts. Because of the bone
demineralization process that occurs on orbit, there is a
greater risk of kidney stones forming. And actually, we are
continuing that experiment, and John and Sergei on orbit are my
next subjects, and they will be continuing that experiment.
My background in human life sciences really gave me a
unique opportunity to know in advance of my space flight all of
the things that might--I might experience when I went into zero
gravity and actually returning back to Earth, but I would have
to say that even I was surprised by how much a neuro-vestibular
imbalance I felt upon returning to Earth. As you know, the
International Space Station is orbiting at 17,500 miles per
hour, and when I returned to Earth, I felt like the Earth was
orbiting around me at approximately 17,500 miles per hour.
Luckily, that recovery was relatively quick, and within a day
or so, I had recovered from that particular effect of being at
zero gravity for a six-month period.
I am sure John is going to be really happy to share his
experience on board the International Space Station with you
and some of his science background that he is working on up
there. In addition to the science activities they are doing,
John and Sergei are doing a space walk to set up some
experiments externally. They are also going to be performing a
number of maintenance tests, routine maintenance tests. They
will be greeting two progress resupply vehicles. These are
Russian resupply vehicles. One is actually arriving to the
International Space Station later this week.
And then, of course, we are very excited about the arrival
of the Discovery with Eileen Collins and her six crew members
on the Shuttle return to flight. So they will be on board
during that mission as well. During that time, during the
docked phase of that Shuttle mission, they will do--perform
three space walks and transfer, literally, tons of hardware to
and from the Station.
The Expedition 11 crew has more than 100 hours of science
and payload activities planned. In addition to being the
subjects for my experiment, they are also doing a number of
different activities looking at the human physiology and the
effects of long duration and being in space. And one of the
more interesting studies that, actually, Mike and I both
participated in and is being continued is developing the
techniques using ultrasound by non-experienced crew members or
untrained professionals to do ultrasounds in a very complex
manner. And actually, that is something that can apply to us
here on Earth as well in real medicine scenarios or even on
battlefields. So we are excited about that research as well.
In summary, I just wanted to say that the International
Space Station is an incredible engineering feat, and our
studies to understand how the human body responds to that and
our understanding of all of the complications and problems that
arise as a part of operating this Station is going to help us
prepare for the longer duration missions to the Moon and Mars
and beyond.
And Mike and I are really excited about taking any
questions you might have, and we will get a signal here in a
little bit about when we can start talking to John.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Whitson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Peggy A. Whitson
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to appear before you today. I consider it an honor to
appear here with Mike Fincke, who was the Science Officer on Expedition
9. In just a few minutes, John Phillips, Expedition 11 Flight Engineer
and Science Officer, will be appearing live, via satellite, from the
ISS to answer questions about life on orbit. First, I'd like to tell
you a little about my experience on the Station as part of Expedition 5
and then provide you with an overview of current activities aboard the
Station.
Life and Work Aboard the International Space Station
In the over four years of continuous human presence on board the
ISS, we have performed important science that will allow us to expand
our presence into the solar system. We have discovered things that make
our life here on Earth better. We have learned about technologies and
processes which will help us meet the challenges of future exploration.
While we can to some extent simulate living conditions in space
here on the ground, there is no substitute for experience in the actual
space environment. Simply put, to learn how to live in space, we must
live in space. Every experiment, every space walk, every repair and
every piece of hardware assembled teaches us something new. A full time
human presence aboard the ISS offers us a tremendous opportunity to
study human survival in the hostile environment of space and assess how
to overcome the technological hurdles to human exploration beyond Earth
orbit, as called for in the Vision for Space Exploration.
During my time on Station (Expedition 5), we hosted three Shuttle
assembly missions. Using the Station's robotic arm, we installed the S1
(starboard 1) and P1 (port 1) truss elements and the Mobile Base
System, which serves as the platform for transporting the robotic arm
and any attached hardware or experiments to various locations along the
truss.
We also performed two extra-vehicular activities (EVA). Space walks
are a physical challenge, since we work in a pressurized suit that
protects us from the vacuum of space, but requires us to perform hand-
intensive tasks working against this pressure. EVAs are also an
operational challenge, especially now while we have only two-person
crews, since both crew members are outside. From these activities we
continue to learn a great deal about assembly of Station elements,
repair of external components, operational processes, and spacesuit
capabilities.
As a scientist, it was, of course, exciting being the on orbit
hands of the investigator teams on the ground. Being the daughter of a
farmer, I would have to say that the commercial experiment involving
soybean growth was very, very special to me as well. I also had the
unique opportunity to be the principal investigator and the subject for
my own experiment to test potassium citrate ingestion as a mechanism to
reduce the kidney stone-forming potential in space travelers. In fact,
I am still working on this experiment, albeit from the ground, with
Expedition 11 as our primary subjects. A few of the other experiments
we conducted on Expedition 5 included: super-conducting crystal
materials with different technical additives and in different heating
profiles to better assess the crystallization characteristics in an
environment where gravity is not a variable, assessing pulmonary lung
function before and after EVA, and developing procedures for diagnostic
ultrasound capability.
My background in the human space life sciences provided me with a
lot of insight into the potential physiologic responses that a crew
member might anticipate upon entering and returning from microgravity.
However, I was still surprised by the low back pain as my spinal column
relaxed, and the surrounding muscles stretched out on flight day four
and five. Although individual crew responses can vary dramatically, I
was also surprised by the neuro-vestibular imbalance I felt upon
returning to Earth's gravity after six months on orbit. For the first
24 hours, I felt like the world was spinning around me; as if I were
still on orbit, and I thought they should just send me back to the
Station. Luckily for me, recovery was relatively quick after that first
day.
As a result of a very intensive exercise regime, I lost no overall
bone density. This is very promising for us in the development of
exercise programs for extended exploration missions to Mars when we
will need to have an exercise and/or pharmacologic plan to minimize the
impacts of extended periods in microgravity.
We typically train prior to flight for three or more years. Much of
that time is spent with crew mates in classroom training and
simulations. I consider this a very important time to learn not only
about us, but the best way to constructively interact with our crew
mates and our ground support teams. The loss of Columbia meant that we
had to reduce the Station crew size to two. As a result, our crews and
ground teams have come up with creative new methods to squeeze in more
work and provide better support. Although I had great respect for the
work conducted by the ground team even before I flew, I was surprised
by how close I felt to them during my mission. As Mike and John can
tell you, the ground crew acts as a ``third'' crew member for our two-
person crews by helping them with everything from monitoring the
Station to assisting with research.
Safety is something we all take as a fundamental value in how we
build and operate the Station. An intensive system safety engineering
effort during the development and manufacture of the International
Space Station system has mitigated the known hazards presented by
living in low-Earth orbit. For example, we have design features, such
as the Micro Meteoroid Orbital Debris (MMOD) shields on the Service
Module to reduce the chance that orbital debris will penetrate the
Station. In fact, more of these panels will be installed in the future
to even further reduce this probability. We have a caution and warning
system installed to alert the crew to any impending dangers, such as
fire or pressure leaks that may raise the risk of injury, we have
emergency equipment on the Station such as fire suppression to reduce
the consequence of fire, and we have a ``lifeboat,'' the Soyuz crew
return vehicle, which we can use as a last resort if we have to abandon
the Station should the living conditions become untenable. Ground-based
and on-orbit safety-related training are a large part of our pre-
mission preparation and during the mission. In addition, the ground
team also plays a large role in ensuring the safety of the Station and
the crew by providing maintenance procedures for both critical as well
as non-critical equipment, by providing real-time information and pre-
cautions for events like solar flares or by providing feedback on
exercise regimes.
Expedition 11 Mission
In April, we sent a new crew to live on the International Space
Station. Flight Engineer John Phillips and Station Commander Sergei
Krikalev will perform one space walk, a number of experiments, and
daily maintenance during their six-month stay. They will greet two
Russian Progress resupply vehicles, including one that arrives this
week, and at least one U.S. Space Shuttle flight. They will also
relocate their Soyuz spacecraft from the Pirs docking port to the Zarya
docking port in order to free up the Pirs airlock to support the space
walk.
During the space walk from the Russian Pirs airlock in September,
the crew will relocate and recover Russian science equipment.
Expedition 11 will be on board the Station when Commander Eileen
Collins and her six crew members launch on the Space Shuttle Discovery
on the first post-Columbia mission. It will mark the first time since
the STS-113 mission in November 2002 that a Space Shuttle will arrive
at the Station. The two crews plan eight days of joint docked
operations, including the resupply of the Station with several tons of
food and equipment, as well as three space walks out of the Shuttle's
airlock by Discovery astronauts.
Expedition 11 Science
Much of the research activities for Expedition 11 will be carried
out with scientific facilities and samples already on board the Space
Station, as well as with new research facilities transported by the
next two Space Shuttle missions. While most equipment and samples can
remain on board the Station with minimal or no detrimental effects, a
few perishable samples will be returned to Earth on the Soyuz.
