[Senate Hearing 115-804]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        S. Hrg. 115-804

                          THE SEARCH FOR LIFE:
                    UTILIZING SCIENCE TO EXPLORE OUR
                 SOLAR SYSTEM AND MAKE NEW DISCOVERIES

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                    SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE, SCIENCE, 
                          AND COMPETITIVENESS

                                 OF THE

                         COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
                      SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                     ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION
                               __________

                             AUGUST 1, 2018
                               __________

    Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation
                             

                  [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]                             


                Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                    
55-219 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2024                   


       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                     ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                   JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi         BILL NELSON, Florida, Ranking
ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
DEAN HELLER, Nevada                  TOM UDALL, New Mexico
JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma               GARY PETERS, Michigan
MIKE LEE, Utah                       TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
CORY GARDNER, Colorado               CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  JON TESTER, Montana
                       Nick Rossi, Staff Director
                 Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
                    Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
                 Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
              Chris Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
                      Renae Black, Senior Counsel
                                 ------                                

          SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE, SCIENCE, AND COMPETITIVENESS

TED CRUZ, Texas, Chairman            EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts, 
JERRY MORAN, Kansas                      Ranking
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
MIKE LEE, Utah                       TOM UDALL, New Mexico
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               GARY PETERS, Michigan
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
CORY GARDNER, Colorado               MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire

                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
Hearing held on August 1, 2018...................................     1
Statement of Senator Cruz........................................     1
Statement of Senator Markey......................................     2
Statement of Senator Nelson......................................     3
Statement of Senator Hassan......................................    31
Statement of Senator Peters......................................    33

                               Witnesses

Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for the Science 
  Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space 
  Administration.................................................     5
    Prepared statement...........................................     7
Dr. Ellen R. Stofan, Ph.D., John and Adrienne Mars Director, 
  Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum......................    11
    Prepared statement...........................................    13
Dr. David Spergel, Professor of Astronomy, Princeton University; 
  and Managing Director, Flatiron Institute......................    14
    Prepared statement...........................................    16
Dr. Sara Seager, Professor, Planetary Science, Physics, and 
  Aerospace Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology...    21
    Prepared statement...........................................    23

                                Appendix

Response to written questions submitted to Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen 
  by:
    Hon. Bill Nelson.............................................    41
    Hon. Maggie Hassan...........................................    42
    Hon. Tom Udall...............................................    43
    Hon. Gary Peters.............................................    44

 
                     THE SEARCH FOR LIFE: UTILIZING
                      SCIENCE TO EXPLORE OUR SOLAR
                    SYSTEM AND MAKE NEW DISCOVERIES

                              ----------                              


                       WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2018

                               U.S. Senate,
           Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness,    
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:43 p.m. in 
room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Ted Cruz, 
Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Cruz [presiding], Gardner, Markey, 
Nelson, Peters, Baldwin, and Hassan.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. TED CRUZ, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM TEXAS

    Senator Cruz. Good afternoon. This hearing is called to 
order.
    Since the dawn of time, man has often looked up into the 
night sky and wondered what is out there. Are we alone?
    In 300 B.C., the great philosopher Epicurus assumed that, 
quote, other worlds with plants and other living things, some 
of them similar and some of them different than ours, must 
exist.
    The basic question of wondering what lies out there is one 
that has driven civilizations to risk life and limb to explore 
not only this planet but to venture out into the solar system.
    In 1977, NASA began an effort to try to better answer this 
question by launching Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which were 
originally intended to primarily explore Jupiter and Saturn. 
Each spacecraft carries a small American flag and a golden 
record packed with pictures and sounds that are intended to be 
mementos of our home planet.
    Forty years after they were launched, Voyager 1 has reached 
interstellar space and Voyager 2 is in the outermost layer of 
the heliosphere where the solar wind is slowed by the pressure 
of interstellar gas. As each spacecraft continues on its voyage 
and transmits scientific information back to Earth, we are left 
to wonder if the great Steve Martin may still be proven right, 
that one day we will receive a four-word response from 
intelligence life somewhere in the universe who received the 
golden record and simply requests, send more Chuck Berry.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Cruz. The search for life is not just a question of 
casual interest. It is an integral part of NASA's core mission.
    In the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017, which was 
signed into law by President Trump, this committee authored and 
added a short phrase to NASA's mission. Quote: The search for 
life's origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the 
universe.
    The Atlantic has described the addition of that short but 
momentous phrase as, quote, a visionary one, setting the stage 
for a far-reaching effort that could have as profound an impact 
on the 21st century as the Apollo program had on the 20th.
    Since the enactment of the NASA Transition Authorization 
Act of 2017, we have even more reason to be encouraged that we 
are on the right path. Just before our last hearing, the 
``Journal of Science'' published a report on radar evidence of 
subglacial liquid water on Mars. Using radar profiles collected 
from a satellite between May 2012 and December 2015, scientists 
have found evidence of a 12-mile wide reservoir of briny water 
beneath the south polar layer deposits. And just one month 
prior to the announcement of this discovery, NASA reported that 
the Curiosity rover had found new evidence preserved in rocks 
on Mars, suggesting that the planet could have supported 
ancient life. We are making progress as we search for life's 
origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe.
    As we look to draft a new NASA authorization act, hopefully 
this year, it is imperative that we not only continue to make 
progress answering this question but that we also equip NASA 
with the capabilities that it needs to support science missions 
and priorities that will lead to discoveries across our solar 
system.
    This is a momentous time to be involved in space 
exploration, and I look forward to the testimony of our 
esteemed witnesses.
    Now I will recognize Senator Markey, the Ranking Member, 
for his opening remarks.

               STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD MARKEY, 
                U.S. SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS

    Senator Markey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very much. Thank 
you for having this extremely important hearing today with this 
incredible panel.
    Last week, we gained great insight from our witnesses on 
how Americans will venture out of earth's orbit beyond the Moon 
and onto the surface of Mars.
    Today we welcome another distinguished panel of experts 
that will point us in the right direction as we launch science 
missions into the void of space with the hopes of making 
groundbreaking discoveries about our solar system, our 
universe, and our very own home, planet Earth.
    Currently, NASA's Science Mission Directorate funds space 
science missions and research in a number of crucial areas, 
including astrophysics, planetary science, and heliophysics.
    One of the portfolios within NASA's Science Mission 
Directorate that is often overlooked but is absolutely vital is 
earth science. With deadly fires gripping California and 
Greece, extreme hurricanes in the Atlantic, and searing heat 
waves and droughts around the world, our investment in NASA's 
earth science and climate research programs and missions must 
be both abundant and unwavering.
    NASA's essential earth observation missions, including the 
carbon monitoring system, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2, 
and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, give 
us evidence that the climate is changing, and if we are willing 
to pay attention, this information can help us prepare for a 
more dangerous future. We must be sure that NASA's earth 
science program has the resources necessary to provide our 
scientists with the latest data so that Congress and agencies 
across the government can combat this problem head on so that 
our planet Earth may be home to many future generations to 
come.
    And finally, we are very fortunate to have Dr. Sara Seager, 
Professor of Physics and Planetary Science at MIT, who is a co-
investigator on NASA's TESS mission. NASA announced only a few 
days ago that TESS has been turned on and has begun its search 
for distant worlds. Carl Sagan once said, ``the nature of life 
on earth and the quest for life elsewhere are two sides of the 
same question, the search for who we are.'' TESS is one of the 
NASA scientific missions that will help us to find who we are.
    My colleagues and I have great confidence in the space 
community, including NASA's team of exceptional scientists and 
collaborators, and we look forward to the testimony from our 
witnesses this afternoon. Again, we thank you all for helping 
us to understand better what our mission here in Congress 
should be to help you to accomplish this goal.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you.
    I would now recognize the Ranking Member of the Full 
Committee, Senator Nelson, if you would care to make an opening 
remark.

                STATEMENT OF HON. BILL NELSON, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA

    Senator Nelson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    I would point out that the Science Mission Directorate does 
an incredible amount--30 percent of the NASA budget is here, 
and they are operating 60 missions on 80 spacecraft. It is 
vast.
    They want to unlock the secrets of the universe. You all 
have talked about the search for life and improving life here 
on earth. And so legislation that we are putting together is to 
add the search for life's origin, evolution, distribution, and 
the future of the universe. That is about everything all rolled 
into one.
    This is one of the gee-whiz parts of NASA, and it is 
complementary with the human missions of NASA. You cannot do 
one without the other.
    It is going to be a real challenge for us to protect human 
life, going all the way to Mars. We got to get them there 
faster than we get there now, and we got to protect them from 
being fried in the process by radiation. What we will learn in 
that mission and that development of technology to sustain 
human life will also complement, and vice versa, the Science 
Mission Directorate. So it is going to be an exciting time for 
NASA.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you, Senator Nelson. You talk about the 
danger of being fried in space. Just yesterday I was mentioning 
to my staff the old TV ad, this is your brain. This is your 
brain on drugs. This is your brain with a side of bacon. And 
they were too young to have any idea what I was talking about.
    I am pleased to welcome each of the witnesses here today. 
We will start with Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, who is the Associate 
Administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. 
Previously Dr. Zurbuchen was a professor of space science and 
aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann 
Arbor. Dr. Zurbuchen's experience includes research in solar 
and heliospheric physics, experimental space research, space 
systems, and innovation and entrepreneurship. He has been 
involved in several NASA science missions, including the 
Ulysses Space Probe, the Messenger spacecraft to Mercury, and 
the Advanced Composition Explorer.
    Dr. Zurbuchen received his Ph.D. in physics from the 
University of Bern in Switzerland.
    Our next witness is Dr. Ellen Stofan, who is the Director 
of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I think it 
may, indeed, be a Federal law that every visitor and 
particularly every child that comes to Washington must go to 
the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. Dr. Stofan is the 
seventh person to lead the museum since Apollo 11 astronaut 
Michael Collins oversaw its founding in 1976 and is the first 
woman appointed to the position.
    Dr. Stofan previously served as NASA's chief scientist for 
3 years from 2013 to 2016. In that role, she guided the 
development of a long-range plan to send humans to Mars, worked 
on strategies to expand commercial activity in earth orbit, and 
supported NASA's science programs in heliophysics, earth 
science, planetary science, and astrophysics.
    Prior to that, Dr. Stofan served as the Chief Scientist for 
the New Millennial Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 
California.
    Dr. Stofan received her Ph.D. in geological sciences from 
Brown University.
    Dr. David Spergel is the Charles A. Young Professor of 
Astronomy and Professor of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton 
University, my alma mater. For over 2 decades, Dr. Spergel has 
worked on the interpretation and analysis of microwave 
background data to better understand the basic properties of 
the universe.
    Dr. Spergel is the co-chair of the science team for the 
wide field infrared survey telescope, more commonly known as 
WFIRST. He has been involved in many aspects of the mission and 
has contributed countless hours of work to creating a telescope 
that will ultimately let humanity see further into the universe 
than ever before.
    Dr. Spergel received his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard 
University.
    And finally, Dr. Sara Seager, who is a professor of physics 
and planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology. A native of Toronto, Dr. Seager's research has made 
unprecedented discoveries and has gone leaps and bounds to 
expand humanity's knowledge in the field of astronomy. Dr. 
Seager's research has introduced many new ideas for the study 
of exoplanets. In fact, she was part of a team that helped 
discover the first detection of light emitted from an 
exoplanet. Additionally, she has conducted swaths of research 
focusing on theoretical models of atmospheres and interiors of 
all kinds of exoplanets.
    Dr. Seager received her Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard 
University.
    And I would note with all these Ph.D.s, I think the 
Senators sitting here are all badly under-educated.
    And with that, we will have our first witness, Dr. 
Zurbuchen.

          STATEMENT OF DR. THOMAS ZURBUCHEN, ASSOCIATE

       ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE,

         NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

    Dr. Zurbuchen. Thank you so much.
    Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Markey, Ranking Member 
Nelson, and members of the Subcommittee, the work of NASA's 
science is at the forefront of scientific discovery and 
innovation. The questions we seek to answer affect humanity on 
a global scale and focus on our place in the universe. Where 
did we come from? Are we alone? Questions that are well aligned 
with the topic of this hearing.
    Later this month, NASA will launch our next daring mission 
which will touch the sun by actually flying deep through its 
atmosphere. The Parker Solar Probe is the first spacecraft 
designed to do so and will revolutionize our understanding of 
the sun's corona and expand our knowledge of the origin and 
evolution of the solar wind. This mission will also make 
critical contributions to our ability to forecast changes in 
space weather that affect life and society's essential 
technological infrastructure on the near Earth.
    Parker will join numerous other exciting missions launched 
in the next few months, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey 
Satellite, TESS, launched in mid-April and is NASA's next 
planet hunting mission, searching for planets orbiting nearby 
stars. On July 25, we just heard, it began conducting the 
first-ever spaceborne all-sky transit survey and is expected to 
catalog more than 1,500 exoplanet candidates, including 500 
earth-sized and super earth-sized planets. TESS will identify 
prime targets for further, more detailed characterization with 
the James Webb Space Telescope and other missions.
    Also launched in May, NASA's newest Mars lander, InSight, 
is now en route for a November touchdown. It will join a 
complement of NASA rovers, landers, and orbiters at the Red 
Planet. InSight's advanced payload will provide unique 
information on the interior structure of Mars and thus other 
planets.
    Collaborating closely with the human exploration program at 
NASA, we continue to use the International Space Station as a 
valuable platform for great science. On June 29, the ECOSTRESS 
instrument was carried to the Space Station by a commercial 
resupply mission. ECOSTRESS measures agricultural water use in 
the United States and plant stress around the globe and will 
identify drought warning conditions.
    In fact, there is no program in NASA Science that has more 
direct impact to everyday life than our earth science program, 
as was mentioned. Whether it is developing the tools to predict 
severe weather or drought or whether it is to understand the 
complex interactions of the earth's system, what we learn here 
affects our lives.
    For example, in the midst of the 2017 hurricane season, 
data produced from NASA's earth-observing research satellites 
were used to support real-time decisionmaking and response 
efforts by FEMA and others.
    NASA also integrates science and future human exploration 
goals with regard to the return of humans to the Moon and to 
Mars. Establishing a new agency-wide Lunar Discovery and 
Exploration Program and leveraging NASA's extensive lunar 
science experience in data, NASA is jump-starting commercial 
partnership, innovative approaches for building and launching 
next generation sophisticated science instruments, and the 
development of small rovers that will reach the Moon's surface 
via commercial landers.
    With regard to the hearing topic, The Search for Life, 
planetary science provides some of the most exciting views of 
the unexplored worlds in our solar system.
    Progress continues on the Mars 2020 rover, which will carry 
a small helicopter to Mars, a first for humanity. NASA is also 
planning for a potential Mars sample return mission, a top 
priority identified by the scientific community in the most 
recent decadal for planetary sciences. During 2019, NASA will 
continue development of the cutting-edge Europa Clipper mission 
to fly by Jupiter's ocean moon, one of the most promising 
targets for finding life in our solar system.
    In many ways, NASA's astrophysics and planetary sciences 
programs are working more closely together than ever, examining 
how habitable environments develop and contribute to the search 
for life, as will be discussed by the other witnesses here 
later.
    NASA is committed to answering the big questions, and it 
requires commitment to new and challenging missions. In 2021, 
NASA's observatories will be joined by the James Webb Space 
Telescope. Webb will be capable of examining the first stars 
and galaxies to form and will view the atmospheres of nearby 
planets outside the solar system. Webb's telescope and 
instruments are fully integrated and performed superbly during 
testing, and the spacecraft element, comprised of the bus and a 
tennis-court sized sunshield, is completely assembled and 
undergoing testing.
    In March 2018, NASA recognized that Webb would take longer 
and cost more to develop than previously estimated due to 
issues involving the integration and testing of the spacecraft 
elements. I established, as a result of that, an independent 
review board to provide an assessment of the time and cost 
necessary to complete development. And the IRB provided 
valuable recommendations which we are all implementing.
    In conclusion, as we look forward to the future, NASA's 
science program will continue to contribute to the scientific 
and technological advancement of the United States and inspire 
future scientists and engineers to reach for the stars.
    I will be happy to answer any questions.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Zurbuchen follows:]

