[Senate Hearing 117-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



 
  COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2023

                              ----------                              


                          TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022

                                       U.S. Senate,
           Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
                                                    Washington, DC.

    The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m., in 
room SD-192, Dirksen Senate office Building, Hon. Jeanne 
Shaheen (Chair), presiding.
    Present: Senators Shaheen, Van Hollen, Moran, Capito, and 
Braun.

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION AND THE NATIONAL SCIENCE 
                               FOUNDATION


                opening statement of hon. jeanne shaheen
                


    Senator Shaheen. Just for the record, we will no longer 
take people asking questions in virtual format, so people will 
be here in person, and we will take people in order of arrival 
for questions.
    This is really a pivotal moment for the prosperity and 
security of the United States and democracies around the world. 
At the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which is also 
meeting right now, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff Mark Milley are 
discussing resources needed to meet the military challenges 
from Russia, China, and others around the world. But the 
agencies that are represented here that each of you represent--
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and 
the National Science Foundation (NSF) are also key to standing 
up to the challenges facing our country. So it gives me great 
pleasure this morning to welcome NASA Administrator Bill Nelson 
and NSF director--I am going to call you Dr. Panch for ease of 
statement. So thank you both for being here this morning. It is 
really good to see you again, and I am delighted that our 
Ranking Member has joined us.
    Just to clarify, again, for the record, we have about four 
hearings going on in the Senate this morning, so we are not 
sure who will be able to attend, but Senator Moran and I, I 
know, have lots of questions, so we will be able to cover so 
many issues that are going to be important as we look at the 
appropriations process.
    The programs that each of you manage are on the frontlines 
of bolstering the Nation's cybersecurity, training teachers, 
technicians, explorers, and entrepreneurs, developing 
industries of the future, and understanding the existential 
threat of climate change. This subcommittee wants the next pair 
of boots on the moon, the next Nobel Prize-winning discovery, 
and the next paradigm-changing technology company to be made in 
the USA, or, from my perspective, better yet, the Granite 
State. I am sure Senator Moran feels that way about his home 
State of Kansas.
    We know in New Hampshire that manufacturers have what it 
takes to cut it in space. We have local companies much like 
Mikrolar, a contractor for NASA, who is a continued contributor 
of technology and supplies to NASA programs, but we cannot take 
our continued leadership for granted. Our global competitors, 
including China--especially China--are investing heavily in 
scientific and technological innovation, and if we want to see 
sustain our scientific leadership, and the economic prosperity, 
and national security that it affords, we have to continue to 
keep peace.
    When the U.S. Government was shut down in 2019 due to 
partisan bickering--a disagreement in the Senate over the 
budget--China was landing on the dark side of the moon. We are 
not going to be able to compete if that is the choice that we 
have. Now, I do not want to focus on the past, but we need to 
learn from it so that we do not repeat it. Most critical, it is 
a reminder of what is at stake in this global competition. That 
is why I am pleased that the fiscal year 2022 omnibus provided 
the largest increase to NSF in more than a decade and a $770 
million increase for NASA. I am also pleased that Congress is 
currently in the midst of a bipartisan conference on 
significant legislation to advance the mission of both these 
agencies, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which is the 
name of the Senate version of the bill.
    President Biden's fiscal year 2023 budget for NASA and NSF 
build on this progress and keep the Nation moving in the right 
direction. For NASA, the fiscal year 2023 request is nearly $26 
billion, an increase of $1.9 billion, or 8 percent, above the 
fiscal year 2022 enacted level. The President's request 
includes $10.5 billion for NSF. This is an increase of $1.65 
billion, or 19 percent, above the fiscal year 2022 enacted 
level. There is a lot to like in these requests. I am sure that 
each of you would have liked more, but I think this is an 
increase that can be put to good use, and I know that both 
Agencies plan to expand climate research.
    NASA is asking for $2.4 billion in earth science research 
and more than $500 million to lessen the impact of aviation on 
the climate. NSF's budget includes a total of $1.55 billion for 
climate and clean energy research as we work to enhance our 
energy security and create energy efficiency and renewable 
energy jobs. Most important, the request invests in people with 
$150 million for STEM engagement at NASA and $1.4 billion for 
NSF's renamed Directorate for STEM Education. And this is a 
major priority for me because I have seen how critical it is to 
our economy in New Hampshire and to the economy in the country.
    I was just at a ribbon-cutting yesterday for BAE systems, 
which makes critical parts for the F-35 and a lot of our 
warfighting equipment, and they are hoping to hire several 
hundred more jobs in New Hampshire. And when I asked them what 
is your biggest challenge, it was workforce. It was finding 
those STEM-educated workers who can come in and do the jobs, 
the engineers, the scientists that they need. And so the work 
that you are doing in that area, both NASA and NSF, is really 
critical. This is, of course, a point of pride for New 
Hampshire as well because of the home--we are the home of 
Christa McAuliffe and Alan Shepard, who are both revered 
Granite Staters and emblems of STEM education.
    The same sentiment is shared by our academic institutions 
that are highly respected around the country for their 
aerospace research and innovation. And as we were discussing, 
Senator Administrator Nelson, we are immensely proud of the 
University of New Hampshire Space Center, which was recently 
selected by NASA to research the earth-sun environment. As one 
of the two winners of the Heliophysics Medium-Class Explore 
Competition, the $250 million will improve our understanding of 
the dynamics of the sun, its connection to the earth and the 
universe.
    NASA's budget request will land the next humans on the moon 
and return soil samples from Mars, while NSF seeks to create 
jobs and maintain U.S. leadership on critical technologies that 
will define the next several decades, technologies like 
artificial intelligence and quantum computing through the new 
Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, and I 
am really looking forward to hearing more about that in your 
testimony. There are also a few challenging items in these 
requests. In particular, I am concerned with the proposed cuts 
to NASA heliophysics and an overall lack of resources to 
address recent decadal surveys, and astrophysics, and planetary 
science at both agencies.
    So in conclusion, I believe that we must continue to look 
toward the next frontiers of science and space, and I am 
looking forward to the launch of Artemis 1 this summer. I 
understand that Senator Moran is also looking forward to that. 
I support NASA and NSF because these agencies inspire us with 
curiosity-driven research and exploration, and I think 
curiosity is one of the most important aspects of the human 
condition. So we thank you--both of you for what you do to 
answer questions that we want to know about.
    So with that, let me recognize the vice chair and one of 
the conferees of the United States Innovation and Competition 
Act, Senator Moran.