The Expedition 11 crew has more than 100 hours scheduled for U.S.
payload activities. In addition to the crew on the Station, a team of
controllers for Expedition 11 will work in the Space Station's Payload
Operations Center--NASA's science command post for the Space Station at
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Controllers
link researchers around the world with their experiments and the crew
aboard the Station.
Other experiments to be conducted by Expedition 11 include:
Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity
(ADUM):
Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity (ADUM) will
be used to determine the ability of minimally trained Station
crew members to perform advanced ultrasound examinations after
using a computer-based training program. Verification of these
advanced ultrasound techniques and telemedicine strategies
could have widespread applications in emergency and rural care
situations on Earth. The ADUM experiment, which uses remote
guidance methodologies, has been conducted during Expeditions
8, 9 and 10 and is scheduled for completion with the Increment
11 crew.
Foot/Ground Reaction Forces During Space Flight
(FOOT):
FOOT studies the load on the lower body and muscle activity
in crew members while working on the Station. Previous portions
of this study on earlier increments have provided better
understanding of the bone and muscle loss in the lower
extremities experienced by astronauts in microgravity. The
results of this experiment will help in future space flights,
as well as potentially improve our understanding to prevent and
treat osteoporosis.
Dust and Aerosol Measurement Feasibility Test (DAFT):
DAFT releases particles in the Space Station atmosphere to
test the ability of different equipment to measure the levels
of dust and air quality. It will help to improve air quality
and fire detection in space.
Hand Posture Analyzer (HPA):
HPA will investigate the performance degradation of the
human upper limb muscle-skeletal apparatus and its
morphological-functional modifications during long-term
exposure to weightlessness and to study the role of gravity in
how people reach, grasp, manipulate, and transport objects.
Passive Observatories for Experimental Microbial
Systems (POEMS):
POEMS will study the growth, ecology and performance of
diverse assemblages of micro-organisms in space. Understanding
microbial growth and ecology in a space environment is
important for maintaining human health and bioregenerative life
support functions.
A Comprehensive Characterization of Micro-organisms
and Allergens in Spacecraft (SWAB):
SWAB uses genetic techniques for the first time to
comprehensively evaluate germs, including pathogens, on board
the Space Station, and to study how the germ community changes
as spacecrafts visit the Space Station and modules are added.
This study will monitor Station modules prior to launch to
evaluate sources of new germs and find ways of preventing
additional contamination on board spacecraft.
Crew Earth Observations (CEO):
CEO takes advantage of the crew in space to observe and
photograph natural and man-made changes on Earth, the
photographs record Earth surface changes over time, as well as
more fleeting events such as storms, floods, fires, and
volcanic eruptions. Together they provide researchers on Earth
with vital, continuous images needed to better understand the
planet.
Summary
As stated at the beginning of my testimony, using the Station to
study human endurance in space and to test new technologies will allow
us to prepare for the longer journeys to the Moon, Mars and beyond in
support of the Vision for Space Exploration. Thank you for the
opportunity to testify today. My fellow witnesses and I look forward to
responding to any questions you may have.
Biography for Peggy A. Whitson
NASA ASTRONAUT
PERSONAL DATA:
Born February 9, 1960 in Mt. Ayr, Iowa. Hometown is Beaconsfield,
Iowa. Married to Clarence F. Sams, Ph.D. She enjoys weight lifting,
biking, basketball, and water skiing.
EDUCATION:
Graduated from Mt. Ayr Community High School, Mt. Ayr, Iowa, in
1978; received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology/Chemistry from
Iowa Wesleyan College in 1981, and a Doctorate in Biochemistry from
Rice University in 1985.
AWARDS/HONORS:
NASA Space Flight Medal (2002). Two patents approved (1997, 1998);
Group Achievement Award for Shuttle-Mir Program (1996); American
Astronautical Society Randolph Lovelace II Award (1995); NASA Tech
Brief Award (1995); NASA Space Act Board Award (1995, 1998); NASA
Silver Snoopy Award (1995); NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1995,
2003); NASA Space Act Award for Patent Application; NASA Certificate of
Commendation (1994); Selected for Space Station Redesign Team (March-
June 1993); NASA Sustained Superior Performance Award (1990); Krug
International Merit Award (1989); NASA-JSC National Research Council
Resident Research Associate (1986-1988); Robert A. Welch Postdoctoral
Fellowship (1985-1986); Robert A. Welch Predoctoral Fellowship (1982-
1985), Summa Cum Laude from Iowa Wesleyan College (1981); President's
Honor Roll (1978-81); Orange van Calhoun Scholarship (1980); State of
Iowa Scholar (1979); Academic Excellence Award (1978).
EXPERIENCE:
From 1981 to 1985, Whitson conducted her graduate work in
biochemistry at Rice University, Houston, Texas, as a Robert A. Welch
Predoctoral Fellow. Following completion of her graduate, work she
continued at Rice University as a Robert A Welch Postdoctoral Fellow
until October 1986. Following this position, she began her studies at
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, as a National Research
Council Resident Research Associate. From April 1988 until September
1989, Whitson served as the Supervisor for the Biochemistry Research
Group at KRUG International, a medical sciences contractor at NASA-JSC.
In 1991-1997, Whitson was also invited to be an Adjunct Assistant
Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and Department of
Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics at University of Texas Medical
Branch, Galveston, Texas. In 1997, Whitson began a position as Adjunct
Assistant Professor at Rice University in the Maybee Laboratory for
Biochemical and Genetic Engineering.
NASA EXPERIENCE:
From 1989 to 1993, Whitson worked as a Research Biochemist in the
Biomedical Operations and Research Branch at NASA-JSC. From 1991-1993,
she served as Technical Monitor of the Biochemistry Research
Laboratories in the Biomedical Operations and Research Branch. From
1991-1992 she was the Payload Element Developer for Bone Cell Research
Experiment (E10) aboard SL-J (STS-47), and was a member of the U.S.-
USSR Joint Working Group in Space Medicine and Biology. In 1992, she
was named the Project Scientist of the Shuttle-Mir Program (STS-60,
STS-63, STS-71, Mir 18, Mir 19) and served in this capacity until the
conclusion of the Phase 1A Program in 1995. From 1993-1996 Whitson held
the additional responsibilities of the Deputy Division Chief of the
Medical Sciences Division at NASA-JSC. From 1995-1996 she served as Co-
Chair of the U.S.-Russian Mission Science Working Group. In April 1996,
she was selected as an astronaut candidate and started training, in
August 1996. Upon completing two years of training and evaluation, she
was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Operations
Planning Branch and served as the lead for the Crew Test Support Team
in Russia from 1998-99. From November 2003 to March 2005 she served as
Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office. Dr. Whitson currently serves as
Chief of the Station Operations Branch, Astronaut Office.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:
The Expedition 5 crew launched on June 5, 2002 aboard STS-111 and
docked with the International Space Station on June 7, 2002. During her
six-month stay aboard the Space Station, Dr. Whitson installed the
Mobile Base System, the S1 truss segment, and the P1 truss segment
using the space station remote manipulator system, performed a four-
hour and 25-minute Orlan EVA to install micrometeoroid shielding on the
Zvezda Service Module, and activated and checked out the Microgravity
Sciences Glovebox, a facility class payload rack. She was named the
first NASA Science Officer during her stay, and she conducted 21
investigations in human life sciences and microgravity sciences, as
well as commercial payloads. The Expedition 5 crew (one American
Astronaut and two Russian Cosmonauts) returned to Earth aboard STS-113
on December 7, 2002. Completing her first flight, Dr. Whitson logged
184 days, 22 hours and 14 minutes in space.
Discussion
Lessons Learned for Long-Duration Space Flight
Chairman Calvert. Thank you. Thank you for giving us that
unique perspective on life on the International Space Station.
I am going to lead off with the questions since I believe
we have about 15 minutes before we link up with the Space
Station.
So Dr. Whitson and Lieutenant Colonel Fincke, I think I
will ask the first question.
What kinds of lessons would you draw from your time on the
Space Station that you think could be applied to our next steps
beyond Earth orbit or return to the Moon and then going to
Mars?
And that question is for both of you.
Dr. Whitson. Yeah. I will start by saying that during my
mission, we hosted three different Shuttle flights, and they
were all very robotically-intensive missions with the
installation of hardware elements on board the International
Space Station, large pieces of tress that filled the payload
bay of the Shuttle, and so it was really exciting to be a part
of that process of using the Station robotic arm, in one case
of actually handing off one piece of hardware from one robotic
arm to the other robotic arm for installation. So that robotics
capability is going to be something that is important to us
even in our manned exploration to the Moon and Mars.
Chairman Calvert. Turn on your mike.
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. There you go. Sorry about that.
I can fly a spacecraft, but I have got to learn how to do one
of these.