  Prepared Statement of Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator 
  for the Science Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space 
                             Administration
    Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Markey, and members of the 
Subcommittee, I am excited to be here today to tell you about NASA's 
science program.
    The work of NASA Science is at the forefront of scientific 
discovery and innovation. The questions we seek to answer affect 
humanity on a global scale and focus on our place in the universe--
Where did we come from? Are we alone? Questions that are well-aligned 
with the topic of this hearing. Tackling such difficult questions 
requires courage and a dedication to excellence. It requires a culture 
where there is a willingness to learn and change and to take risks in 
the interest of science. Our commitment to challenge ourselves means 
that we learn from our successes, and, more importantly, even when we 
do not succeed, we still dig deep for lessons, make adjustments, and 
continue to expand our knowledge.
    Later this month, NASA will launch our next daring satellite 
mission of exploration and science, harnessing cutting-edge technology 
to advance humanity's knowledge of our star's secrets by ``touching the 
sun'', by actually flying deep through its atmosphere. The Parker Solar 
Probe is the first spacecraft designed to do so, providing us with the 
closest-ever observations of a star. Parker Solar Probe's measurements 
will revolutionize our understanding of the Sun's corona and expand our 
knowledge of the origin and evolution of the solar wind. The mission 
will also make critical contributions to our ability to forecast 
changes in space weather that affect life and society's essential 
technological infrastructure on Earth. It will also help us better 
understand how stars like ours affect the potential habitability of 
planets around other stars.
    NASA uses the unique vantage points of space, airborne, and ground-
based assets, as well as teams of scientists, engineers, and 
technologists to expand our knowledge of the Earth, our Sun and solar 
system, and the universe. NASA measurements and research advance 
critical understanding, inform decision making, and improve the quality 
of life for citizens in the United States and humankind around the 
globe. NASA integrates science within overall agency goals, including 
human space exploration. Executing a balanced portfolio, NASA 
illuminates the secrets of the universe, searches for life elsewhere, 
and ensures that we continue to play an important role in protecting 
and improving life on Earth.
    When the Parker Solar Probe launches, it will join numerous other 
exciting missions launched in the last few months. The Transiting 
Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), launched on April 18, 2018, is 
NASA's next planet-hunting mission, searching for planets orbiting 
nearby stars. On July 25, it began conducting the first-ever spaceborne 
all-sky transit survey and is expected to catalog more than 1,500 
exoplanet candidates, including 500 Earth-size and super-Earth-size 
planets. TESS will identify prime targets for further, more detailed 
characterization with the James Webb Space Telescope and other 
missions.
    The twin GRACE Follow-On satellites (a partnership with German 
research and space agencies), were launched on May 22, 2018, and are 
undergoing on-orbit checkout. The mission is already providing new 
information on Earth's gravity field, which is affected by ice sheet 
and oceanic mass balances, underground water storage changes in 
aquifers, and regional drought conditions. While carrying on the 
extremely successful work of its predecessor, GRACE Follow-On mission 
is also successfully testing a new spaceborne laser ranging technology 
designed to dramatically improve the already remarkable precision of 
its measurements.
    Also launched in May, NASA's newest Mars lander--the Interior 
Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport or 
InSight lander is now en route for a November touchdown. It will join a 
complement of NASA rovers, landers, and orbiters at the Red Planet. 
InSight's advanced payload will provide unique information on the 
interior structure of Mars, providing glimpses into the processes that 
shaped the four rocky planets of the inner solar system. Insight is 
accompanied on its trip by an exciting technology experiment: twin 
briefcase-sized CubeSats called Mars Cube One, or MarCO--the first 
CubeSats to travel to deep space.
    Collaborating closely with the Human Exploration and Operations 
Mission Directorate, SMD continues to use the International Space 
Station as a valuable platform for great science. For Earth 
observation, the ISS hosts the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) to detect 
lightning both day and night, the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas 
Experiment-III (SAGE-III) to measure atmospheric ozone and aerosol 
profiles, and the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-1 (TSIS-1) 
to precisely monitor solar radiation reaching the Earth. On June 29, 
the low-cost, competitively-selected ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal 
Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) instrument was 
carried to the space station in the Dragon trunk of a SpaceX commercial 
resupply mission. ECOSTRESS measures agricultural water use in the 
United States and vegetation stress around the globe and will identify 
drought warning conditions. Looking outward into the universe, the 
Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) and the Cosmic Ray 
Energetics and Mass (CREAM) experiments were installed on the ISS in 
2017. Scientists analyzing NICER data have discovered an x-ray pulsar 
in a record-fast orbit of only 38 minutes. CREAM is monitoring the 
cosmic rays that constantly shower the Earth.
    NASA also integrates science and future human exploration goals 
with regard to the eventual return of humans to the Moon. Establishing 
a new Agency-wide Lunar Discovery and Exploration program and 
leveraging NASA's extensive lunar science experience and data, NASA is 
jump-starting commercial partnerships, innovative approaches for 
building and launching next-generation sophisticated science 
instruments, and the development of small rovers that will reach the 
Moon's surface via commercial landers. We also will put our Lunar 
Reconnaissance Orbiter to new use supporting both science and human 
exploration goals.
    NASA issued a draft request for proposals (RFP) for Commercial 
Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) on April 27, encouraging the U.S. 
commercial space industry to introduce new technologies to deliver 
payloads to the Moon; we anticipate releasing the final RFP in August. 
NASA intends to award multiple contracts for these services through the 
next decade, with contract missions to the lunar surface expected to 
begin as early as 2019, and with a company's first delivery no later 
than Dec. 31, 2021.
    These types of innovative partnerships with commercial and 
international organizations, as well as the use of small and less 
expensive satellites, enable us to maintain a balanced science program, 
achieve high-priority science and applications objectives in a cost-
effective manner, and develop enduring and mutually beneficial new 
partnerships with the private sector. NASA's Earth Science program is 
pioneering many of these partnerships and mission strategies. It is 
undertaking pilot data buys and evaluations of data products from 
commercial, on-orbit small-satellite constellations; NASA will have 
Blanket Purchase Agreements with at least three private-sector small-
satellite data providers in place by Fall 2018. Two major competitively 
selected payloads--the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution 
(TEMPO) instrument to measure North American air quality, and the 
Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory (GeoCarb) instrument to measure 
natural carbon flux processes in the western hemisphere--are being 
developed for flight as hosted payloads on commercial geostationary 
communications satellites. Similarly, the competitively selected Multi-
Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) instrument will fly as the first NASA 
hosted science payload on a commercial low-Earth orbiting satellite; 
MAIA will make detailed measurements of dust and other particles in the 
atmosphere, enabling researchers and medical professionals to gain 
insight into the connections between particulate pollution and health 
problems such as respiratory diseases.
    There is no program in NASA Science that has more impact on our 
everyday life than our Earth Science program. Whether it is developing 
the tools to predict severe weather or droughts, or whether it is to 
understand the complex interactions of the Earth system, what we learn 
here affects our lives.
    The Earth Science Division is working with the Earth Science and 
applications communities to implement the findings of the 2017-2027 
Earth Science Decadal Survey, ``Thriving on Our Changing Planet,'' 
released by the National Academies in January 2018. The decadal survey 
recognized the value of NASA's Earth Science Program and identified a 
suite of high-priority science and observation objectives for NASA's 
Earth Science Division.
    However, we already have an impactful fleet on orbit. For example, 
in the midst of the 2017 hurricane season, data products from NASA 
Earth-observing research satellites were used to support real-time 
decision-making and response efforts by the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, other operational agencies, and first responders on 
the ground in the affected areas during the catastrophic landfalls of 
hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Precise, broad-coverage 
observations from NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core 
Observatory enabled forecasters to understand and track the storms, and 
to generate accurate flood predictions. A suite of NASA satellite 
missions, including the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, 
assisted with flood mapping and recovery planning. NASA's assets stand 
at the ready to contribute critical information to help prepare for, 
and recover from, disasters around the world.
    Also, in December 2016 we launched the Cyclone Global Navigation 
Satellite System (CYGNSS) is a constellation of eight small satellites 
to measure rapidly evolving tropical storms and hurricanes using 
reflected Global Positioning System (GPS) signals from the ocean. 
CYGNSS measurements of surface wind speeds in the tropics are the 
equivalent of a fleet of 32 hurricane hunter airplanes flying 24-7. As 
we move into the 2018 hurricane season, CYGNSS will be collecting 
unprecedented data to help the weather forecasting community improve 
existing storm prediction models.
    Looking to the future, the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-
2 (ICESat-2), the follow-on to NASA's ICESat and IceBridge missions, 
will launch in Fall 2018 to map and monitor land ice topography and 
glacier flow, sea ice thickness, and the heights of the vegetation 
canopy at low-and mid-latitudes across the globe. The competitively 
selected Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) will launch to 
the space station in November, to make global observations of 
vegetation canopy height. NASA remains on track to launch Landsat-9 in 
December, 2020 to continue the critical land imaging series begun with 
our United States Geological Survey (USGS) partners in 1972.
    NASA-developed satellites and technologies are helping other 
Federal agencies carry out their missions. NASA's Joint Agency 
Satellite Program brings NASA's best practices to bear to support our 
largest interagency customer, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), in the development of critical weather 
satellites for the Nation. The Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1, 
now NOAA-20) successfully launched in November 2017, and the 
Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite-S (GOES-S, now GOES-17) 
launched in March 2018. NASA and NOAA are exploring a potential 
partnership to use a single launch vehicle for the Interstellar MApping 
Probe (IMAP) and a NOAA space weather monitoring payload. The 
partnership would provide NOAA access to the L1 Lagrange point for 
future space weather monitoring.
    Space weather also affects our lives even in less visible ways. The 
source of beautiful aurora, space weather affects us as a technological 
society each and every day and is a significant threat to space and 
ground-based infrastructure like power grids and GPS satellites. NASA's 
objective is to explore the underlying science of space weather so we 
can support other agencies that are tasked with operational predictions 
of these events.
    For example, NASA continues operation and analysis of data from the 
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the Solar and Terrestrial Relations 
Observatory (STEREO), and other missions which constantly monitor the 
Sun, revealing coronal mass ejections and releases of solar energetic 
particles, while also advancing scientific understanding of our star's 
fundamental dynamics. Focusing closer to Earth, the Magnetospheric 
Multiscale (MMS) mission uses four small spacecraft flying in precision 
formation to gather information on Earth's magnetic environment, 
changing our understanding of how that environment protects our planet.
    Heliophysics is preparing the launch of several innovative 
missions, as well. The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk 
(GOLD) instrument was launched aboard a commercial communications 
satellite in January 2018, and the Ionospheric Connection Explorer 
(ICON) spacecraft will launch later in 2018. Together, they will 
provide the most comprehensive observations of the ionosphere--a region 
of charged particles in Earth's upper atmosphere--ever achieved.
    The Space Environment Testbed 1 mission, a technology demonstration 
mission developed in partnership with the United States Air Force, is 
scheduled for launch in 2018, and three Heliophysics CubeSats are being 
prepared for launch as part of NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative.
    Planetary science provides some of the most exciting views of the 
unexplored worlds in our solar system and has potential answers to 
tantalizing questions such as ``is there life out there''? Small 
planetary bodies hurling through space have scarred the Earth and 
planets around us and are a threat to humanity. Protecting the Earth 
from asteroid or comet impacts is a key focus for us.
    NASA maintains a vigorous Planetary Defense Program. The Near-Earth 
Object Observations project will continue to fund ground-based NEO 
discovery, tracking, and characterization efforts, while laying the 
foundation for future space-based NEO detection missions. The Double 
Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will demonstrate asteroid deflection 
technology. DART will use the kinetic impactor technique to change the 
orbit of a small moon circling the asteroid Didymos, which will be 
about seven million miles from Earth at its closest approach in 2022.
    It is great to see how fundamental research is delivering societal 
value. This research remains strong at NASA. Exciting things are 
happening and there is much to look forward to in the next year in 
NASA's Planetary Science program. NASA's Origins, Spectral 
Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer 
(OSIRIS-REx) mission will arrive at the asteroid Bennu later this year, 
providing unique data that will shed light on the early history of the 
solar system. OSIRIS-REx measurements of the composition of the 
potentially hazardous Bennu will also inform NASA as we design future 
missions to mitigate asteroid impacts on Earth, an effort within NASA's 
new Planetary Defense program. And then the New Horizons mission flyby 
of MU69 will happen on New Year's Day 2019--this will be the first 
close-approach of a Kuiper Belt object beyond Pluto, providing 
unprecedented view of these little understood objects at the far 
reaches of our solar system.
    Progress continues on the Mars 2020 rover, which will carry a 
small, autonomous rotorcraft or drone, demonstrating the viability 
heavier-than-air vehicles at the Red Planet. NASA is also planning for 
a potential Mars Sample Return mission--a top priority identified by 
the scientific community in the most recent planetary decadal survey--
incorporating commercial and international partnerships. During 2019, 
NASA will continue development of the cutting-edge Europa Clipper 
mission to fly by Jupiter's ocean moon and will announce the next 
scientifically and technologically innovative New Frontiers mission: 
either a comet sample return or a drone to explore Saturn's largest 
moon, Titan.
    In many ways, NASA's Astrophysics and planetary science programs 
are working more closely together. Astrophysics investigates the 
universe and our place in it. It works to understand how the universe 
works and how we got here, including searching for and studying planets 
around other stars. It examines how habitable environments develop and 
contributes to the search for the signature of life on other worlds--
thanks to key NASA missions like Kepler and to collaborations with 
ground-based observatories around the globe, we now know there are 
thousands of planets around other stars (exoplanets). At times, these 
worlds appear to be analogous to the planets in our solar system, but 
sometimes they are totally different. There is much we still have to 
learn about exoplanets, and we are excited to be part of that endeavor.
    Our Astrophysics program operates the Hubble, Chandra, Spitzer, 
Fermi, Kepler, and Swift space telescopes, flies the airborne 
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), and conducts 
balloon and suborbital rocket campaigns. Collectively, this balanced 
portfolio is focused on unlocking the secrets of the Universe and 
teaching us how to ask new and different questions that do not only 
change what we know, but sometimes change how we think about the 
universe and ourselves.
    NASA is committed to answering the big questions, and this requires 
a commitment to new and challenging missions. In 2021, NASA's 
impressive observatories will be joined by the James Webb Space 
Telescope. Webb will be larger and more powerful than any previous 
space telescope. It will be capable of examining the first stars and 
galaxies that formed, viewing the atmospheres of nearby planets outside 
our solar system, and informing our understanding of the evolution of 
our own solar system. Webb is currently undergoing integration and 
testing (I&T). Webb's telescope and instruments are fully integrated 
and performed superbly during testing, and the Spacecraft Element, 
comprised of the spacecraft bus and a tennis-court sized sunshield, is 
completely assembled and undergoing testing.
    In March 2018, NASA recognized that Webb would take longer and cost 
more to develop than previously estimated due to issues involved with 
I&T of the Spacecraft Element. I established an Independent Review 
Board to provide an independent assessment of the time and cost 
necessary to complete development. The IRB provided valuable 
recommendations and emphasized that mission success should be the 
highest priority in completing Webb's development. In response to their 
recommendations, we are taking steps including working with the prime 
contractor to prevent schedule and cost impacts due to human errors 
during I&T and identifying and correcting any embedded problems that 
may exist that could pose a risk to schedule, cost, or mission success.
    Based on the IRB's schedule analysis as well as other input, NASA 
established March 30, 2021, as Webb's new launch date. This launch date 
includes time to accommodate I&T technical issues, addresses schedule 
over-optimism identified by the IRB, and reestablishes appropriate 
schedule reserves. To support the March 30, 2021, launch date and five 
years of science operations, we estimate that Webb's new life-cycle 
cost will be $9.663 billion. The estimated development cost to support 
the new launch date, including launch and commissioning, is $8.803 
billion, up from the $7.998 billion development-cost estimate 
established in 2011. Over Webb's lifetime, about $837 million in new 
funding will be necessary beyond previous requests. Along with the 
scientific community and the public, we are disappointed that 
completing Webb is taking longer and costing more than expected, but 
NASA is absolutely committed to successfully completing, launching, and 
commissioning Webb, and to carrying out its important scientific 
mission.
    In August 2017, NASA selected six astrophysics Explorer Program 
proposals for concept studies. The proposed missions would collect 
unprecedented measurements of gamma-ray and X-ray emissions from galaxy 
clusters and neutron star systems, infrared emissions from galaxies in 
the early universe, and atmospheres of exoplanets. In January 2019, 
NASA will select at least two of these proposals for flight.
    In conclusion, as we look forward to the rest of this year and into 
2019, NASA's science program will continue to contribute to the 
scientific and technological advancement of the United States. We 
cannot fully predict what wonderful science discoveries lie ahead, but 
our science program is fully integrated into NASA's broader goals, 
especially working in close partnership with the Agency's human space 
exploration and technology activities to advance both science and 
exploration in the coming years. As recommended by the National 
Academies, we will maintain program balance through a combination of 
large, challenging missions that push the boundaries of fundamental 
knowledge, and innovative commercial and international partnerships 
that enable high-priority science and applications objectives in a 
cost-effective manner. Teams of scientists, engineers, and 
technologists at NASA continue the important work of safeguarding and 
improving life on Earth, while inspiring the next generation of 
scientists and engineers to reach for the stars. I would be happy to 
answer any questions you may have.