                opening statement of senator jerry moran


    Senator Moran. Chairwoman, thank you very much. I 
appreciate hearing your enthusiasm. You and I are involved in a 
lot of hearings, in this subcommittee and others, and I would 
hate to admit that none of--that any of them are ones that I am 
not excited about being at. But if there is a level of 
enthusiasm for a subject for a hearing, it is this one, and it 
is nice to have the two of you here today together. And I 
certainly welcome our former colleague, Administrator Nelson, 
and Director Panchanathan to this hearing.
    I want to start by thanking Panch for visiting Kansas with 
me last year. It was a highlight and very valuable certainly to 
me and I hope to you, but to the people, the students that we 
spent and you spent time with, and I am very grateful for that. 
And, Senator Nelson, you are, ``relentless'' may be an 
overstatement, but not far--relentless in your willingness--
stated willingness to come to Kansas. And it seems to be my 
schedule that is keeping that from happening, and I am going to 
make it happen shortly, and I thank you for that. There is 
great value in Americans seeing the two of you, hearing your--
what you are about, your mission, and generating the enthusiasm 
in them. It is helpful to us as we appropriate money for our 
constituents to believe that that money is being wisely spent 
and a value to the country.
    The proposed budget for NASA is $26 billion. That is an 
increase of about 8 percent. NSF's proposed budget is $10.5 
billion and represents an almost 19-percent increase. I am 
pleased to be a conferee on USICA, and I hope that we have 
success in reaching an agreement so that that legislation can 
become law. NASA is one of the most well-known government 
agencies. In the past year, we have witnessed the successful 
launch of the James Webb Telescope, and I appreciate your 
efforts, Administrator, to see that I and four of my colleagues 
were present. We did not quite succeed. It all worked on the 
20th of December, it worked on the 22nd of December, it may 
have worked on the 24th of December, but when it was Christmas 
morning, most of our families had other plans for us on that 
day. But in addition to the James Webb Telescope, it was a year 
of research and science on Mars from perseverance and 
ingenuity, and we are eagerly awaiting the Artemis 1 launch 
that signifies our first step toward returning American 
astronauts and, in this case, a woman to the moon.
    I have been the lead Republican on this committee since the 
early days of the Artemis program and worked closely with the 
previous administrator to identify challenges ahead on what was 
needed to ensure the long-term success of Artemis missions. 
Returning to the moon and sustaining a presence there is a 
long-term goal for our Nation, and I am pleased that this 
Administration is continuing that goal. NSF's scientific 
research is no less impressive. In Kansas alone, you can go 
from a lab studying plant genomics to studying Arctic and 
Antarctic ice without leaving the State, and even without 
leaving the campus.
    We cannot rest upon our past successes, however. There is 
significant competition across the globe to be the Nation that 
unlocks the knowledge and discoveries that will drive economic 
growth and success. This research is important to our national 
security as well. We know that competition is a focus from 
investments by other nations but also from incentivizing the 
unlawful transfer of intellectual property. This is a 
recognition of the power of knowledge. It is important we are 
able to harness that power, knowledge, and inspiration as 
generated by your agencies for the good of our country. NASA 
and NSF have the opportunity to capitalize on their missions, 
to encourage students, young people across the country, no 
matter where they live, to pursue activities and careers in 
STEM. We just had a former astronaut in Kansas at the Kansas 
Cosmosphere, and we visited with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, 
hugely a value. They had no interest in me but were very 
excited about the astronaut.
    Our country needs a workforce in each and every State that 
is ready to push the frontiers of knowledge and has the skills 
to thrive in a tech-intensive economy. Great opportunities 
within your Agencies to maintain our leadership across the 
scientific spectrum on earth and in space if we are strategic 
in our investments. We are at a time where there is severe 
unrest in the world. Russia and China continue to make 
significant gains in the space domain. It is vital that the 
United States maintain our leadership in space and in research 
and development, and I look forward to discussing the 
importance of this and the details of your proposed budgets 
being presented with us today. I thank you both for your 
leadership.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you very much, Senator Moran. 
Senator Nelson and then Dr. Panch, do you want to give us your 
testimony?
    Senator Nelson. Thank you, ma'am. Madam Chair, if I may 
have my remarks submitted for the record, and I would like to 
just talk to you, if I may.
    First of all, I want to thank you all for the 
appropriations for 2022, and that gave us what we needed. And a 
little birdie told me that you all are seriously considering 
getting the appropriations bills out for 2023 before October 1, 
and if you do, that will be a minor miracle. All of you will 
become Merlin the magician, and--but I do believe that that is 
being seriously discussed among the leadership, and my 
compliments to Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell that those 
serious discussions, as well as the chairs and the Ranking of 
Appropriations, are occurring, and I hope it does. It will 
bring about certainty for all agencies of government if that, 
in fact, happens, and breaks what has become a routine 
procedure where we often wait half, at least, of a fiscal year 
before getting the appropriations and going on a continuing 
resolution of previous appropriations, which often do not have 
any application to the present. So I commend you.
    I want you to know, just to pick up on comments that both 
of you made about STEM and about kids, I have been just blown 
away by our interns. We have lots of interns, and we love our 
interns. And 30 percent of our interns end up coming to work 
for NASA, and we are going to expand our interns. They are 
reflective of what the two of you just related about seeing 
students in school, that when the subject of space comes up, 
their little eyes light up. They get excited. They are 
motivated. It is a subject matter of which it is a window into 
the items that are absolutely critical for the future of the 
country: science, technology, engineering, mathematics.
    We saw a bit of this several generations ago in the Apollo 
generation when that major thrust of a space achievement 
occurred for two generations of students. We saw the effects of 
a concentration on the STEM subject matter and how that rippled 
through the schools, and the colleges, and the universities, 
and produced a workforce that gave us some of the technology 
that we are experiencing today. And that is what is going to 
happen with the Artemis generation, and you all--the two of you 
have just testified to that fact by virtue of what you have 
seen, and it is extraordinary.
    We are taking it very seriously. We send our astronauts to 
a lot of schools. We send our scientists to a lot of schools. 
We are giving grants specifically in areas that have been 
overlooked in the past. This is part of our diversity outreach. 
So, for example, we have sent a space grant to the University 
of Wyoming. In the past, a lot of those rural universities did 
not have a direct relation, but we do not want those students 
in rural areas--and that is just one example--we do not want 
them overlooked. They are part of the national culture that is 
so excited about space, and technology, and so forth. So I 
wanted to comment since the two of you both mentioned it.
    You have given us the resources in which to proceed with 
the Artemis Program. It was the Apollo generation. We are going 
back to the moon. We are going to land the first woman and the 
next man. It is going to be an exciting time. But this time we 
are going back to learn, to stay, to develop new systems, new 
technologies, new techniques on how to live a long time in that 
hostile environment, because when we go to Mars, we are going 
to have to learn that, and we are going to have to learn new 
technologies, too.
    I want to urge you as an Appropriations Committee, do not 
short-sheet space technology, the R&D. We need that extra oomph 
in our research and development, and let me give you one 
example. For years, by the way, you, the Congress, has rescued 
us on the question of nuclear energy in space. As a matter of 
fact, not until this year were we able to get the Office of 
Management And Budget to agree to put, albeit a minor amount, 
it is a symbolic amount for nuclear research for space, nuclear 
thermal and nuclear electric, not only producing electricity 
where, for example, on the surface of the moon we are going to 
need a lot of electricity because if we find water, then we 
have rocket fuel. And we have got a mission going to land on 
the South Pole next year. It is going to dig around down into 
the moon's surface, and if there is water there, then we have 
that opportunity.
    So I want to commend you for how you have constantly 
supported nuclear thermal, nuclear electric, but I want to ask 
you to consider pouring on the juice because that nuclear 
propulsion would give us a way to get to Mars quicker. And if 
we can get to Mars quicker, then we do not have to stay there 
for a long, long time until the planets realign so that we can 
get back within a reasonable period of time.
    And so I could keep talking on and on. Aviation, something 
dear to Senator Moran, we are going to fly the first electric 
airplane this year. We are going to fly the first low-sonic 
boom, supersonic future transport that can fly over populated 
areas with just a little rumble instead of that boom, boom that 
goes with the existing sonic boom. There are so many things. I 
am going to wait for your questions. Both of you mentioned 
James Webb Space Telescope. My goodness, in 1 month we are 
going to have the first pictures, and it is going to be from 
light that has traveled at the speed of light, 186,000 miles 
per second, traveled for 13-and-a-half billion years. It will 
be the light in the infrared spectrum that is from the 
formation of the very first galaxies. Just think of the 
discoveries that we are going to have of this thing called the 
universe that is too big for me to even conceive it. Think of 
the questions we are going to answer of which we do not even 
know what the questions are right now as a result of what we 
are going to learn.
    And so I am going to stop there, Madam Chair. I want to 
hear from Dr. Panch, who is well-known, well-respected in his 
scientific discovery, a partner for us, and I look forward to 
hearing from you all as well.