On our mission, it was Expedition 9. It was the third
mission of only two people on board. Complete resupply from
Russian cargo ships. And we launched and landed on a Russian
Soyuz, so it was a bit different than Peggy's mission. And we
learned a few neat things that are going to really help us go
to Mars and back to the Moon.
We are--we had problems with our oxygen generator, and we
learned how to work and fix things that we had not trained for
on the ground. We--Peggy was mentioning this medicine concept
with the ultrasound machine. Well, we were using tele-
engineering to be able to fix things that were broken. And that
is an important lesson when we go to the Moon and Mars. We
won't be able to know how to fix everything all by ourselves,
but we have a strong team back on our home planet that can help
us.
And also, we learned how to fix our own space suits. That
was the first time we opened up an American space suit and
changed out parts. And that is the kind of thing we need to
know when we go to the Moon is how to fix our own space suits.
So we became more self-sufficient, but also more dependent on
the ground to count on them for--to help us to be able to do
the things that we could do while we were up in space.
Chairman Calvert. Thank you.
Mr. Udall.
Safe Haven
Mr. Udall. As a follow-on to Chairman Calvert's question,
we talked a lot about the aftermath of Columbia and the
Accident Investigation Board. We talked about a safe haven at
the Station. Could you--both of you talked a little bit about
what it would be like if the Station served as a safe haven for
the Shuttle. What would be the challenges you would face, say
if the Shuttle crew were there for one to two months, hopefully
no longer than that?
Dr. Whitson. Actually, before we launch STS-114, the next
Shuttle to launch, we will understand how much capability in
terms of crew resupplies, oxygen, carbon dioxide removal, and
food that we will have on orbit. And we will have a plan in
place on how long we could withstand keeping that crew up there
before we could send a rescue mission. And there will actually
be another Shuttle on the pad ready to go within that time
frame of when we can support a crew on board the Station. So it
is not ideal, obviously, but obviously we are not going to
invoke the--that scenario unless it is a serious situation.
Resource Consumption
Mr. Udall. Doctor, Lieutenant Colonel may respond as well,
what is the number--the resource that runs out first, is it
oxygen? Is it----
Dr. Whitson. Well, actually it is oxygen, but we make the
assumption that the electron, our oxygen-generating system is
not working. So it is a--kind of almost a worst case. We have
taken one failure already and said the electron was not
working, and so we are starting from that point.
Mr. Udall. If it is working, is there an unlimited amount
of oxygen available?
Dr. Whitson. Then water becomes----
Mr. Udall. Okay.
Dr. Whitson.--inconsumable. We use water to break apart to
make the oxygen. So water then becomes a limiting consumable,
but----
Mr. Udall. That's your feed stock, the water is.
Dr. Whitson. Yeah. Yeah.
Mr. Udall. Okay. Interesting. Oxygen is in the water.
Everything stems from water, doesn't it?
Dr. Whitson. Yeah.
Mr. Udall. Did you want to say anything else, Lieutenant
Colonel Fincke?
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. Certainly. I would like to add
that the Space Station right now is really designed, and has
enough capability, for three people. To increase by--and we
have two on board. By increasing to six people, we are going to
have to have all of our systems running at full bore, all of
our oxygen-generation systems and the carbon dioxide-removal
system and things like that. And the engineers on the ground
have really looked hard into this and made some assumptions
of--towards the worst case, and we can definitely support--the
Space Station can support for short periods of time, enough
time to get another Space Shuttle up there, and that is good
news for our friends in the astronaut corps.
Mr. Udall. Even with the converter--the oxygen converter
down, two months is within the time frame?
Dr. Whitson. Actually, I think the latest estimate they
were supposed to report that in the last couple of days, and I
am sorry I don't know that number, but it is on the order of 30
days.
Mr. Udall. Okay. What about space? I don't hear you talking
about any problems with space in the Shuttle itself.
Dr. Whitson. Well----
Mr. Udall. More crowded?
Dr. Whitson.--the Shuttle is actually very crowded
normally, but the Space Station will be much more crowded than
it would be normally, but----
Mr. Udall. Yeah.
Dr. Whitson.--it is six different modules on orbit, each of
various size, but there is plenty of room for the seven Shuttle
crew members and an additional two Station crew members, if we
needed to do that. And obviously this is a worst case scenario.
This is not a scenario that we would plan to do except for a
scenario that required it to save the lives of our crew
members.
Mr. Udall. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to give other
Members an opportunity, so thank you.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Bonner.
Effects of Long-Duration Space Flight
Mr. Bonner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I hope that the people who are in this hearing room,
especially those who might be viewing it today on C-SPAN,
realize how historic this is that we have got the first witness
before our committee in Congress that is not here, but is in
outer space.
Dr. Whitson, you were, as I recall from reading your
biography, in space for 184 days. That is a long time to be
away from home. And so much is made of these missions about the
effects on our body, the physical effect. What were the
psychological issues that you dealt with in space and then when
you returned home that you dealt with in returning home? And
talk to us a little bit, please, about the psychological
aspects of space travel.
Dr. Whitson. Well, I may be a little bit unique in that I
loved every minute on board the Space Station. It was a
phenomenal experience to me being there I think probably
because I had wanted to do it since I had walked--watched the
astronauts walk on the Moon. I have always wanted to be an
astronaut. When I graduated from high school, it was the first
year they selected female astronauts, and that is when I
decided I wanted to be an astronaut. Luckily for me, I didn't
know how hard it would be to get in, but I got lucky and I made
it. The psychological part of being in space is actually
probably less traumatic than the months and the years actually
leading up to it in the training process. We do about half of
our training in Russia, so we are away from our families a
month or two at a time back and forth. And so I think
psychologically that is kind of the building block for families
to build those relationships to be able to withstand going to
space for six-month periods of time. I tell my Expedition crew
members in training, ``This is the test. If you can make this
work then being on board the Station is so much easier, because
once you get there, you have such an interesting job, the best
one off of this planet.'' So we--I really enjoyed that
experience. I think probably the only long-lasting
psychological impact that I have after returning to Earth is
that I really, really want to go back.
Mr. Bonner. Lieutenant Colonel.
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. I think Peggy is not unique in
that she enjoyed her 184 days. I enjoyed my 187 days I hope as
much as she did. It was an amazing experience on an amazing
Space Station. There were only two of us on our mission and so
there was less company, but we got along great. My commander
from Russia and I, we got along. He spoke to me every day in
English, and I spoke to him in Russian. We saw each other eye
to eye, and looking outside at the beautiful planet below, we
never really got grumpy, because any time we felt anything sad
or bad, we just looked outside. But we also had a space
telephone, and we could call down and keep in touch with our
families. And while I was on board the Space Station, my wife
had our second child, our daughter, who was born while I was up
there, and this is not unique to service families that are all
over serving our country across the world, but this was unique
in that is the first time it happened to an astronaut in space.
But I was able to talk to my wife up to the point where labor
was happening and keep in touch for those, you know, days
afterwards when we were happy as a couple to be able to, you
know, welcome our daughter into the world. And so a lot goes to
our families for supporting us while we are in training in
Russia and training--and flying in space. But the psychological
aspects, it felt like we weren't that far away from home.
Mr. Bonner. If I may ask just a quick follow-up to both of
you. When most Americans travel away from home for 10 days or
two weeks and they get back home, the first thing they want to
do is have X or Y. What was it for you? Was it a Big Mac? Diet
Coke?
Dr. Whitson. For me, I wanted a steak and a salad.
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. And I was looking forward to my
mother-in-law's cooking. She came all of the way out to Russia
to cook me a nice Indian meal.
Mr. Bonner. That is a very good, politically correct
answer, Lieutenant Colonel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Calvert. Thank you.
Mr. Bartlett.
NASA's Role in Inspiring Youth
Mr. Bartlett. I can remember very well when the Soviet
Union launched their first Sputnik. I can remember the
excitement, October sky, watching that sky for the satellite to
go over. I remember when President Kennedy challenged the
Nation to put a man on the Moon within a decade. That was a
big, big challenge, and we did it in something less than a
decade. I remember trying to stay up at night to watch the
video of the Moon landing. And somehow, since the excitement of
those days, space flight has become kind of ho-hum, and it is
because, I think, NASA has been so successful that the American
public has been led to believe that this is a pretty routine,
unexciting thing. And there are two deficits that have occurred
because of that.
One is we aren't able to get the kind of funding that we
need for NASA and our space programs, particularly our manned
programs, because they don't have the excitement that they once
had for the American people.
The other deficiency is that we desperately need something
in our country that captures the imagination of our people and
inspires our young people to go into careers of science, math,
and engineering. Putting a man on the Moon really did that. I
remember a cartoon I saw, a little freckle-faced, bucktoothed
kid. He said, ``Six months ago, I couldn't even spell engineer
and now I are one.'' You know, everybody wanted to be a part of
that program.