    Senator Cruz. Thank you.
    Dr. Stofan.

            STATEMENT OF DR. ELLEN R, STOFAN, Ph.D.,

                JOHN AND ADRIENNE MARS DIRECTOR,

           SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

    Dr. Stofan. Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Markey, Ranking 
Member Nelson and the Committee, thank you for the opportunity 
to discuss the search for life beyond Earth. As my esteemed 
colleagues will discuss life beyond our solar system, I will 
focus on the search for life within our solar system.
    As a planetary scientist, former Chief Scientist of NASA, 
and the current John and Adrienne Mars Director of the 
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, there is no other 
topic that I find as exciting or as fundamental to future 
discoveries that will one day be highlighted in my museum as 
this one.
    All planetary science begins on Earth. Based on our 
understanding of how life arose here, it requires longstanding, 
stable bodies of liquid water. Life evolved rapidly once 
conditions stabilized on the early Earth, which chemical 
signatures indicate was about 3.8 billion years ago.
    We know that life is tenacious, diverse, and highly 
adaptable. Astrobiologists have found life in extreme 
environments like volcanic lakes, sulfur springs, and the top 
of the stratosphere. Microbes have been found that live under 
high levels of radiation or consume toxic chemicals. We find 
life on Earth nearly everywhere we look for it.
    Given the commonality of conditions here and elsewhere in 
the solar system, it is highly unlikely that life is unique to 
our planet. We know that the building blocks, amino acids, are 
ubiquitous in the solar system, found in comets, asteroids, and 
even in interstellar clouds. The next step is to identify 
environments potentially habitable to microbial life like those 
on the early Earth with liquid water, a source of nutrients, 
and a source of energy.
    Within the icy moons of the outer solar system, we have 
found subsurface oceans. Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's 
moon Enceladus both have liquid water oceans that have likely 
been stable for over a billion years. These oceans are likely 
enriched by volcanic eruptions from the Moon's rocky inner 
cores, a possible source for both nutrients and energy. Both 
moons vent their oceans into space in geyser-like eruptions and 
could easily be sample by spacecraft without landing. Cassini 
sampled the liquid erupting from Enceladus during a fly by and 
found the water to contain salts, silica, and organic 
molecules, all pointing to a habitable environment. That sample 
may have contained signs of microbial life, but Cassini's 
instruments were not designed to detect them. We need to go 
back to Enceladus and to Europa with better instruments.
    How will we know life when we see it? Through years of 
peer-reviewed theoretical research, lab and field work, the 
astrobiology community has developed something called the 
ladder of life, which lays out what to measure and how to 
measure it. The ladder begins with a habitable environment with 
rungs for biomolecules, metabolism, and ultimately Darwinian 
evolution. Thanks to decades of NASA's spacecraft missions, we 
know how to take the next steps in the search for life at 
Europa, Enceladus, and of course, Mars, and eventually Titan.
    3.8 billion years ago, around the same time life arose on 
Earth, a significant portion of Mars was covered in water. Mars 
remained wet for about 500 million years before it lost its 
magnetic field, its atmosphere thinned, and conditions became 
similar to what we see today, a cold, dusty, dry surface 
bombarded by solar and cosmic radiation.
    If life evolved on Mars during its wet, early Earth-like 
period, fossilized microorganisms should be present in surface 
rocks. That is why it is astronauts, not just the orbiters, 
landers, and rovers that have gotten us to this point, are 
required. Biologists, geologists, and chemists on the ground 
could do more than identify evidence of past life on Mars. They 
could study its variation, complexity, and relationship to life 
on Earth much more effectively than our robotic emissaries.
    NASA could put humans in orbit around Mars by 2033 and down 
to the surface later in the decade. This is completely feasible 
and affordable if the agency focuses on the capabilities and 
technologies required.
    Putting humans on Mars by 2038, 20 years from now, is not 
nearly as audacious as landing on the Moon in 8 short years, a 
task the United States accomplished nearly 50 years ago. NASA 
has the infrastructure and commercial partners and the 
scientific and technical expertise, as we demonstrate every day 
with research groups like those at Air and Space and the 
Smithsonian astrophysical observatory. The problem is extremely 
well scoped and studied. We only need to accept the challenge. 
Putting aside the amazing scientific and technological 
dividends of a Mars shot, consider the incalculable political, 
cultural, and historical benefits to this Nation that came from 
the moonshots of the Apollo program.
    This is another extremely exciting moment in human history. 
We know where to look and we know how to look. We have the 
technology to determine if life has evolved elsewhere in the 
solar system and can easily do so within the next two decades.
    Thank you very much.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Stofan follows:]

 Prepared Statement of Ellen R. Stofan, Ph.D., John and Adrienne Mars 
          Director, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
    Chairman Cruz, Senator Markey and Members of the Committee, I am 
pleased to have the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss 
the search for life beyond Earth. As my esteemed colleagues Dr. Seager 
and Dr. Spergel will focus on life beyond our Solar System, and the 
importance of missions like the James Webb Space Telescope and the 
Giant Magellan Telescope for keeping the United States at the forefront 
of deep space discovery, I will focus on the search for life within our 
Solar System.
    As a planetary scientist, the former Chief Scientist of NASA and 
the current John and Adrienne Mars Director of the Smithsonian's 
National Air and Space Museum, there is no topic that I find so 
exciting, or so fundamental and profound for future discoveries that 
will one day be highlighted in my museum, as this one.
    As with everything in planetary science, the discussion has to 
start here, on Earth, the planet we know and love best. Life, based on 
our understanding of how it arose here, requires water, liquid water, 
that has been stable on the surface of a planet for a very long time.
    Life on Earth evolved rapidly once conditions stabilized, with 
chemical signatures indicative of life detected in rocks that date to 
3.8 billion years ago. At that point, Earth was an ocean planet, and 
life would remain in the ocean, and in relatively simple forms, for 
over one billion years.
    The study of life on Earth is key to the search for life elsewhere. 
To date, we have learned that it is tough, tenacious, metabolically 
diverse, and highly adaptable to local environmental conditions. 
Astrobiologists have found life in extreme terrestrial environments, 
from volcanic lakes to glaciers to sulfur springs-even at the very top 
of the stratosphere. Microbes have been found that live under high 
levels of radiation, as well as bacteria that consume chemicals that 
would be toxic to most other life.
    So how does this inform our search for life elsewhere in the solar 
system? It makes us optimistic. We know that the building blocks of 
life, amino acids, are ubiquitous in the solar system, found in comets, 
asteroids and even interstellar clouds. Taken with the fact that life 
arose so quickly here, given the right building blocks and stable 
conditions, it is highly unlikely that life is unique to our planet. 
And so, based on our one data point, life on Earth, we head outward 
into the solar system to search.
    The first step is to identify environments potentially habitable to 
microbial life--with conditions similar to those on the early Earth--
liquid water, a source of nutrients, and a source of energy. To date, 
we have identified three highly likely targets, and one outlier, that I 
will come back to at the end of my remarks.
    When we look for planets that could harbor life around other stars, 
we look in the habitable zone--a band of space at the right distance 
from the star, where liquid water might be stable on the surface of the 
exoplanet. But here in this solar system, we find possible targets for 
life well beyond the habitable zone, within the icy moons of the outer 
planets. I say within, because spacecraft to the outer solar system 
have found subsurface water oceans beneath the icy crusts of Jupiter's 
moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus.
    These subsurface, liquid-water oceans have likely persisted for 
over one billion years, and are likely enriched by volcanic eruptions 
from their inner rocky cores, providing stability, and possible sources 
of nutrients and energy. Both Enceladus and Europa vent their oceans 
out to space in geyser-like eruptions, allowing for potentially easy 
sampling to search for life. Cassini sampled the liquid erupting from 
Enceladus, determining that it was water, along with salts, silica, and 
organic molecules-all pointing to a habitable environment. But 
Cassini's instruments weren't designed to find life, so we need to go 
back, with better instruments.
    Future missions to these bodies are being developed or studied. An 
important question that the astrobiology community has been working on 
is-will we know life when we see it? How Earth-like will it be? To help 
sort out the scientific possibilities, astrobiologists have worked on 
something called the ladder of life, which lays out what to measure and 
how to measure it, from the first rung of understanding whether an 
environment is habitable, to higher rungs searching for biomolecules, 
then metabolism, to the ultimate identifier of Darwinian evolution.
    The astrobiology community has a well-thought out, peer-reviewed 
approach that would not have been possible without years of basic 
research, from theoretical work, to research in the lab and in the 
field, to get us this far in our understanding of where and how to 
search for life beyond Earth.
    It took a series of NASA spacecraft missions, starting with Voyager 
and Galileo to the Jovian system and Cassini-Huygens to the Saturnian 
system, to get us to the point where we know to take the next steps of 
exploration at Europa and Enceladus, two of the three likely candidates 
for life elsewhere in the solar system. The third, of course, is Mars.
    About 3.8 billion years ago, a significant portion of the surface 
of Mars was covered in water. Mars remained wet for at least 500 
million years, before it lost its magnetic field, its atmosphere 
thinned, and conditions became similar to those we see today, with a 
cold, dusty, dry surface bombarded by solar and cosmic radiation. This 
detailed history of Mars has been made possible by decades of 
spacecraft flying by, orbiting, landing, and roving on the surface of 
the Red Planet, from the earliest Mariner data, to the Viking images 
that allowed us to study the great dry riverbeds, to the latest 
chemical measurements from Curiosity.
    Understanding if life evolved on Mars during its relatively short, 
wet, early-Earth-like period, means searching on its rocky surface for 
fossilized microorganisms. That is why I feel strongly that 
astronauts--astrobiologists, geologists, and chemists--are required to 
do extensive fieldwork on the surface, not just to find evidence of 
past life on Mars, but to study multiple samples in order to understand 
its variation, complexity, and relationship to life on Earth.
    NASA has assessed plans to get humans into Martian orbit by 2033, 
and down to the surface later in the decade, which is completely 
feasible and affordable if the agency focuses on the capabilities and 
technologies required.
    A human to the Martian surface in 2038, a full twenty years from 
now, is far less audacious than the `within the decade' call to get 
humans to the Moon that we will be celebrating in the coming year with 
the 50th anniversary of the Apollo missions. We have the infrastructure 
of NASA and its commercial partners, we have the scientific and 
technical knowledge, and the problem is extremely well-scoped and 
studied. We just need the will. Putting aside the amazing scientific 
and technological dividends, recall the incalculable benefit to this 
Nation from the moonshots of the 1960s and 70s.
    This is another extremely exciting moment in human history. We know 
where to look, and we know how to look. We have the technology to 
determine if life has evolved elsewhere in this solar system, and can 
easily do so within the next few decades.
    Could there still be extant life on the Red Planet? In 2012, 
astrobiologists found that earth microbes can survive and grow in low 
pressure, freezing temperatures, and oxygen starved conditions seen on 
Mars. Microbes from permafrost soil gathered in Siberia grew at 7 
millibars of atmospheric pressure, equivalent to Mars. And just last 
week, scientists using data from the US-Italian radar sounder on ESA's 
Mars Express spacecraft announced the discovery of a pool of liquid 
water beneath Mars' south polar layered terrain.
    This is why planetary protection remains a critical area, to ensure 
that microbes from Earth do not contaminate our search for life and 
establish a presence on Mars ahead of us, but it also teases us with 
the scientific possibility that there is not just fossil life, but 
extant life to study beyond Earth.
    I will return now to the outlier candidate I mentioned earlier. 
Most interesting to me is the possibility that life could exist in the 
absence of liquid water. That is one of the reasons why we study Titan, 
one of the moons of Saturn, where it rains liquid ethane and methane.
    While the temperatures there are extremely cold and the seas and 
rivers flow with liquid hydrocarbons instead of H2O, 
research indicates that membranes could form in such a liquid, an 
important step in cellular evolution. Future missions to Titan with its 
hydrocarbon seas, organic dunes and icy plains, will possibly provide a 
new insight into the question: What are the limits of life in our solar 
system--and beyond.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to 
answering any questions you may have.

    Senator Cruz. Thank you.
    Dr. Spergel.

                STATEMENT OF DR. DAVID SPERGEL,

         PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY;

           AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, FLATIRON INSTITUTE

    Dr. Spergel. I thank Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Markey, 
Ranking Member Nelson, and other committee members for the 
opportunity to testify.
    My name is David Spergel, and I am Professor of Astronomy 
at Princeton University and Managing Director of the Flatiron 
Institute in New York. While my spoken remarks will focus on 
NASA astrophysics, my written remarks discuss the broader space 
science program, and with the Chairman's permission, I request 
that my written remarks be made part of the record.
    Our multi-generational program of exploring and studying 
space is the modern version of the construction of the great 
cathedrals of Europe. Many of NASA's most important activities 
from sending humans to Mars, to the study of extrasolar 
planets, to understanding the cosmos are fundamentally 
centuries-long projects.
    In cosmology, we have learned that our universe is both 
remarkably simple and remarkably strange. Nearly a century ago, 
Dr. Edwin Hubble, working at the Mount Wilson observatory, 
began our program of measuring the size and the shape of the 
universe. Today the Hubble Space Telescope and measurements of 
the microwave background continue this program. Over the past 2 
decades, we have learned that a simple model with only five 
parameters, the age of the universe, the density of atoms, the 
density of matter, and the properties of the initial 
fluctuations, describe all of the basic properties in the 
universe. While successful, this model implies that atoms, the 
stuff that makes up us, makes up only 5 percent of the 
universe. Most of the universe is made of dark matter and dark 
energy. We do not know what makes up most of the universe.
    Understanding the nature of dark energy is one of the most 
compelling problems in physics. Both Europe and China are 
leading missions to study dark energy. When I was in Beijing 
last year, I was impressed by China's plans to launch a large 
space telescope off its space station with a primary focus on 
studying dark energy. This telescope will have the world's 
largest space camera and use Chinese military technology to 
construct a large off-axis telescope.
    Fortunately, NASA is moving forward with the premier dark 
energy mission, WFIRST, the top ranked large space project in 
the 2010 astronomy decadal survey. It will measure the 
expansion rate of the universe and the growth of structure to 
unprecedented precision. WFIRST is meeting all of its 
technological requirements, is on schedule for a 2025 launch.
    Astronomers have learned that the solar system is far from 
unique. Using observations from the Kepler spacecraft and 
ground-based observatories, they have discovered thousands of 
exoplanets revealing a diversity of planetary architectures and 
a diversity of planetary systems. Shakespeare's line, ``There 
are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt 
of in your philosophy,'' is perhaps our best guide as we 
contemplate whether there is life elsewhere in the Milky Way.
    Just as the exploration of the cosmos has driven telescope 
design for the past century, the study of exoplanets and the 
search for life beyond our solar system will likely shape the 
telescopes of the coming century. NASA's TESS mission, which 
was launched in April, should soon reveal many new nearby 
transiting planets. When launched, the James Webb Space 
Telescope will be able to characterize the atmospheres of some 
of these planets.
    WFIRST's coronagraph is poised to be the next step in 
exoplanet characterization. The coronagraph should be more than 
1,000 times more sensitive than previous coronagraphs aboard 
Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope. It will not only be able 
to image massive planets around nearby stars, but will be the 
stepping stone for developing technologies for the next 
generation of great observatories.
    Understanding planet formation requires using a wide range 
of observational approaches. Within our own solar system, 
comets and asteroids are fossils of the early solar system. 
Radio and infrared observations reveal extrasolar planetary 
system information. And WFIRST will complete the census done by 
Kepler and TESS with its microlensing programs. These should 
reveal thousands of planets in the outer regions of their solar 
systems.
    These large projects are challenging and require 
perseverance. JWST's delays are frustrating to all of us. While 
the report by the IRB was painful to read at times, I believe 
that JWST will not only be a transformative astronomical 
observatory but will be a flagship of all of NASA, and the 
eventual success of this incredibly complex engineering project 
will be a source of national pride and a symbol of U.S. 
technical prowess.
    Since JWST is an agency-wide priority, these new costs 
should be spread across the agency. If they are borne entirely 
by the Astrophysics Directorate, they will have a devastating 
effect on future missions and its scientific program.
    Despite these challenges, this is an incredibly exciting 
time in astrophysics. NASA satellites have enabled the 
discovery of thousands of exoplanets, are detecting the optical 
counterparts of merging neutrons stars whose gravitational 
waves have traveled for billions of light years, and are 
tracing the large scale distribution of dark matter and dark 
energy. Most importantly, each of these discoveries raises new 
questions that future satellite missions will address in the 
years to come.
    The upcoming National Academy of Sciences decadal survey 
will provide an opportunity to outline a new vision for the 
coming decade.
    I look forward to your questions. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Spergel follows:]