    [The statement follows:]
    Prepared Statement of Hon. Bill Nelson, Administrator, National 
                  Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Chair Shaheen and Members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to have 
this opportunity to discuss the President's $26,000,000,000 budget 
request for NASA for Fiscal Year 2023. This budget will keep us at the 
forefront of exploration and discovery through daring and challenging 
missions like Artemis, which includes returning American astronauts to 
the Moon as early as 2025. This budget will help our Nation--and the 
world--address climate change. It provides opportunities in science, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, and it 
promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) 
throughout the Agency and with our partners. It's an investment to 
support good-paying jobs and the businesses and schools that partner 
with NASA in all 50 States. Finally, this budget reaffirms the 
Administration's confidence in the extraordinary NASA workforce that 
has dared to do the impossible for more than six decades. This year, we 
adopted the mission statement ``NASA explores the unknown in air and 
space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world 
through discovery.'' This is a budget that will allow us to fulfill 
those goals and serve those ideals. While my five minutes doesn't allow 
me time to describe NASA's more than 100 missions in development and 
operation, I would like to highlight a few for you today.
    Soon, the Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket NASA has 
ever built, topped by the Orion spacecraft, will lift off from historic 
Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center for its maiden voyage 
around the Moon. This mission--Artemis I--will take the Orion 
spacecraft and science payloads around the Moon, as well as test out 
systems in preparation for Artemis II--the first crewed launch, 
scheduled for 2024. After these test flights and as early as 2025, NASA 
will launch Artemis III, returning U.S. astronauts to the surface of 
the Moon. The next generation of moonwalkers will more strongly reflect 
the diversity of the Nation. During the Artemis campaign, NASA will 
land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon--but the 
Moon is a steppingstone to further exploration. With annual missions to 
build out our lunar infrastructure, including the Gateway--a new 
international space station in lunar orbit--NASA astronauts will learn 
to live and work on and around the Moon in preparation for future 
exploration of Mars. This budget invests approximately $7.5 billion in 
Exploration, including key elements for a robust and sustained presence 
at the Moon including an upgraded launch capability; sustained lunar 
lander capability; lunar robotic missions; lunar science; 
communications infrastructure; next-generation spacesuits; safe, 
reliable, and continuous surface power systems; and surface mobility 
systems. And, with projects to test technologies that would allow for 
human exploration of Mars, we are advancing toward the Red Planet.
    The budget includes approximately $4.3 billion for Space 
Operations, continuing support for the International Space Station, 
which the Administration has proposed extending through 2030, while 
stimulating the growth of the low-Earth orbit economy by working with 
industry to develop commercial space stations. These investments will 
pave the way for continuity of sustained U. S. presence in orbit and 
create scientific and economic opportunities.
    This budget increases funding for NASA's Space Technology research 
and development portfolio to $1.44 billion, to develop essential 
technologies that enable NASA's future missions to the Moon, Mars and 
beyond, while ensuring our technology investments also support the 
space economy. Space Technology has more than 1,400 technology projects 
and approximately 140 planned flight demonstrations. Soon, we will send 
the CAPSTONE CubeSat to the Moon as a pathfinder for the Artemis 
program. CAPSTONE will collect data and test navigation technologies in 
the unique orbit planned for Gateway. Other notable Space Technology 
investments that support exploration of the solar system include those 
in fission surface power and nuclear propulsion. Through this budget, 
NASA will continue working with academia, and form strategic commercial 
collaborations using joint investments with industry to develop 
important technology solutions that support new space economies in low-
Earth orbit and at the Moon. This work increases the Nation's space 
capabilities, supports job creation, and enables NASA to focus on 
missions farther into the solar system than ever before.
    This request emphasizes NASA's role in addressing climate change, 
as a leading provider of Earth systems science and data. With this 
budget, the Agency will start to build a future Earth System 
Observatory: an array of satellites, instruments, and missions that 
will generate a 3D, holistic view of the entire planet. From bedrock to 
atmosphere, the Earth is a system. As that system changes, NASA will 
help measure and understand the nature of that change. This request 
also reflects a renewed emphasis on providing actionable data and 
information to a broad range of users. NASA is planning an Earth 
Information Center that will make climate data and information more 
accessible and usable for Federal, State, and local government leaders, 
researchers, as well as the public. These efforts will be implemented 
in coordination with other agencies and partners.
    The recent, remarkable launch of the James Webb Space Telescope 
demonstrated NASA's innovation alongside international partners and 
inspired the world. Faced with 344 single points of failure, the NASA 
team poured hard work and ingenuity into this project, and pulled it 
off flawlessly. This summer, we will see its first scientific images, 
revealing the stars and galaxies that formed more than 13 billion years 
ago, just after the beginning of the universe--a period of cosmic 
history never before observed. Again, we will bring the world together 
through the unique science from an ambitious NASA mission.
    Building on this success, this request is the largest request for 
science funding in NASA history at nearly $8.0 billion. The President's 
budget request enables NASA to explore solutions for bringing the 
samples of Martian rock and soil collected by the Perseverance rover to 
Earth through the Mars Sample Return mission. This budget supports over 
100 science missions and 10,000 U.S. scientists through more than 4,000 
research awards across astrophysics, heliophysics, Earth science, 
planetary science, and biological and physical science.
    The budget provides more than $971,000,000 to advance U.S. 
leadership in the civil aviation manufacturing sector, with over half 
of that amount targeted to reduce the climate impacts of the aviation 
industry. This year, NASA will start test flights on our Low Boom 
Flight Demonstrator, which will enable environmentally and socially 
acceptable supersonic passenger flights, opening new markets for 
American companies and workers, and the X-57 Maxwell, an all-electric 
aircraft. This request also accelerates plans for a new experimental 
``X'' plane focused on sustainability. Under the Sustainable Flight 
National Partnership, NASA and U.S. companies will develop and fly a 
highly efficient, next-generation airliner prototype as early as 2026. 
NASA investments will result in safer skies, smoother passenger 
experiences, and faster, more sustainable aircraft.
    NASA continues to invest in engaging students, educators, and 
educational institutions to attract diverse groups of students to 
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). This includes 
funding that supports learning opportunities that spark interest and 
provide connections to NASA's mission and work; creating unique 
opportunities for a diverse set of students to contribute to NASA's 
work; and building a diverse future STEM workforce. The Office of STEM 
Engagement (OSTEM) leads NASA's STEM engagement function, providing 
strategic guidance and direction in partnership with the mission 
directorates. In fiscal year 2023, the budget request includes 
$150,000,000 for OSTEM, supporting the National Space Grant College 
Fellowship Project (Space Grant); Minority University Research and 
Education Project (MUREP); Established Program to Stimulate Competitive 
Research (PSCoR); and Next Generation STEM Project (Next Gen STEM).
    NASA fully supports the Biden-Harris administration's vision to 
affirmatively advance equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal 
opportunity for all. The Agency launched its Equity Action Plan in 
April 2022, a comprehensive effort to assess and examine the potential 
barriers and challenges that exist for communities that are 
historically underrepresented and underserved in the aerospace and STEM 
fields. NASA is assessing its programs, procurement processes and grant 
policies to identify systemic barriers that limit representation and 
participation of a diverse community of students and professionals. 
When we enable individuals to inclusively participate, we provide space 
for all possible talent, skills, knowledge, perspectives, ideas, 
thinking, problem-solving, and innovations. This empowers NASA to 
achieve the greatest success in discovering and expanding knowledge for 
the benefit of all humanity.
    With each great step, NASA magnifies its presence as a unifying 
symbol of possibility and inspiration. At every opportunity, NASA 
endeavors to educate and inspire. With every breakthrough, we seek to 
generate more than incredible data--we help to create the next 
generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers who will be the 
innovators of the future. The American story is about discovery, 
innovation, and a relentless spirit to push forward--and upward. This 
budget allows NASA to continue our journey to enable a new era filled 
with boundless optimism and limitless possibilities for all humanity.