It really is very hazardous duty. We have only--there is a
one chance in 50 you are--roughly one chance in 50 you are not
going to make it, if the past is going to predict the future in
terms of our space flights. Is that not correct, two out of 100
and some missions? Is that right? And so what have we done, or
what should we have done differently so that it didn't lose its
luster, so that this was still exciting, so that people were
still riveted to their television sets, so that our kids still
wanted to be a scientist, mathematician, or engineer, or an
astronaut? And you know, we are paying for that as a nation now
because we have far too few of our kids going into those
disciplines. How did we fail, and what do we need to do now so
that we can recoup?
Dr. Whitson. Well, that is a pretty big question, and I
wish I had the answer in my back pocket on that one.
I am not sure how we failed. I do think it is just as
critically important now as it was in the 1960s. I mean, I was
inspired. But every time I go out to talk to young school
children, you know, I feel it is my job to at least convince
one of those young people that they can do something that they
didn't think they could before I came.
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. One of NASA's three main mission
statements is to inspire the next generation of explorers, as
only NASA can. And I would certainly hate to be a witness and
disagree with you, sir, but every school that I have gone to,
and since I have come back from space I have talked to over
16,000 school kids across our country, and I haven't found
anybody that was not interested in space and not interested in
what we did aboard the Space Station and who didn't laugh when
the Commander's hair stuck up and watching us play with our
food and all of the joy and wonder and imagination to go fly in
space. And I think that imagination is still among our youth,
and it is just up to us to just close the loop and let them
know that, you know, America is the land of opportunity and
you, too, can be an astronaut or an engineer or a mommy or a
daddy or whatever it is that you want to be when you grow up,
because this is the place where dreams come true. And I think
NASA is doing that.
Mr. Bartlett. But it would be nice if we could translate
that excitement that you generate in the classroom to more of
our kids going into science, math, and engineering, because it
is not happening, and that is our challenge. You go to our
schools, like technical schools, and more than half of the
students there are foreign nationals. And our country--our
companies now are wanting more immigrants to come in because
they can't find enough scientists, mathematicians, and
engineers in this country.
So you know, thank you for inspiring our school children. I
hope that it is reflected with an increased number of our young
people going into these careers.
For the short-term, it threatens our economic superiority.
For the long-term, it threatens our military superiority. We
have got to have adequate numbers of bright young people going
into science, math, and engineering. And you all are voices
that are helping us do that. Thank you very much for the
contribution that you are making.
Language Barriers
Chairman Calvert. I see we have been joined by our friend
from Louisiana. If you would like to ask a question before we
tune into our friend in outer space--well, I am just going to--
we still have a few minutes, so I am going to ask a question.
I was listening to Colonel Fincke when we were talking
about use of language. Is that much of a barrier? Is that a
significant issue when you are up there in outer space? Do you
understand each other pretty well or--I guess my question is,
is everybody taking--at NASA, is everybody learning Russian and
everybody in the Russian astronaut corps learning English?
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. Well, Mr. Chairman, like in any
organization, communication is fundamental to mission success.
Chairman Calvert. You have a point. I have a hard time
understanding some of the members I serve with here, so----
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. And really, that is--so whatever
language it takes, we have learned to communicate with each
other on board. And we have learned to communicate with the
long partnership with Russia to communicate with each other.
And sometimes, like any other organization, the communication
isn't perfect, but I think, for the most part, we really
understand each other. And that is really fundamentally why
things aboard the Space Station are a success is because we
have good, solid working relationships. We know each other's
strengths and weaknesses, and we have built off of that and
have worked together as a team. Now it is not a perfect team.
Sometimes there is a little bit of grumbling and the press
loves to talk about that, but if you look at it right now, and
you are going to see, you know. Dr. Phillips is up there with
Sergei Krikalev working together in space, and that is a really
nice symbol for all of us to see people working together.
Chairman Calvert. Any add-on to that, Doctor?
Dr. Whitson. Well, I would just like to say that in
addition to the interpersonal requirements of doing something
like building the International Space Station, there is also an
incredible engineering level of interaction that is required. I
think it is somewhat miraculous that we have done such an
incredible job building the Space Station. As was mentioned a
little bit earlier, sometimes we maybe make it look a little
too easy. It really is quite miraculous that we have gotten all
of these pieces together.
Space Suits
Chairman Calvert. Quite an engineering feat. I always--
people ask me why do you have two different space suits when
you are up there? Is that make--does everything match up when
you have the cosmonaut in one space suit and the Americans, of
course, in our own space suit?
Dr. Whitson. For any given EVA, we use the same space suit,
but there are some tasks that we do on the U.S. side that we
use the U.S. space suit for and some on the Russian side. Mike
has a unique perspective on that from his real life experience.
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. By having two sets of things,
the redundancy it makes our engineering plan--to give us
success. In other words, we were getting ready to go outside in
American space suits, and we were going through a dress
rehearsal, and it turns out that his American space suit was
broken. We ended up fixing it by the end of the mission, but
because we had a spare set of space suits built by the
Russians, they didn't have the same problem, and we were able
to go up just a week or two later in the Russian space suits
and accomplish the task. And that just goes to show having
strength of a partnership and having the redundancy aboard the
Space Station is teaching us those lessons that we need to so
when we go back to the Moon and Mars we are taking note of all
of this.
Chairman Calvert. Great. Well, I understand that we are
getting down to about the--at about one minute. So I will ask
Mr. Udall if you want to ask anything in the minute we have
remaining?
Radiation
Mr. Udall. Talk a little bit, if you will, about the
radiation concerns on the Station and what you do about it, and
if we have any more time, what we project out on the Moon or on
Mars when it comes to radiation exposure.
Dr. Whitson. On board the Space Station itself, we actually
have radiation monitoring hardware with alarm systems that will
tell the crew if it is getting into a hazardous level. But
before that ever happens, the ground typically will warn the
crew that we anticipate that the radiation levels will go
higher at a certain point in time and recommend that they would
go----
Chairman Calvert. If I may interrupt, I think we are ready
to go.
Doctor, I think you need to connect with the Station.
Dr. Whitson. Station, this is Peggy with the Subcommittee
on Space and Aeronautics. How do you read?
[No response.]
Dr. Whitson. John, this is Peggy with the Subcommittee, how
do you read?
[No response.]
Dr. Whitson. John? John, this is Peggy, how do you read?
[No response.]
Dr. Whitson. There you are talking to him on the other
channel.
Dr. Phillips. Very good.
Dr. Whitson. We have you loud and clear. How do you read
us, John?
Dr. Phillips. I hear you, Peg.
Dr. Whitson. Okay. Great. I am going to hand you over to
Chairman----
Dr. Phillips. Loud and clear.
Dr. Whitson. Excellent. We are going to hand you over to
Chairman Calvert now.
Lessons Learned for Long-Duration Space Flight (cont.)
Chairman Calvert. And now we go live from space,
International Space Station, with Dr. John Phillips.
Doctor, I asked the same question to your two colleagues. I
want to ask you the same question that I asked them. What kinds
of lessons would you draw from your time on the Space Station
that you think could be applied to our next steps beyond Earth
orbit and for our return to the Moon and then going on to Mars?
Dr. Phillips. Yes, sir. First, welcome aboard the
International Space Station. It is my pleasure to welcome
aboard the ladies and gentlemen of the House Subcommittee on
Space and Aeronautics. Since I am a former Navy guy, I feel an
obligation to welcome you aboard.
I appreciate the opportunity to talk.
Well, I have been here about two months now, and I have
learned lessons, and we have learned lessons every day. And I
would like to emphasize that up here on the International Space
Station, we are the experiment, not only we, the crew, but the
vehicle, the equipment on it, our operations concept, our
mission control operations, and even our international
partnership. And I--what I have learned, I believe, is that we
need to build equipment with as much attention to the low
maintenance, as much attention to reliability as possible, and
we need to keep doing what we are doing with our multiple
layers of redundancy. We take safety very seriously, and we
build things with an eye to a redundancy, multiple pipelines,
multiple equipment that does the same thing. And if one thing
fails, we have got another to back it up. And I think we have
used that approach to very good success on the Space Station,
and I want to see us keep doing it in the future in our next
missions as well.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman for his answer, and
I will move on to our--to Mr. Udall who leads the Minority,
from Colorado.
Mr. Udall. Dr. Phillips, this is Mark Udall. I represent a
portion of Colorado, including half the ski areas. I am sure
you can see all of the snow in Colorado that we have had over
the winter, which means great water supplies for my friend from
California and others in the southwest.
Chairman Calvert. Thank you.
ISS and the View of Earth
Mr. Udall. Wax philosophical and talk a little bit about
what the view is like both looking into space as well as back
at the Earth.
Dr. Phillips. Well, as luck would have it, we traveled over
Colorado a couple of hours ago, and I shot some pictures
starting from the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho and then down
through Wyoming and across the front range in Colorado, and it
was very beautiful, and I can see here that you had a good snow
year.