   Prepared Statement of Dr. David Spergel, Professor of Astronomy, 
    Princeton University; and Managing Director, Flatiron Institute
    I thank Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Markey and other committee 
members for the opportunity to testify on scientific opportunities and 
NASA space science. My name is David Spergel. I am Charles Young 
Professor of Astronomy on the Class of 1897 Foundation at Princeton 
University and Managing Director of the Flatiron Institute, a new 
Institute funded by the Simons Foundation to conduct basic research in 
computational sciences. I am also the immediate past chair of the NAS 
Space Studies Board, serve on the JPL advisory board, and am currently 
co-chair of the WFIRST Formulation Science Working Group. I am a 
MacArthur Fellow, member of the National Academy of Science and the 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. I shared this year's 
Breakthrough Prize for our work using NASA's WMAP satellite, one of its 
Explorer missions, to establish the current standard model of 
cosmology.
    Our multi-generational program of exploring and studying space is 
the modern version of the construction of the great medieval cathedrals 
of Europe. Many of NASA's most important activities from sending humans 
to Mars to the study of extrasolar planets to understanding the cosmos 
are century-long projects.
    In cosmology, we have learned that our universe is both remarkably 
simple and remarkably strange. Nearly a century ago, Dr. Edwin Hubble's 
work at Mount Wilson observatory began our program of measuring the 
size and shape of our universe. Today, the Hubble Space Telescope and 
measurements of the microwave background continue this program. Over 
the past two decades we have learned that a simple model with only five 
parameters (the age of the universe, the density of atoms, the density 
of matter and the properties of the initial fluctuations), describes 
all of the basic properties of the observed universe. While successful, 
this model implies that atoms make up only 5 percent of the universe. 
Most of the universe is in the form of dark matter and dark energy.
    Understanding the nature of dark energy is one of the most 
compelling problems in physics. Both Europe and China are leading 
missions to study dark energy. When I was in Beijing last year, I was 
impressed by China's plans to launch a large space telescope off of its 
new space station with a primary focus on studying dark energy. This 
telescope will have the world's largest space camera and use Chinese 
military technology to construct a large off-axis telescope. 
Fortunately, NASA is moving forward with the premier dark energy 
mission, WFIRST, the top ranked large space project in the 2010 
astronomy decadal survey. It will measure the expansion rate of the 
universe and the growth of structure to unprecedented precision. WFIRST 
is meeting all of its technical requirements and is on track for a 2025 
launch.
    Astronomers have also learned that the solar system is far from 
unique. Using observations from the Kepler spacecraft and ground-based 
observatories, they have discovered thousands of exoplanets revealing a 
diversity of planetary architectures and a diversity of planetary 
properties. Shakespeare's line, ``There are more things in heaven and 
earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy'' is perhaps our 
best guide as we contemplate whether there is life elsewhere in the 
Milky Way.
    Just as the exploration of the cosmos has driven telescope design 
for the past century, the study of exoplanets and the search for life 
beyond our solar system will likely shape the telescopes of the coming 
century. NASA's TESS mission, which was launched in April and just 
entered science operations, should soon reveal many new nearby 
transiting planets. When launched, the James Webb Space Telescope will 
be able to characterize the atmospheres of some of these planets. This 
is one of the powers of a flagship mission: JWST was not designed for 
transit spectroscopy but its enormous sensitivity in the infrared will 
enable it to make potential transformative measurements of planetary 
atmospheres. WFIRST's coronagraph is poised to be the next step in 
exoplanet characterization. The coronagraph should be more than 1000 
times more sensitive than previous coronagraphs aboard Hubble and JWST. 
It will not only be able to image massive planets around nearby stars 
but will be the stepping stone for developing technologies for the next 
generation of great observatories. One of the possible highest 
priorities for the upcoming decadal survey are large telescopes likely 
launched in the 2030s that will be capable of characterizing extrasolar 
planets. Even these telescopes will likely be stepstones to even more 
sensitive telescopes that we will develop in the 2050s that will enable 
detailed characterization of planetary atmospheres.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    This figure shows the sensitivity of the WFIRST coronagraph. Note 
that WFIRST's coronagraph should be a significant improvement over HST, 
JWST and ground-based instruments (GEMINI and VLT sphere). WFIRST 
should be a significant step towards Earth-like planets

    Understanding planet formation requires use a wide range of 
observational approaches. Within our own solar systems, comets and 
asteroids are fossils of the early solar system. Radio and infrared 
observations reveal extrasolar planetary system in formation. WFIRST 
will complete the census begun by Kepler and TESS with its microlensing 
observations. These should reveal thousands of planets in the outer 
regions of their solar systems.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    This figure shows the discovery space for the Kepler and WFIRST 
mission as a plot of distance from the host star (measured in 
astronomical units (AU)) and planet mass. The Earth distance from the 
Sun is 1 AU. The plot also shows the planets of our own Solar system. 
The black points in the plot are the planets discovered by ground-based 
measurements of stellar radial velocities.

    Within our own solar system, we have learned that water, the most 
essential ingredient for life is seemingly ubiquitous in our solar 
system. Comets have brought water to burning hot Mercury and the 
seemingly barren Moon. Mars had not only a wet past but as recent 
observations reveal has liquid water. Outer planet moons such as Europa 
host vast oceans. Did any of these systems once host life? Do they 
still host life today?
    The exploration of Mars is another one of humanity's multi-
generational challenges. The Mars 2020 mission is the next step in this 
program that should continue with the return of carefully selected 
samples. As the NAS report ``Vision and Planetary Sciences in the 
Decade 2013-2022'' recommends:

        Mars is unique among the planets in having experienced 
        processes comparable to those on Earth during its formation and 
        evolution. Crucially, the martian surface preserves a record of 
        earliest solar system history, on a planet with conditions that 
        may have been similar to those on Earth when life emerged. It 
        is now possible to select a site on Mars from which to collect 
        samples that will address the question of whether the planet 
        was ever an abode of life.

    Besides the enormous scientific value of the samples, the process 
of sample return should be an important step towards NASA's horizon 
goal of sending humans to Mars and returning them safely to Earth.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    The Parker Solar Probe will launch this summer. It will pass far 
closer to the Sun than any other satellite. Parker Solar Probe will 
study the origin of the Sun's activity.

    Understanding the physics of our Sun and the many ways that it 
affects the space environment and the Earth itself is another one of 
NASA grand challenges. What is the origin of the Sun's activity? How 
does this affect the space environment, the solar system and the Earth 
itself? These questions are not only profound physics questions but 
have important economic consequences as space weather could devastate 
our technological society. Hopefully, later this month NASA will launch 
the Parker Solar probe, an ambitious mission that will effectively 
touch the Sun and directly probe the origin of Solar activity. NASA has 
also just announced that my Princeton colleague Dave McCommas will lead 
the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission. IMAP 
will help researchers better understand the boundary of the 
heliosphere, the magnetic bubble surrounding and protecting our solar 
system. The DRIVE initiative is an important complement to these major 
missions: a combination of cubesats, small sats, and theoretical work.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Earth scientists utilize a large constellation of current and 
planned missions to monitor the changing planet.

    Understanding our rapidly changing planet is perhaps NASA's 
greatest scientific challenge and a pressing societal need. As the 
recent NAS report, ``Thriving on a Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy 
for Earth Observation from Space'' finds:

        Space-based Earth observations provide a global perspective of 
        Earth that has over the last 60 years, transformed our 
        scientific understanding of the planet, revealing it to be an 
        integrated system of dynamic interactions between the 
        atmosphere, ocean, land, ice, and human society across a range 
        of spatial and temporal scales, irrespective of geographic, 
        political, or disciplinary boundaries. In the past decade in 
        particular, enabled societal applications that provide 
        tremendous value to individuals, businesses, the nation, and 
        the world. Such applications are growing in breadth and depth, 
        becoming an essential information infrastructure element for 
        society as they are integrated into people's daily lives.

    Monitoring the Earth from space requires a robust, resilient and 
appropriately balanced constellation of satellites that will provide 
the observational capacity to address our most profound problems.
    Let me now turn to JWST. These large projects are challenging and 
require perseverance. Back in 1917, the state-of-the art mirror at the 
Mt. Wilson observatory had to be recast multiple times as human error 
led to breakage. Today, we are faced with delays and overruns in the 
construction of the James Webb Space Telescope, today's cutting edge 
facility. The delays are even more frustrating as they are due to human 
mistakes during integration and testing at Northrup Grumman. The 
Independent Review Board chaired by Tom Young concluded that a 
combination of human errors, poor schedule performance, embedded 
problems, system complexity and the novelty of sunshield has led to the 
delay of nearly two years and overruns of close to $1 billion dollars. 
While painful, I believe that JWST will not only be a transformative 
astronomical observatory but will be a flagship for all of NASA and the 
eventual success of this incredibly complex engineering project will 
become a source of national pride and a symbol of U.S. technical 
prowess. Since JWST is an agency-wide priority, these new costs should 
be spread across the agency, perhaps supplemented by new resources for 
NASA. If they are borne entirely by the astrophysics directorate, they 
will have devastating effects on its future missions and its scientific 
program.
    Given the challenges in building complex missions like JWST, it is 
easy to question the role of flagship missions in the NASA program. 
Flagship missions like JWST and WFIRST not only carry out their core 
science program but enable a very rich program of general astrophysics. 
Similarly, flagship missions in other areas of space science help drive 
their entire fields. I want to echo the recent NAS report, ``Powering 
Science: Large Strategic Science Missions'':

        NASA's large strategic missions like the Hubble Space 
        Telescope, the Curiosity rover on Mars, and the Terra Earth 
        observation satellite are essential to maintaining the United 
        States' global leadership in space exploration and should 
        continue to be a primary component of a balanced space science 
        program that includes large, medium, and smaller missions.

    I also agree with the report's finding that ``It is not possible 
for NASA to abandon large strategic missions simply because they can be 
challenging and still maintain world leadership in space''.
    When contemplating our leadership role, it is important to consider 
the growing role of other nations in space science. European-led 
missions, often with significant U.S. contributions, now produce some 
of the most exciting results in space science. Our partnerships with 
Europe, Canada and Japan both enhance our own missions and enable our 
partners to launch more capable scientific probes. We need to continue 
to work to strengthen these opportunities. The emerging role of China 
in space science is a more complex situation. China is making major 
investments in space science and is embarking on its own ambitious 
program. I have visited China several times to observe their program 
and meet with my colleagues. I have been impressed by their rapid rate 
of progress. For example, China is building its own dark energy 
mission, the Chinese Space Satellite Optical Survey, that makes use of 
its own technologies and aims to launch before WFIRST. The United 
States should strive to maintain its leadership role in space science 
and other areas of space exploration.
    While NASA does face immediate challenges like JWST, this is an 
incredibly exciting time in space science. NASA satellites have enabled 
the discovery of 1000s of exoplanets, are detecting the optical 
counterparts of merging neutrons stars whose gravitational waves have 
travelled for billions of light years, and are tracing the large scale 
distribution of dark matter and dark energy. It is launching a 
satellite that will literally touch the Sun. NASA exploration of our 
solar system is revealing new insights into the origin of the solar 
system and perhaps even of life itself. Its satellites are deepening 
our understanding of the rapidly changing Earth. Most importantly, each 
of these discoveries raises new questions that future satellite 
missions will address in the years to come.

    Senator Cruz. Thank you.
    Dr. Seager.

       STATEMENT OF DR. SARA SEAGER, PROFESSOR, PLANETARY

          SCIENCE, PHYSICS, AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING,

             MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

    Dr. Seager. Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Markey, Ranking 
Member Nelson, and Committee members, thank you for the 
opportunity to appear today.
    I open with a quote from one of our Founding Fathers, John 
Adams. Quote: ``Astronomers tell us, with good Reason, that not 
only all the Planets and Satellites in our Solar System, but 
all the unnumbered Worlds that revolve around the Fixt stars 
are inhabited.'' So it is amazing that even then they believed 
that there was life everywhere.
    Although we do not have evidence for life beyond Earth, we 
are the first generation with the capability to find it. We do 
know for certain stars are suns. We know of thousands of 
planets orbiting other stars called exoplanets. And as we have 
heard from the other witnesses, we have a growing list of solar 
system bodies with evidence of subsurface liquid water, 
including Mars, Europa, Enceladus, and others. And because 
water is required for all life as we know it, these bodies 
might be able to support life.
    We heard also from other witnesses that TESS, NASA's new 
planet hunting mission--it is an MIT-led all-sky survey--
launched on April 18. It started science operations July 25, 
and actually next week in August, it will be delivering the 
first science data to earth. As Deputy Science Director, my 
team is ready to go, and I thought you might appreciate knowing 
that finding exoplanets today, at least with the method TESS 
uses, is actually standard operating procedure.
    TESS, in part, aims to discover the best planets for 
follow-up with the Webb telescope, and Webb's large collecting 
area, infrared capability make it suitable to observe exoplanet 
atmospheres.
    I just want you to know that despite the delays and cost 
growth, the exoplanet community is tremendously enthusiastic 
because Webb will provide our first capability to study 
exoplanets in the search for life. Webb will observe a small 
number of prized exoplanets looking at their atmospheres for 
gases that might be attributed to life. On earth, oxygen is the 
best example because without plants and bacteria, our planet 
would have no oxygen. The planets the TESS/Webb combination 
will find and study--are not like Earth or our sun. It actually 
is limited to planets orbiting red dwarf stars because it is 
easier to find and study planets around small stars compared to 
relatively large stars like our sun. These planets orbiting red 
dwarf stars may be very different from Earth because the red 
dwarf stars give off giant bursts of energy, flares, and 
ultraviolet radiation that would frequently bathe the planet's 
surface.
    We actually had an even like this in the 1850s, and just as 
an aside, we are worried that my happen again here because of 
the power grid. But on these planets, it could be happening 
frequently. We humans could not tolerate it because it would 
ruin electronics like using our cell phone. It would disable 
the power grids and even destroy our biological cells. But we 
are hopeful that life that evolved there would be naturally 
adapted to those conditions.
    So the ultimate goal is to find a true earth twin, one 
orbiting a star like our Sun, whose environment we can 
understand in the context for the search for life. And the huge 
challenge actually is that an earth-like exoplanet is next to a 
big massive bright star like the Sun. And the difference in 
brightness between the two is one part in 10 billion. So we 
need a way to block out the starlight to one part in 10 billion 
to see the planet directly.
    The WFIRST coronagraph instrument is the first high 
contrast space-based coronagraph. It has specialized optics to 
block out the starlight to study exoplanets. CGI is a 
technology demonstration. So it will not be able to reach down 
to find other planets like earth. It can study about a dozen 
giant exoplanets that are already known to exist.
    It is actually critical to do this technology demonstration 
to buy down risk for the future for large NASA missions, more 
ambitious missions already under study.
    We do have a technique to reach down to find earths with a 
modest-sized telescope Starshade. Starshade is a giant, 
specially shaped screen, tens of meters in diameter with its 
own spacecraft, and it would supply information with a 
telescope tens of kilometers away. The Starshade does all the 
hard work of blocking out the starlight so only planet light 
enters the telescope, and technical reasons behind that are why 
the Starshade can already find earth analogs even with a 
modest-sized telescope.
    The Starshade builds upon large radio deployables, large, 
space-based radio deployable antennas. NASA has a directed 
effort to mature Starshade technologies by 2023, though it 
could happen sooner with more funding.
    A Starshade with WFIRST would be the first mission 
opportunity with the ability to discover dozens of new 
exoplanets and the first chance we have to find a few planets 
like earth. The concept envisions a Starshade launch shortly 
after WFIRST to rendezvous with it on orbit. And has NASA has 
directed the WFIRST project to be operational with the 
Starshade with costs borne by the WFIRST project through 2020 
and later by the Starshade project pending a decadal survey 
recommendation.
    There are more details there, but short on time, I will 
move on to just tell you that--OK, so I am proud to tell you 
that in 2010, I became a citizen of the United States of 
America. And the reason I came here to work at MIT and be here 
is because we are the world leader in space technology. And we 
have some tough priority choices ahead if our nation is to be 
the first to discover signs of life beyond earth, whether that 
is on a planet in our solar system or signs of life on a 
distant exoplanet.
    Mr. Chairman and Committee, this concludes my remarks. 
Thank you for your attention and for your continued support for 
NASA's space science missions.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Seager follows:]