    Senator Shaheen. Thank you very much. Dr. Panch?
STATEMENT OF HONORABLE SETHURAMAN PANCHANATHAN, 
            DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

               NSF'S FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET TO CONGRESS

    Dr. Panchanathan. Thank you so much. It is truly a delight 
to testify with you. As you said, NASA is a great partner. Good 
morning, Chair Shaheen, Ranking Member Moran, and Members of 
the Subcommittee. It is truly an honor to appear to you--appear 
with you again today to discuss the President's fiscal year 
2023 budget request and the many ways in which the National 
Science Foundation is accelerating discovery and innovation, as 
I say, at speed and scale for the benefit of all Americans. I 
would like to start by thanking this Committee for your 
continued support of NSF. Your leadership has been and will 
continue to be central to keeping the United States the global 
leader in science, engineering, and technology.
    For more than 70 years, NSF has been a catalyst for 
economic growth and job creation in the United States. You do 
not have to look hard to see the profound impact of the Agency. 
The Internet, 3D printing, smartphones, and the networks that 
power them, and even the CRISPR technologies that were 
foundational in the development of COVID tests and vaccines, 
and disease-resistant crops, are just a few examples of how 
NSF's investments have benefited every American.
    However, we currently face challenges to our scientific 
leadership. You both spoke about that. Other nations are 
seeking to replicate our success, our unique innovation 
ecosystem, and to control the future of critical technologies, 
like AI and Quantum Information Science. Our economic and 
national security depends on our ability to invest heavily in 
the technologies of today while making the discoveries that are 
the foundation for the technologies of tomorrow and the future. 
We must see growth everywhere by building ecosystems of 
innovation in every region of our country, and we must harness 
our domestic talent across every demographic and geographic 
background to unlock the true potential of our workforce.

               NSF'S FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET TO CONGRESS

    The $10.5 billion fiscal year 2023 budget request for NSF 
makes historic investments in each of these areas. First, the 
budget funds critical exploratory, curiosity-driven research 
that, Chair, you talked about, which is an engine of economic 
growth and the foundation for the industries of the future. The 
request includes $9.8 billion, an increase of $1.6 billion 
above the fiscal year 2022 enacted level, to support research 
across the spectrum of science, engineering, technology, and 
STEM education. With this additional funding, NSF will continue 
to be the champion of fundamental research that is the bedrock 
of our future.
    Second, the budget invests nearly $1.4 billion--again, you 
alluded to that, Madam Chair--in support of the scientists and 
engineers of today and tomorrow. There is tremendous untapped 
STEM talent across every demographic and socioeconomic group in 
every geographic region of our country. Every person needs 
access to quality STEM education opportunities, from K to 12, 
to community colleges and universities, and we must inspire and 
motivate the missing millions to participate in the Nation's 
innovation enterprise.

                          NEW PROGRAM: GRANTED

    The fiscal year 2023 request introduces a new program aimed 
at advancing the geography of innovation and engaging the 
missing millions. Since I spoke to you last, I am delighted to 
announce this new program. This new program is called GRANTED, 
an acronym for Growing Research Access for Nationally-
Transformative Equity and Diversity. This will focus on 
breaking down barriers to competitiveness at underserved 
institutions within the Nation's research enterprise. It will 
complement NSF's longstanding, broadening participation 
programs and build lasting institutional capacity.

        DIRECTORATE FOR TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, AND PARTNERSHIPS

    Finally, the budget makes substantial investments in use-
inspired, solutions-oriented research. This has been a critical 
part of NSF's mission and now must be scaled to meet this 
moment of intense global competition. With the support of the 
Administration and Congress, NSF has launched, and I talked 
about this last year, and I am delighted to say again that we 
have launched the first new directorate in more than 30 years. 
This new Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and 
Partnerships, or TIP, sits at the crossroads of exploratory, 
curiosity-driven research, use-inspired solutions-oriented 
research, and translational research across all scientific and 
engineering disciplines. Significant resources are needed to 
ensure that TIP will have the transformative impacts it is 
designed to achieve. That is why the fiscal year 2023 budget 
request includes $880 million for this new directorate. TIP 
will leverage decades of NSF's investments in areas like 
Artificial Intelligence, expedite technology development and 
translation in emerging industries, and cultivate new education 
and entrepreneurial pathways.

                      REGIONAL INNOVATION ENGINES

    I am also proud to announce that today, we will be 
releasing the first new major funding opportunity through the 
TIP Directorate. The Regional Innovation Engines Program offers 
a unique opportunity to spur economic growth in regions that 
have not participated in the technology boom of the past few 
decades. It will include partners from industry, academia, 
government, nonprofit, civil society, and communities of 
practice. These partnerships will stimulate the creation of 
technology-driven products and solutions to serve the 
corresponding regions and the Nation's needs. In doing so, the 
NSF Engines, as we call them, will stimulate economic growth, 
develop talent, and build centers of innovation across the 
country. The fiscal year 2023 budget request additionally 
invests in the critical world-leading infrastructure, including 
testbeds, living laboratories, and prototyping platforms 
necessary to enable fundamental research.

                           RESEARCH SECURITY

    NSF also takes very seriously the need to safeguard 
taxpayer-funded research. NSF is playing a leading role in 
developing processes, training, and policies to ensure research 
security and integrity. We are committed to strong partnerships 
across the Federal Government with academia and with our like-
minded international partners to uphold the values of openness, 
transparency, reciprocity, and research integrity that have 
made the global research environment so successful.
    I am amazed every day by the ingenuity and the dedication 
of the NSF workforce and the incredible innovations NSF makes 
possible. During the pandemic, we saw no decrease in 
productivity. In fact, it was quite the opposite, and thanks to 
the support of the Administration and Congress through the 
CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan, we have been able to 
support those in the research community most impacted by the 
pandemic.
    Again, I would like to thank each of you for your support 
of NSF. The fiscal year 2023 request positions the Agency to 
ensure U.S. leadership in science, engineering, and technology 
for decades to come, and I look forward to working with you to 
achieve that goal. Thank you, Madam Chair and Ranking Member 
Moran.