The view is incredible from up here. And by the way, right
now, we are moving southeast, more or less parallel to the
coast of California in the north Pacific. We will be heading
down along the Baja. The view is incredible. We get the white
snow and the blue oceans and the tan deserts and the green
forests, and what it brings home to me is that we are a pretty
small planet, we are all one people, and we need to conserve
the resources we have, and make sure we work together to make
this place a livable for many generations to come.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Bonner, you are recognized for two minutes.
Mr. Bonner. Dr. Phillips, my name is Joe Bonner, and I am
from Mobile, Alabama, and my home state is very proud of its
role in manned space flights.
The Chairman has only given us two minutes to ask our
question, and normally those of us from the South, it takes two
minutes just to get our name out, so my question to you is very
brief. After all of your training and preparation and now that
you are there, what was your biggest surprise being on board
the Space Station and living in outer space?
Dr. Phillips. Well, I think my biggest surprise up here,
and I have been here, by the way, once before on a shorter
Shuttle flight, my biggest surprise I think was how much work
goes into the preparation for visiting vehicles. For example,
just 15 minutes ago, Commander Russian cosmonaut Sergei
Krikalev, closed the hatch on a Russian supply ship, about to
say goodbye to that ship, and then we are going to get another
one in a couple days. And it takes a lot of work to pack that
Progress vehicle with the stuff we don't need anymore and to
unpack, and then as soon as we get the new one aboard in just a
few days, then we are going to start in earnest preparing to
support the launch of the Shuttle Discovery and its mission to
dock here on Station. And that is just a whole lot of work, and
for a couple weeks, it really dominates our activities up here.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
The gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Melancon.
Mr. Melancon. My only question, and this is Congressman
Charlie Melancon from Louisiana, is are your feet strapped down
so you are not floating?
Dr. Phillips. Yes, sir. They are not--well, they are not
strapped down. Right now, I am not wearing any shoes. We only
wear shoes, pretty much, for exercise, but I have got my
stocking clad feet tucked under a railing on the floor, because
if I didn't do that, I would just kind of float around like
this.
Mr. Melancon. That is what I was talking about.
Thank you.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
The gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Bartlett.
ISS Orbit
Mr. Bartlett. Hi, this is Roscoe Bartlett from Maryland.
Could you tell us what type of an orbit you are in, the
altitude and the parts of the world that you see from your
orbit?
Dr. Phillips. Sir, we are in nearly a circular orbit at a
speed of about eight kilometers per second at an altitude of
350 kilometers right now. That is near the lower range of our
orbit. Sometimes it is a bit higher. It takes us about 90
minutes to go around the Earth. And we are in an orbital
inclination of 51.6 degrees, which is dictated by the fact that
basically half of the Station plus our Russian Soyuz vehicle
and supply vehicles are launched from base in central Asia
that, for various orbital reasons, needs to launch to that
inclination. And what that means is we see all of the Earth,
the low latitudes of maybe a little bit higher than our
inclination, maybe about 55 or 57 degrees. We can see that far
north and that far south. And actually my crewmate, Sergei
Krikalev, is taking pictures of his hometown of St. Petersburg,
which is nearly at 60 degrees.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Costa from California.
ISS Completion
Mr. Costa. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Congressman Jim Costa from California from Fresno.
Dr. Phillips, obviously we are pleased that you could be
here today for this presentation. You know, oftentimes the
question is asked for what purpose is the Space Station. When
we look at our nation's budget priorities and we look at our
nation's priorities with regard to our space program, both the
manned and the unmanned space program, today, as you sit there
from your vantagepoint, what percentage of the Space Station is
completed? And when it is completed in its entirety, what do
you believe the capabilities of the Space Station will be as we
try to answer the question toward these priorities?
Dr. Phillips. Well, thanks for your question, sir, and by
the way, I used to, I believe, live in your District down in
the Navy base of Lemoore, California.
Mr. Costa. It is a great Navy station.
Dr. Phillips. I have fond memories of that place.
Mr. Costa. I hope you are still registered to vote there.
Dr. Phillips. And I would guess that the Station is maybe a
little over half completed. I am just making up--we have got
some more large pressurized modules to build. There is a
laboratory from Europe and a laboratory from Japan. And excuse
me, I just said the wrong thing. They are already built, but we
have some more pressurized modules to launch. And then we have
got a lot of other big pieces waiting at Kennedy Space Center
right now for the resumption of Shuttle flight.
Eventually, we expect to have a crew of six up here, and
right now, with Sergei and I with a crew of two, much of our
work--although we are doing scientific experimentation as well.
When there are six people on board, there will be a lot more
scientific experimentation, experimentation designed to advance
our knowledge in combustion, and material science, in biology,
and I believe most importantly, just to advance our knowledge
in how to push further into space.
I would like to mention that the International Space
Station is maintaining our presence in space and maintaining
our national credibility as a worthy partner in an
international technical project. We constantly learn new
lessons up here about hardware, software. The experiences we
gather up here that will enable us to establish a long-term
station on the Moon and to go on to Mars.
Mr. Costa. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Calvert. Thank you.
Mr. Rohrabacher.
ISS Research Accomplishments
Mr. Rohrabacher. Hello. I am Congressman Dana Rohrabacher
from California, Huntington Beach, California. And greetings.
Okay. I will proceed.
We have learned a lot about human habitation of space by
what we have done at the Space Station and by you and others
who have spent time there. You are right there right now. Could
you tell us if you believe that there is any further commercial
potential for Space Station? And number two, you mentioned the
research potential a few moments ago. Could you go into some
specific detail about what type of accomplishments--research
accomplishments we could expect if we continue supporting the
Station?
Dr. Phillips. Well, sir, as I mentioned, right now our
experimental time is somewhat limited, but I am going to give
you an example of an experiment we are working with. It is
called advanced diagnostic ultrasound in microgravity. Now this
experiment uses medical ultrasound and high data--plus a team
of specialists on the ground to enable non-specialists like me
to provide state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging of heart, lungs,
abdomen, and arteries. This has great potential for use in
remote areas in places where you don't have diagnostic
specialists and for military uses on battlefield diagnostics,
for example. That is an example of one kind of experiment we
are going to do--we are doing up here now. When we have three
full operational laboratories, the Japanese, European, and
American laboratory up here with teams of scientists working in
those labs pretty much full time, I believe we will have the
potential for advancements in pharmaceuticals, for example, and
we have pharmaceutical research going on right now, and also
material science. I think those are the two biggest areas. It
is hard for me to put--to predict the kind of results of these
things, but I want to emphasize once more that from my
perspective, the most important thing up here is that we are
the experiment. We are learning how to fly in space.
Mr. Rohrabacher. Thank you very much.
Chairman Calvert. Thank you very much.
Mr. Miller, I think we are going to break up, but try to
get as much in as you can.
The Impact on ISS From the Shuttle Grounding
Mr. Miller. Yes, this is Brad Miller from North Carolina.
What has been the impact on your mission of the grounding
of the Shuttle fleet? Has that affected your procedures in any
way?
Dr. Phillips. I would describe the gravity of the Shuttle
fleet in sort--first and foremost, the assembly, as I have
mentioned, there are tresses, solar rays, and new pressurized
modules as well as a lot of laboratory equipment and spare
parts waiting at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to be
launched. Two of the modules scheduled for launch in the next
couple of years are laboratories that belong to Japan and
Europe.
The second impact, the use of ISS has been limited to two
persons since the Columbia accident with the limitations on
delivery of consumables, such as oxygen, water, and food.
Third, although our Russian partners have done an admirable
job in keeping the Station supplied, without the Shuttle, we
have been operating on somewhat--there are certain spare parts
that can only be delivered by the Shuttle, plus only the
Shuttle has the capability of carrying large cargo back to
Earth. So we are really looking forward to seeing the Discovery
about a month from now.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Green.
Russian Cooperation
Mr. Green. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Phillips, I had the good fortune about two weeks ago to
be in Russia and to meet with the Deputy Head of the space
agency. One of the things that we talked about was the great
spirit of cooperation that has been engendered as a result of
this noble mission that you find yourself a part of. Could you
kindly make some comments about the spirit of cooperation that
has manifested itself as you go about your business there in
the outer part of our world?
Dr. Phillips. Speaking from the standpoint of an astronaut,
not a manager, not a negotiator, I would say that cooperation
is wonderful. I have got my crewmate, Sergei Krikalev, 10 feet
away from me right now. We work together and live together. We
did about 50 percent of our training in the United States and
50 percent in Russia, and it is almost a situation without
boundaries. We go from one to the other, trained equally well.
And we--just this morning, we have both been talking to our
mission control center in Houston, our mission--our American
payload center in Huntsville, Alabama, and our mission control
center in Moscow. So I think, from an operational standpoint,
our two countries have really merged their programs very, very
well. And I can't really speak to the diplomatic and financial
negotiation end of it, because that is way above my pay grade.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Ms. Jackson Lee, any last questions?