   Prepared Statement of Sara Seager, Professor, Planetary Science, 
    Physics, and Aerospace Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of 
                               Technology
    Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for the 
opportunity to appear today to discuss scientific opportunities and 
NASA space science.
    My name is Sara Seager and I am from the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology where I am a Professor of Planetary Science, Physics, and 
Aerospace Engineering. I am a member of the National Academy of 
Sciences and a MacArthur Fellow. Currently I serve as the Deputy 
Science Director for the NASA mission Transiting Exoplanet Survey 
Satellite (TESS), Principal Investigator of the CubeSat Arcsecond Space 
Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics (ASTERIA), and as a lead 
for the Starshade Rendezvous Mission (a space-based direct imaging 
exoplanet discovery concept under technology development). My research 
focuses on exoplanets and the search for life beyond Earth.
    For thousands of years, since at least the time of the Greek 
philosophers people have wondered about planets and life beyond Earth, 
``Are we alone?'' One of our Founding Fathers Thomas Paine commented, 
``The probability, therefore, is that each of these fixed stars is also 
a Sun, round which another system of worlds or planets, though too 
remote for us to discover, performs its revolutions, as our system of 
worlds does round our central Sun.'' Another of our Founding Fathers, 
John Adams, shared astronomers' speculation at the time, ``Astronomers 
tell us, with good Reason, that not only all the Planets and Satellites 
in our Solar System, but all the unnumbered Worlds that revolve around 
the Fixt stars are inhabited, as well as this Globe of Earth.'' \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity to 1915: A Source 
Book, M. J. Crowe
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Today we do not yet have evidence for life beyond Earth. We do know 
for certain that stars are suns. We know of thousands of planets 
orbiting other stars, called exoplanets. We know of a few dozen 
exoplanets that may have the right temperatures for life based solely 
on their distances from and heating by the host star (the ``habitable 
zone''). We have a growing list of solar system bodies, including Mars, 
Europa, Enceladus, and others, that have evidence of subsurface liquid 
water. Because water is required for all life as we know it, these 
bodies might be able to support life. We are the first humans in 
history that have a chance to answer the compelling questions about 
whether there is life beyond Earth.
    The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is NASA's new 
exoplanet discovery space mission. TESS launched on April 18, 2018 
aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket out of Cape Canaveral Air Force 
Station. TESS will survey nearby stars for transiting exoplanets. 
Transiting exoplanets are those that pass in front of their parent star 
as seen from the telescope, a phenomena that is exploited as a planet 
discovery technique that NASA's Kepler mission has used to discover 
thousands of exoplanets or planet candidates. TESS is a NASA Explorer-
class mission ($230 million U.S. cost cap exclusive of launch costs) 
led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with PI George 
Ricker. TESS carries four identical specialized wide-field CCD cameras 
(or telescopes), each with a 100-mm aperture and each covering 24+ 
 24+ on the sky (equivalent to about 50 full Moons). In a two-
year, nearly all-sky survey of the solar neighborhood, TESS will cover 
400 times as much sky as NASA's Kepler mission did. In the process, 
TESS will examine millions of stars, including about half a million 
bright nearby targeted stars of prime interest, and likely find 
thousands of exoplanets with orbital periods (i.e., years) up to about 
30 to 50 days.
    The TESS spacecraft successfully entered its final lunar resonant 
orbit on 30 May 2018 (UTC). The TESS cameras are performing as planned, 
with on-orbit measured properties fully consistent with pre-launch 
measurements. The TESS mission has completed its commission activities 
for understanding instrument and spacecraft performance, and command 
and flight data handling pipelines.
    TESS officially began science operations on July 25, 2018. TESS is 
expected to transmit its first series of science data back to Earth in 
August, and thereafter periodically every 13.7 days, once per orbit, as 
the spacecraft makes it closest approach to Earth. The TESS Science 
Team will begin searching the data for new planets immediately after 
the first data series arrives.
    Out of the thousands of planets TESS is expected to discover, a 
special prized subset are the planets transiting in the habitable zone 
of small ``red dwarf'' stars. Red dwarf stars are half to one tenth the 
size of our Sun. In almost every possible way, a small planet orbiting 
a small star is far easier to detect and follow-up study than a small 
planet orbiting a larger Sun-like star. (Note that large planets (giant 
planets like Jupiter) are not considered in the search for life because 
they have immense atmosphere of hydrogen and helium, creating an 
interior too hot to support life). The TESS and other ground-based 
discovered planets transiting red dwarf stars will be suitable for 
atmosphere studies with the James Webb Space Telescope for similar 
reasons. The signature of a tiny atmosphere of an exoplanet is much 
larger (by up to 100 times) against the backdrop of a small red dwarf 
star compared to the backdrop of a star the size of our Sun.
    The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is one NASA's most ambitious 
and technically complex missions, with ten new technologies. JWST is 
NASA, European Space Agency, and Canadian Space Agency collaboration 
and will be the premier astronomical observatory of the next decade. 
JWST's large collecting area (6.5-meter primary mirror), infrared 
capability, specialized instruments, and orbit location far from 
Earth's interference make it very suitable to carry out precision 
measurements on exoplanet atmospheres. Despite the delays and cost 
growth, the exoplanet community remains tremendously enthusiastic, 
because the JWST will provide our first capability to study exoplanets 
in the search for life. The JWST was conceived of before exoplanets had 
been discovered, and it is a testament to the power of NASA Flagship 
missions that JWST can be applied to the search for life on exoplanets.
    JWST will be used to observe small exoplanet atmospheres, searching 
for key atmosphere component gases. The first is water vapor. On a 
small exoplanet water vapor is indicative of liquid water ocean 
reservoirs; again liquid water is needed for all life as we know it. 
Next are ``biosignature gases'', gases that might be attributed to 
life's production. Here we assume that, like life on Earth, life 
elsewhere uses chemistry to extract and store energy for later use, 
generating byproduct gases during metabolic processes. On Earth oxygen 
is the most robust ``biosignature gas''. Filling our atmosphere to 20 
percent by volume, oxygen is so reactive that without continual 
generation by plants and photosynthetic bacteria oxygen would not be 
present. Other gases produced by life on Earth include methane, nitrous 
oxide, hydrogen sulfide, and many others. Here I must emphasize that we 
will not know if any biosignature gases upon an exoplanet are produced 
by intelligent life or by simple single-celled bacteria. In order to 
associate biosignature gases with life on an exoplanets we must work to 
understand the false positive scenarios where the same gases might be 
produced by geophysics (such as volcanoes) or atmospheric chemistry. 
Associating gases with biological origin is a hefty and complicated 
endeavor, one that requires understanding the overall planet 
properties, planet atmosphere inventory including greenhouse gases, and 
host star radiation incident on the planet.
    JWST will exploit transiting planets. As a transiting exoplanet 
passes in front of its host star, JWST can observe the exoplanet's 
atmosphere, as it is backlit by the star, if the star is bright enough. 
Additional atmospheric observations can be made by observing as the 
exoplanet disappears and reappears from behind the star. In these 
observations the exoplanets and their stars are not spatially separated 
on the sky but are instead observed in the combined light of the 
planet-star system.
    Planets orbiting red dwarf stars are truly a frontier for 
discovery. Because red dwarf stars have a small energy output, a 
habitable-zone planet must orbit very close to its star in order to 
have the proper temperature for liquid water. Being close to the star 
means the star may loom very large in the sky. The star (i.e., the sun) 
would be in the same place in the sky at all times; the planet will 
have a permanent day-and night-side. The cause is the huge 
gravitational force from the star that over time would have forced the 
nearby planet into a ``tidally-locked'' state, where the planet shows 
the same face to the star at all time, just like the Moon does to 
Earth. A year on the planet (the time it takes the planet to orbit once 
around the star) would be equivalent to a few Earth days to weeks. More 
seriously, harmful ultraviolet radiation and huge flares of energy 
typical for red dwarf stars would frequently bathe the planet's 
surface. We humans could not tolerate the severe radiation which would 
disable electronics and power grids and even destroy biological cells. 
Because simple life forms on Earth can survive extreme environments of 
temperature, acidity, radiation, and many other environmental factors, 
life may also survive the extreme environments on planets orbiting red 
dwarf stars.
    The Path for Discovering a True Earth Twin The ultimate goal in the 
search for life on exoplanets is to find a true Earth twin in an Earth-
like orbit about a Sun-like star (Earth analog). A planet like Earth 
with a thin atmosphere and water oceans, whose environment we will be 
predisposed to understand and identify life in context with. JWST will 
not help because first, planets in Earth-like orbits have an extremely 
low probability to transit (1/200) and second an Earth-sized atmosphere 
signal against the backdrop of the relatively large Sun-sized star is 
too small for JWST to observe. To find an Earth analog, we need a 
different technique, one that astronomers call direct imaging where the 
starlight is blocked so we can see the planet directly.
    The immense direct imaging challenge is that an Earth-like 
exoplanet is adjacent to a parent star that is up to 10 billion times 
brighter than the planet itself. The challenge is likened to the search 
for a firefly in the glare of a searchlight, when the firefly and 
searchlight are about 2,500 miles distant, such as the separation 
between Washington, D.C. and the west coast of the United States. 
Direct imaging to find and characterize small exoplanets requires space 
telescopes above the blurring effect of Earth's atmosphere.
    The Coronagraph is one NASA-supported technique for direct imaging 
for Earth analogs, where specialized optics are placed inside a space 
telescope to block out the parent starlight and reveal the presence of 
any orbiting exoplanets. The telescope must be highly specialized, with 
an observatory system that has exceptional thermal and mechanical 
stability. Tiny telescope imperfections that scatter starlight can be 
canceled out using a small mirror with thousands of adjustable 
elements. The corrections are equivalent to the telescope's primary 
mirror being smoothed to sub nanometer levels, a dimension many 
thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. Such control 
has already been demonstrated in a laboratory vacuum test setup, at the 
instrument subsystem level. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's High 
Contrast Imaging Testbed has achieved starlight suppression of 
5x10-10 at visible wavelengths (10 percent bandpass), in a 
static demonstration.
    The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Coronagraph 
Instrument (CGI) WFIRST is a NASA space-based observatory designed to 
address key questions in infrared astrophysics, dark energy science, 
and exoplanet detection, including an exoplanet microlensing discovery 
survey to further an exoplanet population census. The WFIRST 
observatory has a 2.4-m diameter primary mirror and two instruments and 
will operate in six-year planned mission duration. WFIRST was 
prioritized by the 2010 Decadal Survey, and is being developed for 
launch in the mid-2020s to orbit at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point 
(L2). Phase B of development began in April 2018.
    The WFIRST Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) is being built as a 
technology demonstration for high-contrast direct imaging. As the first 
ever high-contrast space-based coronagraph, the CGI will flight-qualify 
the high-contrast coronagraph's key components. GCI will demonstrate 
technologies such as wavefront control and understanding the effect of 
telescope stability in a space environment on high-contrast 
coronagraphic images. CGI is designed to reach planet-star flux 
contrast levels on order of one part in a billion (10-9). 
While such levels would not reach down to the planet-star flux ratios 
required to observe Earth-sized exoplanets (better than one part in ten 
billion (10-10)), CGI will be able to perform high-contrast 
direct imaging or spectroscopy of up to a dozen already known giant 
exoplanets systems in reflected light, as well as study the potentially 
contaminating light from zodiacal dust around nearby stars.
    At its current level of predicted performance, and with the ability 
to obtain spectra of known giant exoplanets, the WFIRST CGI remains 
critical to increase the technology readiness level and decrease risk 
for future ambitious space-based direct imaging mission concepts now 
under study by NASA, such as the Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission 
(HabEx)\2\ and the Large UV Optical Infrared Surveyor Large Ultraviolet 
Visible and InfraRed Surveyor (LUVOIR)\3\.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx).'' https://
www.jpl.nasa.gov/habex/
    \3\ Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor (LUVOIR) https://
asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/luvoir/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Starshade (or external occulter) is a second NASA-supported 
technique for direct imaging of Earth-sized planets in Earth-like 
orbits about Sun-like stars. A starshade is a carefully shaped screen 
with its own spacecraft and flown in formation with a telescope. The 
starshade size and shape, and the starshade-telescope separation are 
designed so that the starshade casts a very dark, and highly controlled 
equivalent of a shadow, where the light from the star is suppressed 
while leaving the planet's reflected light unaffected; only the 
exoplanet light enters the telescope. Most designs feature a starshade 
tens of meters in diameter, and separated from the telescope by tens of 
thousands of kilometers.
    The starshade concept is so powerful because within a decade, a 
starshade mission with a small telescope could discover the first 
Earth-like exoplanets orbiting Sun-like stars and obtain spectra of 
their atmospheres. The reason a starshade and small telescope can reach 
an Earth-like planet discovery is because the starlight blocking is 
done by the starshade, outside of the telescope itself. The telescope 
system can therefore be relatively simple, one without any stringent 
requirements on the optical quality of the telescope; since no 
starlight enters the telescope; no advanced wavefront sensing 
technology and control is necessary. The telescope can be designed for 
very high throughput and the starshade would have a very broad 
wavelength bandpass for blocking out the starlight. These two key 
features (throughput and starshade bandpass) are unique amongst 
starlight suppression techniques, and enable high sensitivity 
spectroscopy for characterization at planet-star contrasts of one part 
in ten billion with a small telescope. A starshade must maneuver across 
the sky for each new target star; the number of nearby target stars 
available for a starshade mission with a small telescope is well 
matched to the number of starshade retargeting maneuvers, mitigating 
the main starshade challenge of repositioning for target stars.
    In 2013 NASA commissioned a study team ``Exo-S'' to examine a 
Probe-class mission using a starshade with a small telescope and with a 
target cost guideline of $1B. The Exo-S Team studied two viable 
starshade-telescope missions \4\. First, a starshade and telescope 
system dedicated to each other for the sole purpose of direct imaging 
for exoplanets. The starshade and commercial 1.1-m diameter mirror 
telescope would co-launch, sharing the same low-cost launch vehicle, 
conserving cost. The ``Dedicated'' mission would orbit in a 
heliocentric, Earth leading, Earth-drift away orbit, away from the 
gravity gradient of Earth orbit which is unsuitable for formation 
flying of the starshade and telescope. The telescope would have a 
conventional instrument package that includes the planet camera, a 
basic spectrometer, and a guide camera. The second Exo-S mission 
concept studied was a starshade that would launch separately to 
rendezvous with an existing on-orbit space telescope (the ``Starshade 
Rendezvous Mission''). The existing telescope adopted for the study was 
WFIRST.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ Starshade Probe 2015 Report https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/
internal_resources/788
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Both Exo-S starshade concept science cases envision a focus on our 
nearest Sun-like star neighbors, scouring the systems for all of their 
contents. An estimated few dozen exoplanets including a few Earth-sized 
exoplanets in Earth-like orbits would be newly discovered. Only the 
larger aperture telescope would be capable of obtaining atmosphere 
spectra for most of the discovered Earth-size exoplanets. Studies to 
advance the science case, risk, and cost assessment for a range of 
starshade mission options are ongoing.
    Originally conceived of in the 1960s, and revisited each decade 
since, starshade technology now heavily builds upon deep industrial 
heritage of large space-based deployable radio antennas. Because the 
burden of starlight suppression is on the starshade, no new 
technologies for the space telescope are needed. To reach the required 
starlight suppression, tolerances of hundreds of microns for starshade 
petal shape, tens of mm for petal positioning, and formation flying to 
150 km along the line of sight and meters laterally are needed. So far, 
technology milestones include subscale demonstrations, precision 
manufacturing of starshade petal edges, and starshade occulter stowage 
and deployment. Current lab-based experiments have demonstrated dark 
shadows within about an order of magnitude of what is required in 
space.
    A directed effort to mature five different starshade technologies 
was created by NASA's Astrophysics Division in March 2016 (called 
``Starshade to TRL 5'' or S5), though shorter timescales are possible 
with more funding. S5 will mature key technologies to TRL 5 by 2023 in 
order to be ready for a possible mission opportunity later in the 
decade. A starshade with WFIRST would be the first mission opportunity, 
increase the technology readiness level and decrease risk for future 
ambitious space-based direct imaging mission concepts now under study 
by NASA, such as the Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx)\3\.
    The Starshade with WFIRST concept envisions a starshade launched 
shortly after WFIRST and rendezvousing with it at L2. NASA headquarters 
has directed the WFIRST project to accommodate the needed hardware and 
software required to make WFIRST operational with a starshade and the 
associated costs through 2020 are borne by the WFIRST project. Later 
costs would be carried by the starshade project, pending a Decadal 
Survey recommendation. The impact on WFIRST for starshade readiness is 
minimized because the existing coronagraph instrument will perform as 
the starshade science instrument, while formation guidance will be 
handled by the existing coronagraph focal planes with minimal 
modification. The telescope spacecraft must also carry some specific 
hardware needed for formation flying, a starshade acquisition camera 
and an interspacecraft radio link for spacecraft-to-spacecraft 
communications for formation flying. These additions are 
straightforward because no new technologies are needed. The starshade 
program would use a small amount of WFIRST observatory time (on order 9 
percent). The 2015 Aerospace Corporation-validated cost estimate for 
the starshade and spacecraft is $630 M\4\.
    Value in the Search for Life Beyond Earth NASA missions inspire the 
next generation to study STEM fields and enter STEM careers outside of 
academic research. My science and engineering students at MIT and 
elsewhere crave to work on challenging and meaningful technical 
problems, and few if any efforts are more attractive in this regard 
than the search for life beyond Earth using advanced space missions. 
Many students who completed studies or leave academic research careers 
in space science and engineering use their advanced technical skills in 
many other areas, including aerospace technology development, remote 
sensing, and data sciences including artificial intelligence and 
machine learning in a wide range of commercial industries. Furthermore, 
people trained in space sciences and engineering gain the technical 
skills relevant for work on national defense and national security 
issues. As a nation we must continue to be bold in our space endeavors, 
so as to not only inspire the next generation but also to keep a 
skilled workforce at the forefront of technology.
    Our drive to explore space has yielded many practical discoveries, 
in medicine, transportation, chemical detection, consumer products and 
more. My team's space satellite, the ASTERIA 6U CubeSat implemented and 
operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has demonstrated precision 
pointing in small package, reaching 100 times better pointing than 
anything in its mass category. While initially intended as a prototype 
for a fleet of satellites for exoplanet discovery, ASTERIA's precision 
pointing legacy will more likely be in more practical satellite 
applications. For example, for space situational awareness satellites 
(e.g., small satellites observing from low Earth orbit). Another 
example is optical communication (using visible light waves which can 
carry more information than radio waves but requires precise pointing) 
both by conventional low Earth orbit satellites and also for deep space 
commercial insitu space resource utilization (such as asteroid mining) 
for which commercial companies will need their own space-based 
communication networks.
    NASA is a global leader in space science. The Starshade Mission--
our best, first path to finding another Earth with signs of life--is 
only being developed in the United States of America. Prioritizing 
among NASA's many important missions is never easy, both Congress and 
the astronomy and planetary science community will have to make tough 
choices if we are to lead the way and be the first to discover signs of 
life beyond Earth.
    Mr. Chairman and Committee this concludes my remarks. Thank you for 
your attention and your continued support for NASA's space science 
missions for revolutionary new discoveries.