    [The statement follows:]
              Prepared Statement of Director Panchanathan
                              introduction
    Chair Shaheen, Ranking Member Moran, and Members of the 
Subcommittee, it is a privilege to appear before you today to discuss 
how the National Science Foundation is building on decades of 
successful investments and breakthroughs in science, engineering, and 
technology to ensure that the United States remains the global leader 
in innovation into the future.
    Established by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (Public 
Law 81-507), NSF is an independent Federal agency charged with the 
mission ``to promote the progress of science; to advance the National 
health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the National defense; and 
for other purposes.'' NSF is unique in carrying out its mission by 
supporting research across all fields of science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics, and at all levels of STEM education. NSF 
investments contribute significantly to the economic and national 
security interests of the Nation, and development of a future-focused 
science and engineering workforce that draws on the talents of all 
Americans resulting in the creation of new businesses, new jobs, and 
more exports.
    Over the past 72 years, NSF has funded research and researchers, 
innovations and innovators, and world-class infrastructure that has 
garnered incredible benefits to the Nation. The Internet, 3D printing, 
and CRISPR technologies that enable everything from the development of 
COVID-19 vaccines to climate- and disease-resistant crops are all 
examples of the outcomes and benefits of NSF investments. Many of the 
technologies and industries that are the drivers of national 
competitiveness today--artificial intelligence, quantum information 
science, advanced manufacturing, and advanced wireless and 
biotechnology, to name a few-are rooted in NSF support, over the course 
of multiple decades in many cases, for research at the frontiers of 
science and engineering.
                          securing the future
    Since the end of World War II, the United States has been the 
global leader in science, engineering, and technology due to the vision 
of leaders like Vannevar Bush and sustained investment by the Federal 
Government. The decision to make long-term investments in basic 
research was not just a decision to make science and engineering a 
priority alongside the economy, national defense, and national health--
what we have learned is that these investments are an engine that 
strengthens each of these national priorities.
    Today, we are facing challenges to that leadership as other nations 
seek to replicate our success, especially to control the future of 
technologies. According to the 2022 Science and Engineering Indicators 
report, ``The State of U.S. Science and Engineering,'' published by the 
National Science Board and prepared by NSF's National Center for 
Science and Engineering Statistics, while the United States remains the 
world leader in global research and development, the rate of growth of 
research and development and science and technology capabilities by 
other countries, including China, has outpaced that of the United 
States in recent years. The 2022 report also shows that while industry 
performs the substantial majority of U.S. R&D, the Federal Government 
continues to be the largest investor in basic research. However, the 
proportion of U.S. R&D funded by the Federal Government, across all 
research types, has declined since 2010.\1\
    As we look to the future, it is critical that we foster the 
Nation's capacity to produce breakthroughs, to innovate, and to 
cultivate the diverse domestic talent necessary to power our country 
forward. Our economic and national security depend on our ability to 
invest heavily in the technologies of today while making the 
discoveries that are the foundation for the technologies of tomorrow; 
to seed innovation everywhere by building ecosystems of innovation in 
every region of the country; and to develop our domestic talent across 
every geographic and demographic background. The President's fiscal 
year 2023 Budget Request of $10.5 billion for NSF makes historic 
investments in each of these areas.
                     strengthening established nsf
    By seeding strategic investments, NSF explores the frontiers of 
discovery and innovation, and makes possible breakthroughs and advances 
that place the United States at the forefront of global leadership in 
science and technology. With the continued support of Congress, NSF has 
been able to sustain support for high-risk, high-reward research that 
produces incredible benefit for the American people. For example, more 
than four decades of NSF investment preceded the detection of 
gravitational waves from merging black holes billions of light years 
from Earth. This discovery was groundbreaking, with the lead 
researchers winning a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017. To achieve this 
feat, they had to develop and refine new equipment and technologies to 
achieve their goals--and the development of these ultra-sensitive 
sensors and precision detection techniques they are pursuing today 
could very well prove to have incredible impacts on our everyday lives 
in the form of transformative future technologies, like quantum sensor 
technology.
    Curiosity-driven research has proven to be an engine of economic 
growth. Since its inception, NSF has been a foundation for the 
industries of the future. Each year, thousands of researchers expand 
the base of human knowledge and, in doing so, unlock new possibilities. 
They have built autonomous vehicles; revolutionized our wireless 
networks; developed life-saving medical technologies; transformed 
manufacturing; and brought digital tools to agriculture, 
transportation, and education. Curiosity-driven, exploratory research 
is a critical component to the Nation's current and future success. 
This will continue to be our central focus: to accelerate discovery and 
to enhance state-of-the-art research capabilities.
    To that end, the President's fiscal year 2023 Budget Request 
includes $9.8 billion, an increase of $1.6 billion above the fiscal 
year 2022 enacted level, to support research across the spectrum of 
science, engineering, and technology, including biological sciences; 
computer and information sciences; engineering; geosciences; math and 
physical sciences; social, behavioral, and economic sciences; and STEM 
education. With this additional funding, NSF will continue to be the 
champion of the fundamental research that is strengthening our science 
and engineering enterprise at speed and scale.
    Within the request are key priority areas where NSF plays a leading 
role in addressing issues of national importance. For example, the 
request includes funding to accelerate climate research, increasing our 
understanding of the impacts of climate change and developing 
corresponding solutions. NSF has been investing in fundamental research 
at the heart of global climate issues for several decades. Long-term, 
continuous, and consistent observational records are a cornerstone of 
global climate science and resilience research. NSF supports a variety 
of research observation networks that complement, and are dependent on, 
the climate monitoring systems maintained by our Federal partners. The 
results of NSF investments have helped us understand climatic 
phenomena, and helped communities design mitigation strategies, 
strengthen adaptation capabilities, and build more resilient futures.
    Focal areas of the fiscal year 2023 Request include Clean Energy 
Technology (CET) and the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). 
The fiscal year 2023 request invests $500,000,000 in CET spanning high-
risk, high-reward ideas from researchers across the science and 
engineering spectrum. These investments are needed to create broad new 
understanding and innovations that may increase energy efficiency, 
enhance sustainability, mitigate climate change, or lead to other 
societal benefits. NSF's portfolio spans longstanding programs as well 
as focused new opportunities and will continue to advance the 
fundamental science and engineering underlying clean energy 
technologies and infrastructure that decrease energy prices and build 
our domestic supply chain. NSF also will support multidisciplinary 
research in areas such as affordable green housing and sustainable 
systems for clean water, clean transit, and other infrastructure.
    In fiscal year 2023, $913,400,000 is requested for NSF to continue 
to support research that contributes to the USGCRP goal to accelerate 
action on two fronts: (1) advance scientific knowledge of the 
integrated natural and human components of the Earth system, focusing 
on changes that pose the biggest risks and opportunities to society, 
and (2) provide the scientific basis to inform and enable timely 
decisions on adaptation and mitigation. NSF will continue to engage 
with other USGCRP agencies on priorities from intra-seasonal to 
centennial predictability, predictions, and projections; water cycle 
research; impacts of climate change on the Nation's critical 
ecosystems, including coastal, freshwater, agricultural and forests 
systems; understanding the impacts of global change on the Arctic 
region and effects on global climate; and fundamental research on 
actionable science.
    In addition, NSF will seek greater integration of social-science 
research, methodologies, and insights into understanding and supporting 
responses to global change, improving computing capacity, and 
maintaining needed observational capabilities over time.
    For example, in fiscal year 2023, NSF will develop the National 
Discovery Cloud (NDC) for Climate, a new resource that will federate 
advanced computing, data, software and networking resources, 
democratizing access to a cyberinfrastructure ecosystem that is 
increasingly necessary to further climate-related science and 
engineering.
            investing in innovation and emerging industries
    Equally important to our Nation's competitiveness and success is 
use-inspired, solutions-oriented research, which has been a critical 
part of NSF's mission throughout its history. Intense global 
competition and a rapidly changing technological landscape requires the 
United States to take a different approach to research and development 
investment that brings science and technology innovations to market 
much more rapidly. Doing so requires unleashing the untapped economies 
of innovation across the Nation and more tightly integrating curiosity-