Safety
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you.
Congresswoman Jackson Lee from Houston, Texas. Johnson
Space Center is in our neighborhood.
Thank you for your service.
My question is how comfortable are you with the safety
record of the International Space Station and are you seeing
improvement in the safety review and, of course, the quality of
safety on the Station?
Thank you.
Dr. Phillips. I have always been confident about the
quality of safety up here. We take safety very seriously. We
safeguard our health through an exercise program involving
bikes, treadmills, resistive devices. We have multiple levels
of redundancy. I think one of the lessons that was brought home
from the Columbia accident is that we have got to stamp out
complacency wherever we find it. We have got to remember that
this is a risky business, not like getting on an airliner. We
strap ourselves on rockets, and it still has some risks. I
think our safety record on the Station has been good since the
onset, and I think it is continuing to improve.
Chairman Calvert. I want to thank you, Doctor, for your
hospitality and allowing us to visit with you up there in outer
space and for answering our questions. We have about 10 seconds
left, so I wanted to say goodbye, and would love it if you said
goodbye to us, too. Be safe.
Dr. Phillips. I thank you very much, sir. And it has been a
pleasure talking to the ladies and gentleman of the Committee,
from the testing module in the American laboratory aboard the
International Space Station, I hope you have a wonderful day
down there in Washington. The weather is great up here.
Chairman Calvert. It is probably clearer there than it is
here.
Thank you. God bless, and I guess we are out.
Dr. Phillips. Thank you very much, sir. International Space
Station out.
Johnson Space Center. Station, this is Houston ACR. That
concludes the event.
Chairman Calvert. Well, that was exciting.
Mr. Udall, you are recognized for a question.
Research Aboard the ISS
Mr. Udall. Would you talk a little bit more about the
research possibilities as well as, perhaps, some of the
experiments you conducted and some of the lessons that you have
learned, Dr. Whitson, Lieutenant Colonel?
Dr. Whitson. Sure, I think John introduced it very well.
Sometimes it is very hard for us to predict what the outcome is
and what will be the best research to do on board the Station.
That is true of research here on the ground as well. Sometimes
the most interesting questions are, ``I wonder why that
happened.'' But I think, you know, there is a lot of potential.
I had the opportunity to work on zeolite crystal formations.
Zeolites are used in petroleum processing and in pollution
control, and we actually used them on board the Space Station
as part of our carbon dioxide removal system. I had the
opportunity to melt superconductor crystals under different
conditions to try and optimize crystal growth and get the
biggest superconductor crystals possible. And John talked about
the--ultrasound is another one that obviously also has direct
ground applications as well.
Anything to add, Michael?
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. One thing there was a big
difference between Dr. Whitson's mission and the one I was on
was they--we didn't have as much cargo mass up and cargo mass
down, so even though we could have done some really very
interesting experiments, we couldn't bring down all of the
results. So we have learned, during the two-person crew post-
Columbia missions of how to send down video at higher
qualities. We have learned how to do--make due with the
experimental materials we have on board and to do research that
way and to also get the high-quality results down without
actually having to send down the pieces, the experimental
samples themselves. However, when the Space Shuttle starts
flying again, and it is going to fly again soon, it is going to
represent a big boom in the capabilities of science, because we
will be able to take up a whole bunch of experiments that have
been waiting and bring down the experimental results that are
on board right now.
Radiation
Mr. Udall. If I could, I would like to go back to the
radiation question that we--but I do want to just mention that
I thought Dr. Phillips and you--both of you have been very
compelling in pointing out that the whole enterprise is an
experiment. Sometimes we are looking for these specific
outcomes, but just the fact that we are there and have been
there for as long as we have been there is a case and a story
we ought to continue to tell. It is pretty remarkable what we
have succeeded in doing.
The--I have read concerns expressed on the radiation
question that it is still undetermined to what extent we can
live on a place like the Moon or Mars given the potential
radiation exposures. You were talking a little bit about the
Station and what you do. You have suits that you put on and so
on when there would be radiation episodes. But would you just
talk in the two minutes we have remaining about the radiation
and your concerns?
Dr. Whitson. Sure. As I mentioned, we have procedures on
board to minimize the effects of the crew, but the
magnetosphere of the Earth actually provides a lot of radiation
protection to us, so even understanding this, we have to take
it another level up to understand the risks that we are going
to be taking on the Moon and on Mars. And radiation shielding
is going to be one of the important factors in whatever
vehicles we develop, whatever modules we have, you know. We may
have to--we may choose to do safe havens, you know, within a
small compartment area, because that might be logistically
easier to accomplish. So--but we do have to do some sort of
radiation protection in our future missions. It is going to be
critical, because it is a much higher radiation level outside
the Earth's magnetosphere. And even in 250 miles, we are still
protected, even though it is much higher than it is here in
Washington, DC.
Mr. Udall. There might be some people saying there is a lot
of radiation in this town, but Lieutenant Colonel.
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. Once we get on to a planetary
surface, and that is the trick, we can actually use some of the
resources there. We can--I don't want to say live underground
on the Moon, but we can use some of the lunar regolith, the
soil that is there, and use it to help protect us. And some of
the tricks that we are going to learn on the Moon are going to
be applicable to Mars, because Mars doesn't have a
magnetosphere to protect it like we do here on planet Earth. So
there are a lot of tricks and a lot of neat things that we
don't even completely understand now, but we are going to
understand as we take this voyage together.
Mr. Udall. The experiment would continue on the Moon?
Dr. Whitson. Exactly.
Mr. Udall. Thank you very much. Again, I am in awe of your
service and your commitment to pushing the envelope, looking
out over the horizon. Thank you.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Bonner.
Benefits of Human Space Flight
Mr. Bonner. Mr. Chairman, thank you.
I would like to follow-up with the question that
Congressman Bartlett asked both of you but phrase it a little
bit differently.
Clearly, I grew up watching Apollo as well. It was a
community-wide event. We would all go to the house that had the
color TV, if we were fortunate enough to have one in our town,
to sit and watch, as a community and as a nation and as a
world, in awe of what was happening. And perhaps because you
all were so successful and your predecessors were so
successful, we did begin to take things for granted until
tragedy came our way.
I guess my question to you is, there are a lot of media
here, this is being broadcast on C-SPAN. You have got four
minutes and 16 seconds to give a PSA on the advances in
arthritis, the advances in aging, advances in kidney stone that
NASA has played a role in helping our physicians, our
scientists, our engineers here on Earth make big progress up in
space.
Dr. Whitson. Well, it is always kind of awesome to try and
think about all of the different things that we have actually
had input into in terms of sensor technologies that applied in
medical scenarios. But one of the more interesting stories I
always like to tell is the one about the development of the
artificial assisted heart pump, because that developed because
they needed a mechanism to reduce the bubbling flow in the
artificial hearts. And they used similar technologies that we
used in the engines on the Shuttle. And so it is actually a
very indirect application of some engineering thing that we
learned to go to space that was applied to people's--saving
people's lives and giving them an artificial heart until they
could get a transplant.
So there are just some really interesting stories out
there. I hope that some of the experiments that I was involved
in will have some potential payoff in the future. I think in
particular, on my study, on the renal stones, we are interested
in applying something that we know here on Earth and hopefully
maybe there will be some payback later on after we have tested
it in zero gravity as well.
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. I am a pretty healthy guy, but
aboard the Space Station for 187 days and 24 hours--21 hours, I
lost a fair amount of bone mass, roughly about six percent, and
I exercised a lot. In fact, that is what we have seen with
humans in space is we lose, without gravity, now matter how
hard we exercise, somewhere between one and two percent of our
bone mass per month. Now that is accelerated osteoporosis. And
by understanding that--and fortunately it all came back for me,
but by understanding how we lose it, the mechanisms, and how we
can get it back, is very important to a lot of our population
who are suffering with osteoporosis right now. There is a
direct tie. We--on our mission, we were the first mission to
actually image our bones as they changed over time with this
ultrasound machine that we have been mentioning. So these are
some direct applications to the science of osteoporosis.
But space is definitely an investment in the country's
future. When I was up there, I saw four hurricanes--or
actually, I saw them all last summer, and John is going to see,
unfortunately, some this year. But it--I always reflected that
we lost very few people's lives, especially American lives,
because of the space program. We knew ahead of time that these
hurricanes were coming. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, you would
only get 18 hours. Now we let people know when hurricanes are
coming days in advance. They have a chance to pack up their
stuff and move if they need to or batten down wherever they
need to. So this space technology is protecting lives every
day, especially during the summer hurricane season on planet
Earth.
Mr. Bonner. Well, as someone who experienced one of those
hurricanes in my back yard, I want to thank you, because that
is a very good point. We were able to, with advanced notice,
avoid the loss of life that we saw, for instance, in the
tsunami. So thank you both for what you do and for what you
have done.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Costa.