    Senator Cruz. Thank you very much, and thank you to each of 
the witnesses.
    Let us start out with a question to all four of you, which 
is why should we be engaged in the search for life? Why does it 
matter and why should that be a priority for our space mission?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. I believe it is one of the big questions of 
all of humanity. This is how great nations make a mark. It is 
by what they do for their citizens but also how they move 
history forward. This will be one of those questions, if 
answered, that will be remembered forever because it will be a 
leap in not only understanding more about nature but a leap in 
understanding ourselves at a level we have never had in the 
past.
    Dr. Stofan. Since Thomas gave kind of the underlying 
philosophical answer, which I 100 percent agree with, I would 
probably like to focus on--you know, when we try to do things 
that are really hard like we did at the time of Apollo, when 
you push yourself to answer the really tough questions, that is 
when you really push technology forward. And I would argue when 
you push technology forward, you push your society forward, you 
push the economy forward. So trying to answer these big 
questions, building big telescopes, sending humans to Mars, 
these are an investment in the future of our country, and I 
think that is critically important.
    Dr. Spergel. Let me just add another element which I see as 
a professor in working with students, which is this is a 
question that I think engages everyone. This is a question that 
kids in elementary school, when you go talk to them, ask about 
and certainly something that college students are engaged with. 
And by asking this question, we draw people into science and 
help bring in this next generation who will be part of our STEM 
education community. So I think this is another one of the side 
benefits. Many of us do this because we want to know the 
answer, but we have these benefits that come from exploring 
these questions.
    Dr. Seager. I will add on to that, and I have a second one. 
So most senior engineers today either in civilian space science 
or in national defense and national security--they were 
inspired by the moon landings. And today the equivalent of that 
is the search for life. And that public search and when we do 
discover it will inspire that next generation to go into 
technology.
    Second, just for the record, it takes a ton of pure science 
research to come up with anything practical, things you could 
never invent if you set out to find something practical. Like a 
relevant example is GPS. We all rely on it. But it did not come 
because someone said, hey, I need a navigation system for my 
car. So it turns out that just by exploring, we do have unique 
practical spin-offs.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you.
    Dr. Spergel, you previously tweeted, what is driving the 
acceleration of the universe? What are the properties of 
exoplanet atmospheres? How did our galaxy and its neighbors 
form and evolve? What determines the architecture of 
exoplanets? U.S. should be leading the world in addressing 
these big questions.
    Is the United States right now leading the world in 
addressing these big questions? And what do we need to do 
better to ensure that we are and remain the global leader?
    Dr. Spergel. I think we are leading the world in addressing 
these questions at the moment.
    But looking around the world, I see excellence coming out 
of our European colleagues and Japan and emerging capabilities 
in China. The European Space Agency is launching a number of 
space science missions that are pushing the edge forward. Their 
Gaia mission is giving us new insight into galactic dynamics. 
They have certainly are at the cutting edge in areas like 
astrometry. They are often partnered with us in many of the 
projects.
    And looking east, I have been very impressed by the 
investments that the Chinese are making in space science. They 
were really not even significant players 10 years ago. Looking 
to where they might be a decade from now, if we stop investing, 
they will be the leaders.
    Dr. Seager. I will just add on to that about China. So we 
used to say that China can copy perfectly but not innovate, and 
now that might be changing. And they are pouring a ton of money 
into everything ranging from like solar panel technology, to 
nuclear power, to space. It sounds trite, but we want to 
maintain our healthy budget here for innovative science.
    Senator Cruz. So this committee is working on a new NASA 
authorization bill. We passed one last year, the first one that 
had passed in 7 years, and we are working on yet another one 
that I hope we will pass this year.
    Let me ask the witnesses what do you see as the science-
related priorities that are most important to be reflected in 
that bill.
    Dr. Spergel. For me--and I will put on my hat as former 
chair of the Space Studies Board. What we try to do with the 
decadal surveys is identify what I think are the top scientific 
priorities in each of the areas that the NASA Science Mission 
Directorate works. So in planetary science, it has certainly 
been the top priority to go to Mars, return a sample from Mars, 
followed by exploring Europa; in heliophysics, understanding 
the processes of the sun and space weather.
    In astrophysics, completing JWST and then WFIRST are the 
current top priorities. We are about to engage in the 
astrophysics community in our process of looking at the 
proposed missions and identifying the next set of priorities. I 
think we will begin by thinking about what are the key driving 
questions. The search for life will almost certainly be one. 
Others will include understanding the processes of galaxy 
formation, star formation, and the emergence of structure.
    And, of course, in earth science and space, as Ranking 
Member Markey mentioned earlier, understanding the earth and 
using the vantage point of space to watch the changing 
environment is another key part of NASA's mission.
    Dr. Seager. Chairman Cruz's remarks started with the Greeks 
and the planets. And I think a priority should be finding the 
true earth twin orbiting one of our nearest sun-like stars. And 
that is a very hard problem, one part in 10 billion. But it is 
something that America is leading the way. The Starshade, for 
example, is not being developed in any other country.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you.
    Senator Markey.
    Senator Markey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, again.
    We want to search for faraway planets, but we also want to 
make sure that we do our work here on Earth correctly. And NASA 
has been a leader in climate science in helping us to 
understand where we live and gives us the most up-to-date data 
and projections with missions such as OCO-2 and GRACE.
    So Administrator Zurbuchen, is NASA's earth science 
research important to understanding threats like climate 
science?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. The earth science program is a very 
important program for the Nation. The earth science program 
that we have is very strong. We have an increasing number of 
spacecraft in orbit. I think last time I counted it was 17 
missions on orbit and several in development. And, yes, I do 
believe that this very important program and unique program, 
complementary to other efforts that are going on within the 
government and beyond, is very important for NASA and the 
Nation.
    Senator Markey. Will you make a commitment to this 
committee that earth science will remain a priority for NASA in 
the years ahead?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. The earth science as a key element of NASA 
has been with NASA from the very beginning, and I will make a 
commitment that we will implement the program that is being 
appropriated here and that includes, as you know, a strong 
earth science program. And in that sense, absolutely, yes.
    Senator Markey. So let us go down and have each one of you 
give us an example of how deep space exploration relates to or 
helps us back here on earth. Can you give us an example? We had 
GPS earlier given to us as an example from earlier space 
exploration. So how would it relate in the 21st century to each 
of us in terms of the breakthroughs that are possible?
    Dr. Stofan. You know, one of my favorite examples has 
always been back to this issue of climate, of how do we really 
understand this planet's climate. And when you put it in the 
context of looking at Venus, looking at Mars, looking at 
Saturn's moon Titan, we actually have other bodies in the solar 
system that have varying amounts of carbon dioxide, they have 
different greenhouse gases. And so by understanding the 
climates of not just earth but being able to compare the 
climate of earth to other planets, it has helped us to really 
understand what is happening here.
    In fact, we actually first identified the ozone hole on 
Earth after--it was a scientist who had been looking at Venus 
came back and looked at the Earth. And that was how that 
problem was first identified.
    Senator Markey. So that is how Mario did that? Interesting.
    Yes, Dr. Spergel.
    Dr. Spergel. Another example that comes to mind is studying 
ice planets and then looking at glaciers. You are looking at 
the same physics. And the remote sensing technologies--ISAT-2 
is launching I believe in September. We use many of the same 
remote sensing technologies when we go visit planets in our own 
solar system as we do looking back on Earth.
    And one of the things that we see often in science is if 
you look at one example, you do not fully understand what is 
going on. We have understood the earth much better and, as Dr. 
Stofan mentioned, we have understood processes on the earth by 
first observing things that are happening on Venus, on Mars, 
elsewhere. And now when we look at extra-solar planetary 
systems, we are understanding our solar system better because 
we now see our solar system as but one example of many. And 
stepping back and getting this bigger picture and understanding 
those physical processes makes us rethink the way we think 
about the Earth.
    Senator Markey. Great.
    Dr. Seager.
    Dr. Seager. Well, medical imaging is one we are all 
familiar with. Many people get MRIs or other scans. In 
astronomy, we have to do the same thing, process data that we 
get from the sky. And medical imaging can thank astronomy 
techniques for making big leaps forward.
    I have another brief one is that my team first at MIT and 
Draper Lab and then at Jet Propulsion Lab, we built a little 
cubesat, a small telescope in space, to find planets. What it 
does new in technology is it can point more precisely, 100 
times more precisely than anything in its mass category. Will 
its legacy be to find exoplanets? Probably not. The people most 
interested in it come from optical communication, a way to pack 
more information than in radio waves. And that is probably 
where the technology will end up being used.
    Senator Markey. Dr. Zurbuchen.
    Dr. Zurbuchen. One of the things I have been personally 
involved with in my past before I took this job is in some of 
the spinoffs that came from developing space technology, 
including electronics that were developed to study some 
environmental conditions on Mars, that are now routinely used 
in manufacturing environments to prevent discharges from 
happening and many others. So there are so many. We could talk 
to you for hours.
    Senator Markey. That is great. Thank you.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you.
    Senator Hassan.

               STATEMENT OF HON. MAGGIE HASSAN, 
                U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE

    Senator Hassan. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking 
Member, for holding this hearing.
    Thank you to all of our witnesses today. It is a real 
pleasure to see you all. I would like to offer an especially 
warm welcome to Dr. Stofan because she, like I, is a Brown 
alumnus. So thank you. I am glad that the Chair recognized you 
as the first woman director of the Museum. It is very important 
for girls and young women to see women lead in science. So for 
having both you and Dr. Seager here and having a 50/50 panel 
here is kind of a nice visual.
    Dr. Zurbuchen, I would like to just start with you and to 
touch a little bit on space weather.
    Dr. Harlan Spence leads the Institute for the Study of 
Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire, my 
home state, and he is a world renowned expert on space weather. 
He leads a research group that studies the physics of cosmic 
plasmas from the Sun's corona to interplanetary space to 
Earth's upper atmosphere using experimental and modeling 
techniques. This research will ultimately help enhance our 
understanding of the potential threats space weather can 
present to Earth, among other unique discoveries. That is why 
investing in space weather research is so critical.
    So, Doctor, is NASA providing the resources needed to 
implement the National Space Weather Action Plan and National 
Space Weather Strategy?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. We have started with the last 2 or 3 years 
of investments that followed the plan. We have started to 
implement some of these recommendations. Not all of them are 
fully funded at the level that were initially foreseen, and 
there is a number of discussions that are happening, as you 
know, across agencies of how we best do that. For example, we 
are coming up with innovative ideas to actually get space 
weather data from a unique collaboration between NASA and NOAA 
that was not initially foreseen. So it is that level of 
discussion that we are having as we go forward and actually 
really come up with a full implementation of this action plan. 
So, yes, we are on the way. Could we go even faster? Probably.
    Senator Hassan. Well, that is helpful.
    I note that, as I understand it, NASA funds science 
missions based on priorities set by the National Academy of 
Sciences, which makes a lot of sense. But there are obviously 
other--maybe we refer to the more applied reasons--to fund 
space weather research.
    So how should NASA go about balancing pure science 
priorities on the one hand and national needs on the other when 
determining what research to fund?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. I think that is a really important question 
and one that I think about a lot in the context of both earth 
science, also planetary science. You know, these objects are 
hurling through space that can potentially affect human life on 
earth and also space weather.
    In this case, what is actually interesting is that the 
entire community is really deeply embracing space weather. And 
the reason I am saying that is if you go back to the last 
decadal, which is really the guiding document of this, space 
weather is an important part of the entire program and actually 
has its specific set of recommendations that we are following 
at the same level as the others. So what we are trying to do 
also in this case is wherever we get such guidance from the 
science community to implement that, of course, within all the 
constraints and overarching policy guidance that we are getting 
from here or elsewhere.
    Senator Hassan. Would anybody else like to comment on 
striking that balance?
    Dr. Seager. I will say that we probably do not have a good 
answer for you, unfortunately. We are, unfortunately, bound by 
these decadal surveys. And you are right that it is really a 
science priority not a national needs-based priority.
    Senator Hassan. Dr. Spergel.
    Dr. Spergel. I think there will be another heliophysics 
decadal coming up reasonably soon, and having been involved in 
the process, if NASA instructs the academy to weight those 
priorities in the evaluations, that becomes part of the 
process.
    Dr. Stofan. And I would just add NASA has a whole earth 
science applied sciences area where they are doing critical 
work to support farmers with drought information and crop 
information. And I think that balance is really important and 
really critical. In the earth sciences, I know this is top of 
mind.
    Senator Hassan. Well, thank you.
    I just wanted, Dr. Stofan, to touch briefly with you and 
maybe we can follow up in writing. But I have seen your remarks 
recently on the importance of diversifying the workforces that 
make all of these critical scientific achievements possible. 
Can you just comment on how important it is that we invest in 
our Nation's children throughout their early education, as well 
as through collegiate and post-graduate studies to ensure that 
we have a pipeline of people, like the four of you, who can 
carry on this important research and make even greater strides 
for American space exploration?
    Dr. Stofan. If we do not focus on increasing diversity in 
science, technology, and engineering, and math, we are doing a 
disservice to our country because we are not tapping into the 
talent of all of our population. So to me, it is not just 
something nice to do. It is something that we have to do. And 
it is something we focus on at the Smithsonian, and to me, that 
is one of the things that I hope to do at Air and Space is 
really focus on telling those diverse stories, as we do across 
the Smithsonian, to really inspire that next generation to be 
the innovators and explorers.
    Senator Hassan. Well, thank you very much.
    And thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you.
    Senator Peters.