driven research and use- inspired outcomes. NSF fosters an environment 
ripe for innovation focused on economic and societal progress. Many of 
today's foremost national and societal challenges such as healthcare 
and education demand deeply multidisciplinary, multi-sector, solution-
oriented research to achieve much-needed science and technology 
innovations. We must enable collaborations spanning diverse 
institutions, sectors, and geographies to co-create new technologies 
and solutions to address these challenges and accelerate prosperity.
    With the support of the Administration and Congress, NSF has 
launched its first new directorate in more than thirty years. The new 
Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) sits at 
the crossroads of exploratory, curiosity-driven research, use-inspired, 
solutions-oriented research, and translational research across all 
disciplines and investment models. Significant resources are needed to 
ensure that TIP will have the transformative impacts it is designed to 
achieve. That is why, in fiscal year 2023, $880,000,000 is requested 
for TIP to work with programs across NSF and with other Federal and 
non-Federal entities to expedite technology development in emerging 
industries. This investment is crucial to addressing societal and 
economic challenges, while maintaining the United States' technological 
leadership. TIP will leverage decades of NSF investments in areas like 
artificial intelligence and quantum information science coupled with 
accelerating the translation of research results from the lab to the 
market and society. TIP will also cultivate new education pathways, 
leading to a diverse and skilled technical future workforce comprising 
researchers, practitioners, technicians, and entrepreneurs.
    Partnerships within the agency, with other agencies, industry, non-
profit organizations, and like- minded international partners are also 
crucial to our success. TIP will leverage NSF's unique relationships 
with the academic community and grow the agency's collaboration with 
industry to spur innovation throughout the Nation. The NSF Regional 
Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) will engage local communities, 
academia, government partners, industry, philanthropy, and others to 
identify issues of local, regional, and national importance, and to 
drive innovation in critical and emerging technologies to address these 
issues. The NSF Engines will be geographically distributed to ensure 
that we are unlocking the innovation that we know exists everywhere.
    The fiscal year 2023 Budget Request proposes increased funding in 
six emerging industries where continued investment in both exploratory, 
curiosity-driven research and use-inspired, solutions-oriented research 
is needed to sustain U.S. leadership, support economic development, and 
secure our National security.
    (1) Advanced manufacturing is essential to almost every sector of 
the U.S. economy, spurring it forward by increasing productivity, 
enabling new products, and opening new industries. The fiscal year 2023 
Request includes $421,000,000 for research to develop innovative 
technologies to create products and processes with higher performance, 
higher efficiency, and greater capabilities. NSF programs accelerate 
advances in manufacturing materials, technologies, and systems; 
workforce development; and translational activities that speed advances 
from the lab to the market.
    (2) Advanced wireless networks and systems provide the 
communications backbone that connects users, devices, applications, and 
services that will continue to enrich America's economy. NSF has a 
proven track record of investing in fundamental research that advances 
wireless technologies. For example, today's fifth-generation (``5G'') 
wireless networks and systems were enabled by two decades of ground-
breaking NSF-funded research on millimeter-wave capabilities, advanced 
antenna systems, and novel algorithms and information processing 
protocols. NSF partners with other Federal agencies and industry on 
such research. Looking forward to fiscal year 2023 and beyond, NSF-
supported research will make possible innovations in areas critical to 
future generations of wireless networks and systems, such as new 
wireless devices, circuits, protocols, and systems; security and 
resilience; mobile edge computing; distributed machine learning, and 
inferences across mobile devices; and fine-grained, real-time dynamic 
spectrum allocation and sharing. In fiscal year 2023, $168,000,000 is 
requested for this research, which will generate new insights capable 
of making wireless communication faster, smarter, more affordable, and 
more robust and secure- with profound implications for science and 
society.
    (3) Artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing rapidly and holds the 
potential to vastly transform our lives. NSF is the largest non-defense 
funder of artificial intelligence research and the agency's ability to 
bring together numerous fields of scientific inquiry uniquely positions 
the agency to lead the Nation in expanding the frontiers of AI. 
Additionally, through collaboration and coordination with the Office of 
Science and Technology Policy, NSF leadership is helping to drive and 
coordinate AI R&D efforts across the government. In addition to 
foundational research advancing the frontiers of learning, reasoning, 
and planning, the key to harnessing the promise of artificial 
intelligence is the use-inspired and translational research that links 
artificial intelligence and economic sectors such as agriculture, 
manufacturing, transportation, and personalized medicine. Equally 
important is the investment in education and learning, including 
growing the human capital and institutional capacity needed to nurture 
the next generation of artificial intelligence researchers and 
practitioners. In fiscal year 2023, $734,000,000 is requested for NSF's 
AI investments, including continued support for the National AI 
Research Institutes program, a growing partnership with other Federal 
agencies and the private sector, to create national hubs for 
universities, Federal and local agencies, industry, and nonprofits to 
advance AI research and workforce development.
    (4) Biotechnology comprises the data, tools, research 
infrastructure, workforce capacity, and innovation that enable the 
discovery, use, and alteration of living organisms, their constituent 
components, and their biologically-related processes. NSF has long 
supported the breadth of fundamental research that catalyzes ongoing 
developments in biotechnology. In fiscal year 2023, $392,000,000 is 
requested for NSF investments that will include continued support for 
discovery of fundamental biological principles and the development of 
biotechnologies, advances in bioinformatics, computational biology, and 
systems biology, as well as advances in the future biotech workforce.
    (5) Microelectronics and semiconductors are omnipresent in today's 
world--in transportation, communications, healthcare, manufacturing, 
information technology, and nearly every other part of our daily lives. 
Yet, U.S.-led innovations in this area have slowed in recent decades, 
and the Nation is now facing historically unprecedented global 
competition and chip shortages impacting numerous sectors of the 
economy. The overarching objective of NSF's investment in 
microelectronics and semiconductors is to develop new paradigms in 
semiconductor capabilities. With the fiscal year 2023 request of 
$146,000,000, NSF will continue to invest in foundational research, in 
use-inspired research, and in partnerships and infrastructure, 
including access to chip fabrication facilities for the research 
community, to seed a vibrant future for microelectronics and 
semiconductors in the United States.
    (6) Quantum Information Science (QIS) research will form the basis 
of one of the major technological revolutions of the 21st century. NSF 
investments advance fundamental understanding of uniquely quantum 
phenomena that can be harnessed to promote information processing, 
transmission, and measurement in new ways. Building upon more than 
three decades of exploratory discovery, NSF investment in QIS will help 
propel the Nation forward as a leading developer of quantum technology. 
In fiscal year 2023, $261,000,000 is requested for NSF to invest in 
foundational quantum science advances, helping mature a relatively new 
field, which will have implications for computing, communications, and 
many other critical industries.
          investing in a diverse and inclusive stem workforce
    There is tremendous untapped STEM potential throughout the Nation. 
To meet the needs of the future workforce that is necessary for 
successfully seeding innovation throughout the Nation, every person 
needs access to quality STEM education opportunities. Every demographic 
and socioeconomic group in every geographic region of the country is 
full of talent that must be inspired and motivated to participate in 
STEM and contribute to the Nation's innovation enterprise. We must 
scale existing pathways into STEM fields and create new tracks into 
science and engineering. The fiscal year 2023 request includes $1.38 
billion for STEM education in support of the scientists and engineers 
of today and tomorrow.
    Each year, NSF investments reach approximately 300,000 people at 
almost 2,000 institutions in every State and territory. Through their 
work on NSF-supported grants, students, researchers, faculty, 
technicians, entrepreneurs, and others develop the skills and knowledge 
that prepares them for the jobs of the future. To ensure continued 
global leadership in science and technology, we must inspire, nurture, 
and advance domestic talent across our Nation. The future depends on 
investment in inclusion, in diversity, in training STEM educators, and 
in inspiring the next generations through formal and informal learning. 
Continued global leadership also requires investment in the next 
generation of scientists trained to pursue questions beyond the 
traditional scientific disciplines. NSF is investing in education 
research across all levels of learning-from preK-12 through graduate 
education and beyond-which then informs education and training programs 
to better develop skill sets in cutting-edge technologies, promote 
highly collaborative team science, and foster greater diversity in the 
workforce.
    NSF is strongly committed to the development of a future-focused 
science and engineering workforce that draws on the talents of all 
Americans. Increasing equity in underserved communities must span a 
wide range of stakeholders, from individuals traditionally identified 