ISS Configuration and Schedule
Mr. Costa. Thank you very much. And I am not sure if this
question is appropriately addressed to Dr. Whitson or
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. What I asked Dr. Phillips about the
level of completion of the Space Station currently, I thought
he said approximately 40 percent plus. What is the exact level
of completion currently today? And it goes to my larger
question that is under the timeline that we are currently
looking at when the--hopefully the Shuttle becomes operative
again here in the next couple of months, when do we believe
that we will be able to complete the Space Station to then have
the full complement of the six persons on the Station and to be
able to take advantage of all of the capacity that is--we hope
is built into the Station to perform not only the science but
the additional research that has been contemplated?
Dr. Whitson. It will take approximately six Shuttle flights
to complete the assembly of the truss element, which holds the
solar rays on either end. And that capability will allow us to
add on the different laboratory--the two additional laboratory
modules and then connecting node modules. So there will be
three more additional large modules in addition to the six
already on orbit.
Mr. Costa. So that is nine Shuttle flights?
Dr. Whitson. Yes.
Mr. Costa. Okay.
Dr. Whitson. Yes.
Mr. Costa. Over what length of time?
Dr. Whitson. Well, the Shuttle assembly rate is something
that I think a lot of folks are working on now, and we will do
whatever we feel is safe and----
Mr. Costa. I understand that part. Yeah.
Dr. Whitson. Well, we anticipate that we will also be
having to provide the resupply. As John mentioned, we have very
limited resource capability. The Russian Progress vehicles have
provided a lot of resupply capability, but if we want to
increase the crew size, we are going to be required to provide
resupply missions as well.
Mr. Costa. So it sounds like approximately 14 or 15 Shuttle
flights.
Dr. Whitson. Well, I think we will take that question for
the record and get you an official answer on that.
Mr. Costa. And if we are doing how many a year--we hope to
be doing a year----
Dr. Whitson. Hopefully----
Mr. Costa. Six?
Dr. Whitson. Yeah, five to six would be, I think, a good
estimate, but I think there is a lot of----
Mr. Costa. So we are talking about a three- to four-year
period, at least, to complete the Station?
Dr. Whitson. At least, yes.
Mr. Costa. Once we become operational with Shuttle. And
then after it is complete, how long do we believe that the
Station will be able to perform at that level?
Dr. Whitson. Well, it is going to depend a lot on the
maintenance resupply capability that we have provided at that
point, because we will have to provide capability to repair the
hardware on orbit.
Mr. Costa. And do you have cost estimates?
Dr. Whitson. I am not familiar with----
Mr. Costa. Okay.
Dr. Whitson.--those numbers.
Mr. Costa. I would like to submit that, for the record, Mr.
Chairman, as well.
Chairman Calvert. Without objection.
Mr. Costa. Thank you. I defer--yield the balance of my
time.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Rohrabacher.
ISS Resupply
Mr. Rohrabacher. Well, let us hope we aren't that dependent
on the Shuttle, because at $1 billion a flight, I guess that
would mean we are not going anywhere. But when we talk about
resupply, we are not really thinking that the Shuttle is going
to be the instrument for resupply, are we?
Dr. Whitson. We can take that question for the record, too,
but I think there are lots of different plans out there for
alternatives. With the ATV module being built by the Europeans
and the HTV module being built by the Japanese, we have lots of
options.
Mr. Rohrabacher. Realizing that perhaps these nine flights
that you spoke about, for the completion of Space Station, that
is the only vehicle we have that can handle that kind of load,
but when it comes to resupply, might not the private sector be
able to be contracted in other craft that cost us less than $1
billion a flight, not counting what the cargo is that is in
there? Might we go to that direction and be able to do more
with less?
Dr. Whitson. And we will take that question for the record,
also, but I do know that the program is working on various
alternatives that do include commercial resupply.
Mr. Rohrabacher. All right. And about your bone loss, six
percent. You lost six percent of your bone mass when you were--
would that also happen on the Moon?
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. Well, the--sir, we are not
exactly sure. We think it will be diminished on the Moon,
because there is gravity. Gravity on the Moon is roughly about
one-sixth on the Earth, and we think that the reason why we are
losing some of that kind of bone is because we are not
stimulating our muscles and our bone by walking. And that is
mainly where we lose it is in our hips. And so by having a
chance to walk on the Moon, we may be able to trick our bodies
into thinking to get more--to continue, but we don't know that
for sure. But when we go to the Moon, that is definitely, I
think, one of the things we will learn. And the gravity on Mars
is one-third, so maybe there is another equation there.
Resupply: ISS vs. Moon
Mr. Rohrabacher. Well, like we say, we have--the most--one
of the most important contributions of Space Stations is
learning about how to live in space, and this is our first step
of humankind living in space. The next step we see, the
President has outlined this plan very well, and I, of course,
commend the Administration on--finally, after so long, in so
many years presenting to us a strategy, a long-term strategy.
The President's next step in his strategy for space is the
Moon. And when we talked about resupply for the Station, how
expensive it is, would resupply for a Moon mission, how would
that compare to the cost for resupply for people who are in
Station?
Dr. Whitson. Well, I am not dealing with the budget numbers
on that, but I think what this opportunity offers us is the
lessons we have learned that we have to build hardware at a
much higher level of maintainability, you know. Our
requirements for resupply have to be reduced. We can't support
Moon or Mars missions at the same re-supply level that we are
doing currently. And I think that is an important lesson. And
where we can try and reduce that is something that we are
practicing on board the Station every day.
Mr. Rohrabacher. So we might be trying to find things on
the Moon that we could actually generate power from or find
water sources, et cetera? We can talk--I am sure we will--as
this goes on, we will be having hearings about the potential of
water on the Moon and other resources, but we are looking----
Chairman Calvert. So we can export it to California.
Mr. Rohrabacher. That would be good. This is the man who
made sure we had water for the last six years.
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. But if I may add, it is that
there is a lot of oxygen that is connected in the regolith, the
soil on the Moon. And right now, in kind of like an X-Prize,
NASA has set out this new program where we are offering a
reward for the cleaver team that can figure out how to use,
perhaps, like solar energy and get that oxygen that is trapped
in the minerals on the Moon so that we won't need to send up
oxygen, that we would be able to use the resources on the Moon.
So NASA is trying to be innovative in trying to figure out how
we can live off the land as best we can.
Mr. Rohrabacher. That is just the type of creative approach
that we are applauding your new Director for, and we expect to
see more of that from him and are very happy that--when people
come up with those kinds of ideas, because the cost to
resupply, we can't be spending $1 billion a flight for the
Shuttle and expect us to have a space program all based on $1
billion a flight, and that's just the cost of the
transportation. We have got to get these costs under control
and find some creative ways of accomplishing the mission in a
more cost-effective way.
So thanks for throwing that in, Colonel, and thank you very
much, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Wu, from Oregon. We will try to get some water out of
you, too.
ISS Configuration and Shuttle Launch Rates
Mr. Wu. Well, we Oregonians think that California ought to
be able to get all of the water that California wants. We will
just peg it to the price of a gallon of gasoline, and we are
happy to sell however much California can buy, Mr. Chairman.
I want to follow up on the questioning of Mr. Rohrabacher
and Mr. Costa. I was just doing, you know, a quick back-of-the-
envelop calculation based on Dr. Whitson's answers about how
many lift missions it would take to complete the International
Space Station, and then--well, it seems to me that if you count
up the number of missions and the mission rate, assuming five
or six missions per year, we are pretty much hard up against
the 2010 retirement date that the Administrator has said. Is
that roughly correct?
Dr. Whitson. Well, 2010 is the date that we are working to,
and there are groups that are now doing assessments and
analyzing what would be the best final configuration for the
Station. And so I think you will be getting some answers from
NASA later in the summer on what that configuration will be and
how we could do that.
Mr. Wu. But what I am concerned about the 2010 constraint
being something that, A, shapes the International Space
Station, whether that would be an appropriate or inappropriate
limitation on the International Space Station, and B, that the
2010 date, aside from its effect on the International Space
Station, also becomes a push date for the crew exploration
vehicle. And in my readback of the history of the space program
in the 1960s is that because we were in a race with the
Russians, the types of vehicles that we used took a certain
shape, and that became a limitation of you all going forward,
because we were in a hurry. And I am concerned that the same
kind of hurry about the crew exploration vehicle will perhaps
be a limitation on that vehicle going forward.
Chairman Calvert. I might point out to the gentleman that
the astronaut corps is probably not prepared to answer policy
questions, but I appreciate the gentleman asking.
Mr. Wu. Well, one thing that I have found is that if you
ask lower in the organization, sometimes the people doing the
rowing will give you more accurate answers than the people who
are trained to deal with the public, if you will.