                STATEMENT OF HON. GARY PETERS, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM MICHIGAN

    Senator Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member.
    Thank you to our panelists for the discussion.
    Senator Hassan, I just want to thank you too for bringing 
up the space weather issue. It is a very big issue and one that 
the University of Michigan folks are very involved in as well. 
And I think as some of the panelists may know, it is why we 
passed a bill that I worked on with Senator Gardner, the Space 
Weather Research and Forecasting Act, which has passed the 
Senate now twice. It just came out of the House committee 
recently. Unfortunately, I think it was weakened as it came out 
of the House. We are hoping to strengthen that to make sure 
that we get everybody on the same page when it comes to 
forecasting these weather events, which can be extreme.
    And, Dr. Seager, I am going to ask you to talk a little bit 
about that. My understanding is that our space weather 
forecasting abilities are similar to our abilities to forecast 
hurricanes in the 1930s, which was not all that great in the 
1930s. We have gotten a whole lot better. But if we see an 
event like you mentioned in your testimony, the Carrington 
event, I think Lloyds of London has estimated that is well in 
excess of a $1 trillion impact on our economy. This is 
significant. We have not been acting quick enough. I do not 
think there has been enough coordination, which is part of the 
Act is to make sure that this is not just science. It is the 
homeland security and defense, all sorts of issues related to 
it.
    But would you tell us exactly why it is so important that 
we get going on making sure that we have a space weather 
capability----
    Dr. Seager. Well, I am not an expert on space weather 
forecasting. I see the Carrington event like the earthquake in 
San Francisco or Los Angeles. We are all waiting for the big 
one, and when it comes here, I think it is not just space 
weather forecasting but, as you say, also how we are going to 
protect our satellites and power grid.
    Senator Peters. Anybody else? Dr. Zurbuchen?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. Sir, space weather is one of those elements 
of our research program. In many ways, like esteemed faculty 
members would sit here and say the same thing, it is one of 
those. Frankly, when I was in grad school, it was not as 
prevalent as we are thinking about it today. And the simple 
reason for that is we are way more dependent on space than we 
were 20-30 years ago. So this is becoming much more important.
    Yes, we have made strides toward this. Are we going at 
maximum speed possible? Probably not. We are seeking to do the 
best. If you look at the 2019 budget, you see increases in some 
of the areas where we are requesting to actually accelerate 
some of the work. That is, of course, under consideration in 
Congress. And so, yes, we seek to respond to the desire that 
you are talking about, Senator, because we see the importance 
in a direct fashion.
    Senator Peters. In my understanding, it is not a question 
of if we are going to have a big event. It is just when. And we 
are past due for that event. And my understanding is if you do 
see a blackout of a grid and the big transformers that control 
that are burned out, as a result of that, you could see outages 
for 6 months to a year. So folks, who may read the transcript 
of this hearing, just think of New York City without power for 
one year. That would be catastrophic for our country. So this 
is an investment that we need to be making and doing it in a 
thoughtful way.
    Dr. Seager. And just tying back to the question about what 
practical comes out space exploration, this may be our best 
example.
    Senator Peters. Right. Thank you.
    Dr. Stofan, you mentioned the life on Mars and the 
possibility for that. Just a question. You said that basically 
you are looking at water-based life and Mars had water for 
about 500 million years. That seems like a fairly short time 
given how long it took on earth. Why are you confident that 
that is enough time that we might be able to find something 
there?
    Dr. Stofan. Well, because remember actually life arose 
rapidly here on earth once conditions stabilized. So the first 
several hundred million years on earth, conditions were pretty 
hostile. It was really as soon as conditions stabilized within 
100 million years or so, we are fairly confident that the first 
microbial life evolved on earth.
    So the problem is life remained in the oceans for over a 
billion years, and it took well over a billion years for life 
to gain any complexity. That is why I am optimistic that life 
did evolve on Mars. I am not optimistic that it got very 
complex. So we are talking about finding fossil microbes, so 
single-cell organisms, blue-green algae, so hard to find.
    And that is why I do think it will take humans on the 
planet breaking open a lot of rocks to try to actually find 
this evidence of past life. And finding one sample is not good 
enough. You need multiple samples to understand the diversity.
    Senator Peters. You brought up finding complex life, and we 
have often been intrigued by the idea that there might be 
civilizations out that there can communicate with us to be 
advanced. There are some that argue that we should have 
probably already found that if it exists, and the fact that the 
earth is--what--4 billion, 4.5 billion years old. The universe 
is 14 billion. So you could conceivably have civilizations that 
have been in existence for a billion years. They would be very 
advanced when you think about how much advancement we have had 
now.
    Are we confident we are searching in the right way for 
civilizations that may be so far advanced and may not be 
communicating the way we do? How do we even know that? This is 
a broad philosophical question, but I think it is one we have 
to be thinking about if we are putting resources into probably 
the most intriguing question of life on another planet.
    Dr. Stofan. You know, I think we are heading down the right 
path, and that is to buildupon--while we are looking for 
exoplanets around other stars, we are trying to understand the 
nature and variety of life that might have evolved in our own 
solar system. I think once we start realizing how common life 
is in this solar system, it gives us a better basis, and once 
we start gaining data on exoplanets, their surface conditions, 
it gives us a basis for which to start thinking about how 
likely is complex life, where should we go to find it. And so I 
think we need more data, and so I think the way we are 
approaching the problem is absolutely correct.
    Senator Peters. Thank you.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you, Senator Peters.
    We will do a few more questions. Dr. Zurbuchen, the James 
Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble Space 
Telescope, is meant to revolutionize the world's understanding 
of planets and star formation. As you know, the telescope was 
initially expected to launch in 2007 and cost roughly $500M. 
That cost skyrocketed to $5B by 2011, and now is delayed until 
2021 with cost expected to surpass $9.6B.
    What explains that incredible increase in cost and delay in 
deployment?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. That is the question I am asking myself and 
my team on a regular basis. And I can tell you what I think 
what we have concluded already or we think are really important 
questions. I think it is more than one issue that affects that.
    The first, I would say, is excessive optimism. By the way, 
innovators need to be optimists. You never start if you 
understand how complex the challenge is ahead, but excessive 
optimism can be trapping you into a path that you will regret 
later. What that means for me as a leader and as a manager, is 
that I want to build in mechanisms such as independent reviews 
of the type we did with WFIRST that David talked about earlier 
to really get our arms around it.
    The second one, I would argue, is the confluence of 
something like the development of something like 10 new 
technologies. Every new technology by itself is hard to guess 
how long it will take. Ten together is much, much harder. It is 
not 10 times harder. It may be 50, 100 times harder because 
these technologies interact with each other. When I look at 
missions now, I want to understand how many more technologies 
are needed and try to understand whether we can actually 
develop these technologies before we lock in cost.
    And then the third one I think we are learning now. The 
thing that led to the increase in cost that you are referring 
to relative to the independent review board has to do with 
really closing off at the integration and test level the work 
that we are having there. What we are finding are challenges 
related to just doing the work and avoiding the impact of human 
errors and embedded problems that have led to increases in 
cost. That relates to how we manage our processes and make sure 
that our processes are absolutely clear, and that we also 
understand the culture of the workforce. And at many places 
where this happens, this is not just all done at NASA, as you 
know, it is done in the entire contractor community.
    So those are, I would argue, the three kinds of prime 
reasons and the lessons we learned from the three.
    Senator Cruz. Have these massive cost overruns caused NASA 
to reassess the effectiveness of cost-plus contracting for big 
projects like this?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. Yes. We are talking about different types of 
contracting vehicles in a variety of ways. In new innovative 
projects of the type that nobody has ever done, it will be very 
hard to get a fixed price contract from a company. Having been 
a board member on some of these companies, you would question 
why the CEO wants to do that. Right? So basically for us, it is 
a matter of trying to understand where the right balance is 
between a fixed price contract, which of course protects the 
government from new learnings. And frankly, we have some of 
these fixed price contracts, and in some cases, the company may 
regret that. In some cases, that is a good thing for them, as 
we hope. In a cost-plus contract, what it allows us to do, of 
course, is to manage as we go forward, as we learn and kind of 
learn new things to actually really interact with that company 
and kind of redirect them, if you want, toward a more optimized 
path.
    And so for us, yes, we constantly look at the procurement 
vehicles we have and try to also understand whether there are 
even new ones such as service contracts of the type that we are 
using in the lunar program, which is totally different than 
anything else. And there is some risk with that too because it 
may very well be that some of these companies may not be ready. 
But, yes, we are absolutely looking at those.
    Senator Cruz. Let me shift, Dr. Zurbuchen, to a different 
topic, which is that your written testimony states that NASA 
maintains a vigorous planetary defense program, which includes 
the near earth object observations project.
    As you know, earlier this year on April 15, an asteroid 
named Asteroid 2018 GE3 that is estimated to be at least 150 
feet in diameter was spotted about 119,500 miles from Earth, a 
distance closer than the Moon is from Earth.
    What do you see as the greatest challenges that our nation 
faces as it pertains to planetary defense from asteroids? And 
then what step do we need to be taking so that we do not have 
to rely on sending Bruce Willis to space to save humanity?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. I liked that movie.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Cruz. Me too.
    Dr. Zurbuchen. What we have done in the 2019 budget 
proposal is we proposed that we create an integrated program 
that actually takes advantage of all data sources, including 
from TESS and other kind of spacecraft that are out there to go 
look for these bodies. We want to integrate that and basically 
get a real inventory of what is out there that is a threat of 
140 meters and above.
    Now, there are certain parts of these data where we are 
always going to be weaker if we are observing from earth. And 
what the strategic plans have done is propose that we need to 
go away from earth because, frankly, you cannot observe things 
coming out of the sun because it is bright. And so we cannot 
see these bodies. And so for us to get that inventory, we 
probably will have to have an asset that we currently do not 
have that is away from the earth and can look back.
    Once we have an inventory of these objects, I think the 
next step will focus on really mitigating those potential 
threats. It is understanding all the potential threats and 
mitigating the threats. And depending on the size, the 
mitigation tools are different. We have one mission that we are 
currently working on, which is one type of mitigation, an 
impact. So we will basically ram a spacecraft into a body like 
this to give it a bump, a bump that in a target would bring it 
out of a collision zone, so to say.
    So it is those two challenges we are focusing on or 
proposed to focus on in this integrated program.
    Senator Cruz. And the last question. In addition to NASA's 
incredible leadership on space exploration and science, we have 
also seen tremendous cooperation and collaboration with the 
private sector. Can and should NASA be doing more to utilize 
commercial partners and utilize private capital as it pertains 
to the agency's science priorities?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. Why don't I start with that answer? We are 
continually assessing this, and kind of the way we are doing 
it, frankly, is to run experiments. For example, we are close 
to finishing off a commercial data buy of constellations of 
small spacecraft that would provide a new way of getting data 
into the earth science community in ways that we do not even 
build a spacecraft. Some companies may be better, you know, 
cheaper at building some of these spacecraft. Not all data, but 
some data that we may be able to do the services contracts of 
the type that we are using with lunar. And there are several 
others. Hosting payloads on commercial spacecraft. We have 
three that are currently in our program.
    So we are running a variety of experiments like that to 
really see what is there. And our commitment is to continually 
do that to really make sure that we can offload things that the 
private sector can do to the private sector. It is not our 
intent ever to compete with the private sector. Our intent is 
to grow that sector and benefit from positive partnerships to 
really offload things that are possible there so we can focus 
on the leading edge of the type that Dr. Seager and others have 
talked about.
    Dr. Seager. I will just add to that and say SpaceX--and he 
may be talking about planet labs. Like the seat of innovation 
is in private commercial industry because they can afford to 
take risks that NASA cannot. So it is definitely the way 
forward.
    Dr. Spergel. I think the ecosystem of potential partners 
has gotten much bigger. It is not just the aerospace companies. 
But there are areas like robotics. Twenty years ago, I suspect 
that NASA represented a significant fraction of all work in 
robotics. Today it is a tiny fraction with enormous amounts of 
money going to things like self-driving cars and, of course, 
things in factories. And I think there is an opportunity for 
NASA--I know they are doing their best to take advantage of 
this--to partner not only with the Boeings and the SpaceX's but 
many small companies that are growing in sectors like robotics, 
computer science, machine learning, and so on.
    Dr. Stofan. And I would just add that I think it is really 
important for NASA to stay focused on what only NASA can do. 
And that to me certainly hinges around things like building the 
next giant telescopes, focusing on making sure we understand 
this planet, and getting humans to Mars.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you.
    Senator Markey.
    Senator Markey. Dr. Seager, I want to talk about NASA's 
mission prioritization process. We only have so much money. 
There are many missions.
    Are you satisfied with the prioritization process that they 
have at NASA?
    Dr. Seager. I think it is a question worth asking to 
everybody. We have the decadal surveys, but I think----
    Senator Markey. I am going to start with you and then go 
right down. Because you are from Massachusetts, I thought I 
would start with you. I do want to hear from each of the rest 
of the witnesses as well.
    Dr. Seager. Sure. Well, you have heard many times how the 
witnesses always go back to the decadal survey, and it is kind 
of the structure that we are, let us say, forced to abide by. 
But I want to say that any institution, any kind of structure 
that has been around for more than half a century--I think it 
should be reviewed to see if it is still effective. Maybe it 
has been reviewed already, but I think it is really time to 
take a better look at it. I think there is room for improvement 
there, which I will not go into now.
    Senator Markey. Well, why do you not give us one example of 
improvement?
    Dr. Seager. Sure. I will give you one because in many areas 
of space science--we have the James Webb Space Telescope. It is 
a good example, as is WFIRST and other missions. The whole 
community feels that if they do not have one mission that the 
entire community buys into, that it will never get selected by 
the decadal survey. So what this means is that the community 
wants to put forward missions that are very complicated, like 
it had 10 new technologies. And the question is, are we at a 
place of maturity in space technology now where we should have 
more focused missions that are also big missions, but not try 
to do everything in one place. And we cannot really do that in 
the current formulation of the survey.
    We also had this other comment about the younger people not 
knowing about--well, sometimes the younger people know more. 
They were the first to use Instagram and like do new things. 
But also the way that the hierarchy of the survey is--you know, 
the top panel is like senior esteemed people who would not 
necessarily vote the same way the new generation would.
    Senator Markey. Again, the kid who came up with Instagram 
was a high school kid from Hopkinton, Massachusetts. So you are 
right.
    Dr. Spergel.
    Dr. Spergel. The decadal process has been an effective way 
of making prioritizations, and it is a process that can and is 
being improved. In fact, the academy, responding to a NASA 
request, actually looked at the decadal process as a whole. One 
advantage of doing things many times and doing it for multiple 
communities, astrophysics, heliophysics or science from space, 
planetary science, is you can look across the different 
communities and see when did the process work best, when were 
mistakes made.
    I think one of the mistakes that have been made in the 
past, to go back to JWST, is we did not properly study and cost 
something before the recommendations were made. I think that if 
we were to go back in time, James Webb will be great, but I 
think we would have preferred to be able to build a 4-meter 
James Webb Space Telescope that would have launched for less 
money a decade ago and do other things.
    And one of the lessons learned is missions going into the 
decadal survey do not go in as vague ideas on PowerPoint. They 
are studied extensively beforehand. And I think one of the 
investments that NASA has been making leading up to the 2020 
decadal--and I think it is important to do for the other 
decadals in other fields--is that potential missions are 
studied so when they are prioritized, we know what we are 
looking at. Ultimately this is a cost-benefit analysis, and we 
need to have at least a preliminary understanding of cost.
    Senator Markey. Dr. Stofan.
    Dr. Stofan. Yes. I was involved in the last two planetary 
science decadals and also, as I was Chief Scientist at NASA, 
watched the earth science decadal going forward. And I saw the 
process being hugely reviewed and given a lot of thought on how 
to improve it. And I think it is an important and strong 
process that needs to be adhered to because it really allows 
the best science to come forward. It is not the person who 
shouts the loudest or has the most connections. It really is 
the best science. And to me, that allows the U.S. to then 
retain our position as leading in so many of these fields.
    Senator Markey. Well, how do you correct that so that the 
people who yell the loudest and have the stake in the biggest 
project do not win?
    Dr. Stofan. Well, I think in the planetary science and in 
the earth science, I saw that happen really well, where you had 
broad input from the community. There was input that was sought 
from across the scientific community. It was argued out in many 
small panels, argued out in larger panels. And I thought the 
process actually----
    Senator Markey. So you are happy with the prioritization?
    Dr. Stofan. I am happy with the prioritization.
    Senator Markey. Interesting. OK.
    Dr. Zurbuchen.
    Dr. Zurbuchen. I have to tell you that I am really glad 
that I am not in charge of science prioritization. And the 
simple reason is I would not know how to do it in the absence 
of a framing activity that involves many voices in different 
ways. For me the decadal has been a very successful activity, 
but like every human endeavor, it should always be questioned 
and should be improved as we go forward.
    I actually resonate with Dr. Seager's comments, the comment 
she made, for example, it is really important that in these 
panels a diverse set of opinions are being listened to because 
that is where good decisions come from. People from different 
types of backgrounds with different kinds of priorities, for 
example, some that also have been in the private sector and 
actually understand that interface--it is really helpful. So 
that is really important. I agree with her. So we should as a 
community continually go question whether we are doing it the 
right way, but overall, I am really happy we have this. I do 
not know how I could do the job without it.
    Senator Markey. So thank you all for your service to our 
country and to the planet. Thank you.
    Senator Cruz. And I want to thank each of the witnesses for 
being here, for your testimony. I think this hearing was 
helpful and productive, and your expertise is what made it so.
    The hearing record will remain open for the next two weeks. 
During that time, Senators are asked to submit any questions 
for the record. And for the witnesses, upon receipt, I would 
ask that you respond with written answers as soon as possible.
    And with that, this hearing is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 3:53 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Bill Nelson to 
                          Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen
    Question 1. The administration has recommended a new lunar science 
program in advance of proposed human missions to the moon. I agree that 
we should do as much science as possible in conjunction in our human 
exploration programs, but I am concerned about robbing other science 
programs to pay for it. What is the value of the science that we would 
get from the administration's proposed science lunar program compared 
to value of the science we could get if we directed those funds toward 
competed science missions?
    Answer. Working with science and human exploration communities, our 
international partners, and U.S. industry, NASA is refining the goals 
and objectives for a robust Exploration Campaign. The value of the 
science we can obtain from such a program is multifaceted and would be 
conducted in addition to the agency's cadence of competed science 
missions. One area of focus that is of high interest to both 
exploration and science is understanding the lunar water cycle and the 
potential for use of local resources, such as lunar polar water ice. 
Another area includes the decadal-level science of understanding the 
Moon's interior via emplacement of a seismic network. There are also 
several transformative Solar System science questions that can be 
addressed at the Moon's surface, including establishing the period of 
giant planet migration and its effects on the Solar System, and 
providing an absolute chronology for our Solar System.
    A substantial benefit to using industry services through the 
planned Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative is that it 
will enable NASA to accelerate a robotic return to the lunar surface. 
With the recent release of the CLPS Request for Proposals, NASA intends 
to award multiple contracts for these services through the next decade, 
with contract missions to the lunar surface expected to begin as early 
as 2019, and with a company's first delivery no later than December 31, 
2021.