Dr. Whitson. Well, I definitely think there is another
group that is working on the crew--our new crew vehicle, and
they are trying to take all of those lessons that we learned in
the early programs into account and trying to make fewer
mistakes. That is part of our hope and goal is to make fewer
mistakes than we made the first time around and to come out
more successful than we have even in the past. So I anticipate
that NASA will have a plan for you later this summer on what we
think we will be able to do.
Mr. Wu. Well, Lieutenant Colonel Fincke, Dr. Whitson, Mr.
Chairman, I want to support your efforts fully, but I also want
to state for the record that I am concerned about artificial
constraints, be they of a date or other nature, and how those
constraints can shape the Space Station or shape future space
exploration. And I just want to lay that out there, not as an
item of concern for you all, but as, really, an item of support
for what your mission should be in the long-term is if there is
anything that I have observed from my student days to the
present is that there is nothing quite as permanent as
temporary solutions, and they--you tend to rely on them for a
lot longer than one expects to when first going in. And you all
and your successors wind up, you know, having to live with
that--with those constraints.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Wu. I yield back my time.
Chairman Calvert. Mr. Feeney from Florida.
Challenges of Human Space Flight
Mr. Feeney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And for both Dr. Whitson and Lieutenant Colonel Fincke,
with respect to the expertise that you uniquely have as
astronauts on the physiological impacts of space travel in low
Earth orbit, do you have some experiences or guess about what
that portends for the future of mid Earth orbit or high Earth
orbit for human beings? We have got lots of technological
challenges. We have talked a little bit about the exercise to
levels. I know we are doing some experiments on the current
Expedition 11 astronauts when they get back, but based on your
experience so far, do you have some scientific challenges that
you can help us deal with, or do you just have some good
guesstimates of problems that we are going to face as we move
into further mid and outer Earth orbit?
Dr. Whitson. Well, the human body responds very
individually unfortunately for us, because it would be so much
easier for us to answer the question with one person. Mike's
experience on bone loss was very different from mine. I lost no
overall bone density during my space flight, but I had a
different exercise regime. And so we are learning from that.
Maybe it was the exercise. Maybe it was something else as part
of what we were doing during the mission. We have to pick those
pieces apart to find out the best solutions to going further
out to the Moon and Mars. I think we are well on our way. We
have seen a lot of promise, and we are getting the information
and data that we need to make the conclusions and to develop
the right procedures to protect and minimize our bodies against
those risks in space. But there are lots of things we have to
work on, the radiation we talked about before. We have to have
exercise hardware that is reliable enough to get us all of the
way there and back and so that when we get to the Moon or Mars
we have that capability to perform well once we are there.
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. That is the--we are--we don't
think we have the bone loss problem licked, but we think we
have a good handle on it. We understand it. The radiation
shielding, that is something we are--that is a little bit right
now a long pole in the tent, and we are spending efforts
appropriately to try to figure that out, how to come up with
radiation shields that don't weigh a lot, because every
kilogram, every pound that you send up costs a lot of money.
And that is one of the tricks, especially as we get out of low
Earth orbit and away from our magnetosphere that we are really
going to have to understand, and we are working towards it. And
hopefully there is going to be some things that we learn about
these lightweight radiation shields that we are going to come
up with that will be applicable for radiation shielding that we
need on the ground, because every hospital I know has an x-ray
machine and things like that, and maybe there are some things
that we can feed back into our industry.
Future CEV Designs
Mr. Feeney. One of the things I am excited about the new
Administrator's proposal is to shorten the window or eliminate
it when we are out of manned space flight from the original
proposal of 2010 to 2014 and maybe have no window at all, which
I am excited about. But the challenge is to design and then
produce the right CEV to replace the Shuttle and to do some
more types of missions that are more flexible and more--with
different and more exciting capabilities for outer Earth orbit.
What do your experiences, including the exercise, including the
psychological impacts as well as the physiological, what do
they tell you about the way, if you were a designer, you would
try to design the next living quarters? Obviously, you would
like to be floating around in a comfortable RV with a TV and
all of the rest of it, but given the reasonable limitations,
what do your experiences tell you designers ought to be
thinking about?
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke. One thing in the psychological
area, we just like having a telephone. It was really important.
I talked to my wife once or twice a day, not for a long period
of time, I was busy, but it was still just being able to say
hi, especially with our new baby that came. And being able to
be able to still be in contact with your friends and family
while you are in low Earth orbit or high Earth orbit or on the
Moon is going to be important. It is going to be a little
trickier when you go to Mars, but just having something as
simple as that, because it doesn't cost very much mass to put a
voice-over IP telephone on with your communication system. That
doesn't even cost that much money. I can get one at home really
cheap. It is one of these things that makes a big difference
yet it doesn't cost very much in terms of time and money. And
that is a--those are the kinds of things that we are learning
aboard Space Station, what we really need and the things that
we don't need. Exercise equipment, boy, that is definitely an
important thing, and we had some really good ideas going into
it, and now we are--we have learned from it, and we are
moving--you know, making improvements onto the next series of
designs.
Mr. Feeney. Well, you should run for Congress. A lot of us
spend half our time avoiding the telephone here on terra firma.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Calvert. I thank the gentleman.
Microgravity Research
I have one question. The issue of the problems with gravity
and you are saying you need to understand that. But we really
don't understand microgravity, do we, because we haven't been
able to do, really, any experiments of any note, as far as I
know, in on the International Space Station, is that true?
Dr. Whitson. Actually, during my mission, the zeolite
crystal growth experiment that I had conducted was actually
done in a special rack called the ARIS, Active Rack Isolation.
And it has got accelerometers that null out. And so basically,
the rack itself was floating inside the Space Station, which
is, of course, going around the Earth. And it has got
accelerometers on it to null out any vibrations from the
Station itself and to optimize, in that particular case, the
crystal formation that we were looking for. So we have had a
limited capability there with individual racks and experiments
within those racks and those special racks.
Chairman Calvert. How about upon organisms, on living
organisms? Have there been any experiments on microgravity on--
as far as the effects of, say, as you mentioned one-third
gravity, which you would have on--or one-sixth gravity that you
would have on the Moon or the one-third gravity that you would
have on Mars, whether it has a zero effect as far as bone loss
or no effect at all? I mean, have there----
Dr. Whitson. No.
Chairman Calvert.--been any experiments on any of that at
all?
Dr. Whitson. Not to this point there have not been any
experiments. It was planned to have those experiments conducted
when we get the Centrifuge Accommodation Module up on board.
Chairman Calvert. Now that is where I was----
Mr. Rohrabacher. Will the Chairman--excuse me.
Chairman Calvert. That is where I was just moving toward.
Is the Centrifuge, I believe that is in conjunction with the
Japanese, as far as you know, going ahead?
Dr. Whitson. As far as I know.
Chairman Calvert. As far as you know? Okay.
Mr. Rohrabacher. Would the Chairman yield?
Chairman Calvert. Sure.
Mr. Rohrabacher. Thank you very much.
When the Space Station docks with their--you know, you
noted that we have a number of resupply missions that are
required, and every time there is a docking required, does this
or does this not interfere with some of these microgravity
experiments that are taking place and will take place on the
Station? What have we noted?
Dr. Whitson. We actually do have hardware that monitors and
calibrates the vibrations on board the Space Station, some
specific for the docking events and large events like that, but
we also have a continuous monitoring at various frequency
levels so we can monitor what the environment is. And it has
been interesting, because we have found some interesting
results relative to that in some of our exercise activities
that have been going on. So we are learning as we go along
where we might be perturbing the microgravity environment on
board the Station. As I mentioned, we have the specific area
that was specifically designed for those microgravity
experiments where it is very important and key not to have
those vibrations interfere.
Mr. Rohrabacher. And thus we have overcome by those
protections that we you are talking about, we have overcome the
jolt that might take place with a----
Dr. Whitson. Yeah. It minimizes those effects dramatically.
Yes.
Mr. Rohrabacher. All right. Thank you very much, Mr.
Chairman.
Chairman Calvert. Thank you.
Well, with that, I want to thank you, Dr. Whitson and
Lieutenant Colonel Fincke, for your attendance here today and,
of course, Dr. Phillips, who came from--to us from outer space.
It was an exciting hearing and historic, I understand the first
time we have actually had a hearing and heard from our--or
heard from a witness from outer space. So this was a new and
exciting thing.
Mr. Feeney. Mr. Chairman, if I could, I have a point of
personal privilege. I was speaker of the Florida House when we
had the Shuttle astronauts actually take questions from
Governor Bush, Lieutenant Governor Brogan, and the House
Speaker, who happened to be me at the time.
Chairman Calvert. Well, Florida is ahead, once again, of
the rest of us in the country, and so--but this is the first
time in the U.S. House of Representatives, I suspect.
But with that, I thank you, and we appreciate your
commitment and dedication to this country, and we look forward
to hearing from you in the future.
With that, we are adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:30 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
Appendix:
----------
Additional Material for the Record