    Question 2. Given the administration's renewed focus on the moon, I 
was shocked when NASA announced the cancellation of the Resource 
Prospector Mission. I understand that NASA is continuing to fund the 
instruments from Resource Prospector and that at least one company has 
proposed carrying the instruments on a commercial lunar lander. What 
are your thoughts on carrying out the investigations originally planned 
for Resource Prospector under a public-private partnership with a 
commercial lunar lander company?
    Answer. Through its planned Exploration Campaign, NASA is returning 
to the Moon with commercial and international partners in support of 
Space Policy Directive 1. As part of this effort, the agency seeks to 
harness the innovation of American space companies to build new lunar 
landers. NASA has identified a variety of exploration, science, and 
technology objectives that could be addressed by regularly sending 
instruments, experiments and other small payloads to the Moon. Some of 
those payloads will be developed from the agency's Resource Prospector 
(RP) mission concept. The agency will ensure that RP data and design 
activity are captured and considered in shaping this broader effort. 
Understanding the distribution, quantity, and origin of potential lunar 
volatile deposits remains a high priority for both SMD and HEOMD.
    NASA released the Request for Proposals (RFP) for Commercial Lunar 
Payload Services (CLPS) to industry on September 6, 2018, which opens 
the formal competition to further expand efforts to support development 
and partnership opportunities on the lunar surface. Robotic instruments 
resulting from RP efforts will be among the early deliveries to the 
Moon on CLPS missions.
    In addition to the RP instruments, NASA will evaluate other 
instruments as well to fly on the early CLPS missions. A draft Lunar 
Surface Instruments and Technology Payloads call was released on 
September 13, 2018. The final call is scheduled to be released by the 
end of September and will be open to proposals that are near ready to 
fly on commercial lunar landers and that meet planetary science 
objectives, human exploration strategic knowledge gaps or technology 
development objectives.

    Question 3. Human and robotic exploration of Mars are complimentary 
activities, but they are currently managed by different directorates at 
NASA. In our last hearing, a witness suggested that NASA establish a 
``Mars Program Office''--a single overarching office to oversee and 
coordinate all of the robotic missions, technology work and other 
development activities needed for a human mission to Mars. What are the 
advantages and disadvantages of this idea?
    Answer. Given the different lifecycle stages of the current robotic 
and human Mars exploration efforts, merging the two programs would not 
offer any clear management advantages at this time. However, this idea 
may be revisited in the future--once the Agency has obtained additional 
human spaceflight operational experience at the Moon and further 
robotic technology demonstrations at Mars, and is in a position to 
begin adapting these advances to future Mars exploration efforts.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Maggie Hassan to 
                          Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen
    The Orion Spacecraft and Mars. In 2010, Congress directed NASA to 
develop new spacecraft for future missions beyond low-earth orbit. 
Orion, a crew capsule, and the new rocket system, the Space Launch 
System, were the result of that directive. Given that Mars is widely 
agreed upon to be a long-term destination for human exploration of 
space, Orion should be capable of one day carrying astronauts to the 
Red Planet.

    Question. How would the Orion spacecraft get to Mars, and what 
remaining technology is necessary in order for it to make such a trip?
    Answer. In developing and integrating the Orion crew spacecraft, 
SLS heavy-lift launch vehicle, and exploration ground-based systems 
(EGS) to support them, NASA is supporting Space Policy Directive-1:
    ``Lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with 
commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across 
the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and 
opportunities. Beginning with missions beyond low-Earth orbit, the 
United States will lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term 
exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and 
other destinations;''
    Orion, SLS, and EGS are critical elements of NASA's plan for this 
sustainable program of exploration. These systems will lay the 
foundation for an infrastructure for human deep space exploration that 
will support missions to a variety of destinations, including the Moon 
and Mars. Orion is designed for deep space missions. Deep space 
exploration systems must navigate a higher risk environment and mission 
profile than missions in LEO, higher re-entry velocities of returning 
directly, and higher radiation environments as systems travel through 
Earth's radiation belts and beyond the protection of Earth's magnetic 
system.
    The Orion spacecraft itself has all the functional capability and 
on-board storage needed for missions to deep space with a crew of four 
for up to 21 days, and when combined with additional habitation can 
support longer duration missions. Orion includes capabilities 
specifically designed long-duration deep space operations including 
navigation independent of Earth-orbiting assets, radiation hardening 
and sheltering for the crew, high-reliability systems with dissimilar 
redundancy, and avionics that allow for operations by the crew, the 
ground, on-board automation, or a combination there of. Orion is not by 
itself, however, designed for carrying astronauts to Mars, which will 
take hundreds of days to reach using current technologies. Long-
duration habitation technologies are needed to support the longer time 
duration required for such missions. NASA continues to advance 
habitation systems utilizing ground testing and the ISS including 
capabilities such as advanced life support systems, logistics 
reduction, and radiation monitoring and protection. Any decision on 
whether to use Orion on future Mars missions, which will not be made 
for several years, will involve balancing Orion's mass and capabilities 
against alternative approaches.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to 
                          Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen
    Question 1. How does NASA plan to balance the science mission 
portfolio and continue to remain a global leader in the space industry?
    Answer. To balance its portfolio of science missions, NASA relies 
on the advice of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and 
Medicine, provided through Decadal Surveys, Mid-Decade Assessments, and 
ad hoc committee reports. This advice is complemented by more focused, 
tactical advice from SMD's Divisional Advisory Committees which are 
chartered under the Federal Advisory Committees Act. Annual performance 
reviews, such as those mandated by the Government Performance and 
Results Modernization Act of 2010, are also essential to monitoring 
NASA's progress on its strategic goals.

    Investing in Research Infrastructure and STEM Education. A critical 
component of the Nation's scientific enterprise is the infrastructure 
that supports researchers in discovery science, and educating the next 
generation of scientists and engineers.

    Question 2. What kind of investments need to be made to ensure that 
we can continue to advance the innovative frontiers of research and 
technology that support NASA's science missions?
    Answer. SMD's technology investments are guided by Agency goals and 
input from the science community through recommendations set forth in 
the National Academies' decadal surveys. These goals are designed to 
produce breakthrough science, which in turn requires significant 
technological innovation for developing instruments or platforms with 
capabilities well beyond the state-of-the-art. SMD currently maintains 
a portfolio of technology development projects to ensure that the right 
investments are made at the right time to enable the science program.
    In Earth Science, the needed scientific measurements for 
understanding the Earth as a complete system include observations of 
aerosols, clouds and precipitation, surface mass change, greenhouse 
gases, atmospheric winds, vegetation, and others. Our program includes 
investments in lasers, radars, imagers, microwave radiometers, and 
hyperspectral infrared sounders.
    A number of the new instruments developed for Earth Science may 
also be useful for Planetary Science and Heliophysics, where active and 
passive remote sensing are important for solar system exploration and 
to study the source of solar activity and the impact of that activity 
on the planets and interplanetary space. Because of the broad scope of 
planetary and lunar missions, investments in both spacecraft and 
instrument technologies are included in our program. Advanced 
propulsion systems, electronics, and mechanisms for the extreme 
environments found from Venus to Europa are major investment areas, as 
well as instruments for life detection and the characterization of the 
varied geological, atmospheric, and geophysical properties throughout 
the solar system.
    In Astrophysics, where future missions will address key questions 
related to the origin of the Universe, how the Universe functions, and 
whether or not we are alone in the Universe, investments in advanced 
technology are critically important. SMD's technology programs invest 
in a wide variety of detectors and mirror coatings for missions 
spanning the electromagnetic spectrum. Development of star shades and 
coronagraphs, along with highly stable point systems, are important 
technologies for exoplanet detection.
    In Heliophysics advanced technologies are needed to understand the 
dynamic solar atmosphere, its effect on the Earth and our solar system, 
the interactions of the Earth's magnetosphere with the heliosphere, and 
the physical processes affecting life on Earth. Technology development 
necessary for future Heliophysics missions includes advanced field and 
particle detectors, high precision spectropolarimetry, large aperture 
optics and detectors, along with more highly platforms comprised of 
large constellations of small spacecraft.
    Additionally, investments in information technology are important 
to enable the accessibility and availability of the voluminous science 
data products. Advanced information technologies also enable the next 
generation observing systems, which may consist of constellations of 
spacecraft, airborne platforms, and numerical models working in a 
coordinated manner to optimize scientific return.

    Question 3. What kind of investments and strategies need to be made 
to continue to educate the next generation of scientists and engineers 
so that we can continue to support NASA's science missions?
    Answer. SMD's strategy is to enable learners of all ages to become 
leaders in science through access to our unique science content, 
scientific experts, and our ability to provide authentic and impactful 
experiences. For investments, SMD directly connects activities with 
unique science assets to maximize participation and impact. Several 
examples are: (1) Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the 
Environment (GLOBE). This program connects Earth systems science in 121 
countries; (2) The Robotics Alliance project leverages a strategic 
partner, FIRST Foundation, to broaden and inspire youth participation; 
(3) SMD Research Fellowships are directly connected to the science and 
provide rich opportunities across SMD science disciplines and missions; 
and (4) SMD's Science Activation program leverages community-based 
partners throughout the United States, including Rio Rancho Public 
Library, NM. Finally, alignment with the activities of the restructured 
NASA Office of STEM Engagement is another mechanism to reach the next 
generation of scientists and engineers for employment pathways through 
internship programs.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Gary Peters to 
                          Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen
    Setting Priorities. One of the things Congress did with the 2017 
NASA Transition Act was to codify the search for extraterrestrial life 
as a goal for NASA Science programs.
    Question 1. Has codifying this goal helped direct NASA's work and 
has it changed anything within NASA's science programs?

   If yes, can you please offer examples?

   If no, does Congressional guidance like this need to be more 
        specific, or more forward looking, or something else?

    Answer. Codifying the goal to search for extraterrestrial life and 
the supporting steps required, which include understanding the origin 
and evolution of life, has had a significant impact on NASA's science 
programs. While NASA has a long history in the search for 
extraterrestrial life, including advancing priorities expressed in past 
Decadal Surveys, highlighting the importance of this component of 
NASA's missions has helped to renew interest in how NASA programs value 
and prioritize the work that supports this goal. In particular, we have 
recruited new researchers from other areas of NASA by exploring how 
their research can contribute and expanded the number of NASA-funded 
scientists that see their research supporting the search for 
extraterrestrial life. This has allowed for broader engagement and 
accessibility of additional NASA programs in answering the key 
astrobiology questions. The continued emphasis on interdisciplinary and 
interdivisional research is crucial to the success of NASA's 
Astrobiology Program and we have seen an increase in non-traditional 
researchers from other parts of the space and Earth Science community 
proposing to astrobiology solicitations. Lastly, the codification of 
this goal has provided additional support to our new interdivisional 
initiatives, such as the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS), 
which is focused on the study and characterization of planets with the 
greatest potential for signs of life.

    Sample Return. The Decadal Survey for Planetary Science covering 
2013 to 2023 states the start of a sample return mission from Mars 
should be the highest priority mission for NASA. Yet we still have no 
firm commitment to the Mars Sample Return mission in the FY19 budget.

    Question 2. When can we expect this commitment be made, or maybe 
more importantly, when will we need a commitment for sample return 
missions to maintain leadership in this area?
    Answer. The President's FY19 budget request includes $50M for 
studies and technology development towards a potential Mars sample 
return (MSR) mission. In April 2018, NASA and the European Space Agency 
(ESA) signed a joint statement of intent to develop a joint MSR plan 
and to complete the studies needed to reach the level of technical and 
programmatic maturity required to pursue an effective MSR partnership. 
NASA will spend the next year developing potential partnership options.

                                  [all]