as underrepresented or underserved, to institutions of higher education 
that serve groups underrepresented in STEM, to those communities, lands 
and jurisdictions across the country that currently lack resources and 
opportunities for robust education, workforce development, and regional 
innovation.
    In fiscal year 2023, NSF intends to build on existing programs and 
develop new ones to strengthen and scale equity investments. NSF will 
focus on those groups underserved and underrepresented in STEM and will 
be more intentional in how we engage Minority Serving Institutions 
(MSIs). NSF will further expand support for individuals and 
institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions to ensure geographic diversity.
    In fiscal year 2023, NSF requests $50,000,000 to launch a new 
initiative called Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative 
Equity and Diversity (GRANTED). GRANTED will improve the Nation's 
research capacity at emerging and underserved research institutions 
through a variety of mechanisms and programs aimed at advancing the 
geography of innovation and engaging the Missing Millions, the millions 
of young people and students who have the talent and drive to be part 
of the STEM community but who have not been able to access STEM 
opportunities. It will support the enhancement of research 
administration and post-award management as well as the implementation 
of effective practices for competitive proposal development, through 
mechanisms such as research-coordination networks (RCNs) and 
institutional partnership grants, ideas labs, and research enterprise 
hubs in different geographic regions. GRANTED funding in fiscal year 
2023 will focus on support for MSIs and aim to mitigate the barriers to 
competitiveness at underserved institutions within the Nation's 
research enterprise as NSF contributes to the Administration's priority 
on equity.
                  world-class research infrastructure
    NSF invests in world-class research facilities, instrumentation, 
and scientific capabilities to ensure that researchers have access to 
the most cutting-edge scientific equipment. Through the Major Research 
Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) projects, NSF has built 
the world's most powerful solar telescope, transformative optical and 
radio telescopes, state-of-the-art research vessels, and complex 
facilities in the harshest environments, including at the South Pole.
    The fiscal year 2023 request continues these investments, including 
long-term upgrades of NSF's major Antarctic infrastructure. It also 
supports construction of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, two detector 
upgrades at the High Luminosity-Large Hadron Collider, and the Regional 
Class Research Vessels. NSF is also investing in smaller scale, but 
equally important research infrastructure that serves a vital purpose 
for the United States' research and innovation enterprise. The Mid-
scale Research Infrastructure program is aimed at transforming 
scientific and engineering research fields as well as inspiring STEM 
talent. Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure (RI) can also serve as a 
proving ground for new and innovative major research facilities. In 
fiscal year 2023, NSF will invest a total of $126.25 million in Mid-
scale RI, split between two tracks, Mid-scale RI-1 ($50,000,000), 
funded through the Research & Related Activities account, and Mid-scale 
RI-2 ($76.25 million), funded through the MREFC account. Through these 
two tracks, the Mid-scale RI program is providing U.S. researchers 
access to critical infrastructure, including testbeds, living 
laboratories, and prototyping facilities, across the spectrum of 
disciplines supported by NSF.
    The Nation's science and engineering activities rely on facilities 
and instruments that are geographically and technically accessible, 
cost-effective, and managed well. To meet the infrastructure needs of 
the entire community, NSF is dedicated to supporting activities that 
ensure that instrumentation and research infrastructure can be 
designed, developed, acquired, or constructed across the Nation, 
through programs with focused oversight and targeted investments. 
Moreover, a sizeable portion of NSF's resources is invested in the 
ongoing operations and maintenance (O&M) activities necessary to keep 
research infrastructure at the cutting edge, and fully operational and 
accessible to those who use it to advance the boundaries of science.
    The fiscal year 2023 facilities O&M request continues to reflect a 
balance among multiple priorities. NSF divisions carefully allocate 
resources between research grants and O&M costs for research 
infrastructure. In addition to the regular O&M funding that keeps 
facilities functional, support for upgrades, significant periodic 
maintenance, and infrastructure renewal must also be addressed within 
Facilities O&M, which accounts for 10 percent of NSF's total request in 
fiscal year 2023. NSF continues to explore ways to invest in research 
infrastructure at all scales in order to keep pace with changing 
technologies, increased demand by users, and expanding research 
opportunities.
                     nsf responsiveness to covid-19
    NSF is grateful to the Administration and Congress for the support 
of the research ecosystem during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the 
funding provided by the ``Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 
Security Act,'' or ``CARES Act,'' NSF was able to mobilize the research 
community to make critical contributions to fighting the SARS-CoV-2 
virus, including research to model the virus's structure, create new 
products to mitigate the virus's spread, and develop new treatments and 
vaccines. From equipment delays and reagent shortages to lost training 
time and missed field research, the pandemic also strained research 
projects in unique ways. With the continued support from Congress and 
the Administration, including the $600,000,000 provided in the American 
Rescue Plan act of 2021 (ARP), NSF has been able to support groups of 
individuals and institutions most affected by the pandemic, as well as 
those at vulnerable transition points in their research careers. With 
more than $450,000,000 of the ARP funding obligated to date, NSF has 
been able to make more than 1,300 awards spanning all disciplines of 
science and engineering- supporting researchers, students, facilities 
and more. Thanks to these investments, NSF has been able to support 
innovative research ideas and sustain critical research talent that is 
central to our long-term competitiveness that could have been lost 
during the pandemic without the support that the Administration and 
Congress made available.
                   securing taxpayer-funded research
    NSF is expanding capabilities and competencies to protect the U.S. 
science and engineering enterprise through its Research Security 
Strategy and Policy activity. In January 2022, the Office of Science 
and Technology Policy, through the National Science and Technology 
Council, issued implementation guidance for National Security 
Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33) on the National Security Strategy 
for United States Government-Supported Research and Development. NSF is 
working together with other Federal research agencies to establish 
uniform mechanisms for researchers to provide agencies with consistent 
information on their appointments, activities, and sources of research 
support; many of these mechanisms will be made available to the 
community during fiscal year 2023. Consistent with its published System 
of Records Notice, NSF has established processes to proactively 
identify conflicts of commitment, vulnerabilities of pre-publication 
research, and risks at various stages of the research funding 
enterprise from proposal submission to the performance of NSF-funded 
research. To ensure clear understanding of research security issues, 
NSF disclosure requirements, and the tenets of beneficial international 
collaboration, NSF is leading the efforts to develop training resources 
for staff and the research community that will continue to be refined 
in fiscal year 2023. NSF is also commissioning a JASON study in fiscal 
year 2022 to provide guidance on the establishment of a Research on 
Research Security funding program that is expected to begin in fiscal 
year 2023.
    NSF participation in discussions with the U.S. research community 
and with international colleagues is key to the success of the agency's 
activities, which includes the development of common frameworks for 
understanding research security. That is why NSF is co-leading the U.S. 
efforts to work with G7 nations on research security and integrity. NSF 
is committed to strong partnerships across the Federal Government, with 
academia, and with our like-minded international partners to ensure 
that we can uphold the values of openness, transparency and reciprocity 
that have made the international research environment so successful.
                               conclusion
    At a time of intense global competition, the fiscal year 2023 
Budget Request for NSF positions the agency to lead the Nation in 
innovation, discovery, and STEM education to build a more diverse and 
inclusive workforce and unleash economic and societal progress. With 
the new TIP Directorate established, NSF is well positioned to leverage 
the uniquely American innovation system in which investment in 
fundamental research is intertwined with strong partnerships among 
government, academia, and industry. With a keen focus on strengthening 
NSF's investments in exploratory, curiosity-driven research and use-
inspired innovations, NSF will build on seven decades of preeminence in 
STEM to catalyze partnerships that produce breakthroughs and 
advancements in emerging industries like artificial intelligence and 
quantum information science. In this way, NSF will ensure that the 
United States is in the vanguard of global competitiveness.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. With the 
continued support of this Committee and the Congress, NSF will continue 
to unleash rapid innovations, and foster ecosystems of innovation 
throughout the country to ensure that the United States remains the 
global leader in science, engineering, innovation, and technology.
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    \1\ National Science Board, National Science Foundation. 2022. 
Science and Engineering Indicators 2022: The State of U.S. Science and 
Engineering. NSB-2022-1. Alexandria, VA. Available at https://
ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20221.

    Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you both very much for your 
testimony. We will now enter 5-minute questioning rounds, and I 
will begin.
    Administrator Nelson, I think the whole world has been 
transfixed on Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine and what is 
happening there. And part of what we have heard from the 
rhetoric coming out of Russia is the suggestion that they may 
no longer participate with us in the International Space 
Station, and they may look to China to partner on space 
activities. Can you talk about how concerned we should be about 
that and whether you are hearing at NASA's level any chatter 
that they may actually be pulling out of our partnership there?
    Senator Nelson. Madam Chair, they are not pulling out. In 
the last day or so, there are misleading headlines. If you read 
the articles, it says something else of comments that were made 
by people in Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. I want you to 
think about this issue in a historical context. In the height 
of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, a Soviet spacecraft and 
an American spacecraft rendezvoused and docked in space, and 
the crews lived together and worked together in space led by 
General Tom Stafford and General Alexei Leonov. That personal 
friendship endured over the years, so much so, when Alexi 
passed away a couple of years ago, who gave the eulogy at the 
funeral in Moscow? None other than General Tom Stafford, and 
that cooperation in civil space has continued to this day.
    First, there was a Russian space station. There was Mir, 
and the U.S. Space Program--space shuttle docked with Mir, then 
together we built the International Space Station. 
Theoretically, you cannot operate the space station without 
both. The Russians had the propulsion, the altitude control. 
The U.S. has the electricity production. I see nothing in the 
very even-keeled professional relationship between the 
cosmonauts and the astronauts, between mission control in 
Moscow and Houston, in the training of Russian cosmonauts in 
America and the training of American astronauts in Moscow and 
Baikonur, I see nothing that has interrupted that professional 
relationship, no matter how awful Putin is conducting a war 
with such disastrous results in Ukraine.
    Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you. That is really nice to 
hear, and I have been encouraged by the reports that we have 
seen about recent cooperation between the cosmonauts and our 
astronauts. Can you also comment on China and what you are 
seeing with respect to China and Russia cooperating in space?
    Senator Nelson. Now, China is completely a different 
experience for the U.S. Space Program because there has not 
been any transparency. They are very secretive. An example: 
they put up their space station and the first stage of the 
rocket. They did not save enough fuel so that they could have a 
controlled reentry. This is about a year or two ago, and as a 
result, it was going to come down someplace. Fortunately, it 
came down in the Indian Ocean, but it could have come down 
somewhere in Europe. It could have come down in Saudi Arabia. 
And they were secretive about the coordinates of where it was 
going to come down.
    I have since talked to the Chinese ambassador, and he gave 
me the opening. He said, well, what could we do. I said, I will 
give you an example of exactly what you could do to begin 
things. You, 50 years after us, have returned a sample from the 
moon. Fifty years ago, we made our sample of the lunar soil and 
rocks available to the international scientific community. You 
could do the same. Thus far, they have not indicated anything, 
so it has been a very strained relationship with the Chinese 
space program.
    What is the extent of cooperation with Russia--between 
Russia and China? I am simply not sure. China has made 
entreaties to Russia, Russia has flirted with China, and you 
remember Putin went to the opening of the Olympics as the guest 
of President Xi, but we do not know to what extent. We do know 
that because of the professional relationship and what I 
believe to be the intention of the Russian space program to 
continue with the space station, and now that we have gotten 
the White House approval of extending the space station until 
2030, if you all appropriate funds, and, of course, what we 
want to do is continue it until we have a commercial space 
station and then deorbit an aging space station in 2031. But we 
see every reason that the Russians are going to continue on the 
space station for the immediate future, and, of course, we 
personally hope that they will continue with us all the way to 
2030.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you very much. Senator Moran.

                      RETURNING HUMANS TO THE MOON

    Senator Moran. Chair, thank you very much. Administrator 
Nelson, given the amount of work that remains to be done with 
test flights and developing and testing a lander and space 
suits, what do you see as the largest technical threat to 
landing our astronauts on the moon by 2025?
    Senator Nelson. First of all, you all have helped us so 
that that landing will occur because there have been 
indications, and we hope that you will consider favorably the 
President's request to start competition in a human lander. 
Now, as it turned out, the first competition, NASA simply did 
not have enough money to award for two landers. And by far, the 
most economical of the three competitors was the one that was 
given the nod--SpaceX--for the first landing. That is a done 
contract. What we wanted to do, and what you all, the Congress, 
have made particularly clear to me through hearings all last 
year, and I happen to agree with you, is that you wanted 
competition for the ultimate lander. So on the basis of that, 
we have started the initial process, and if you deem it wise in 
giving us the appropriations which the President has requested, 
then we will have a simultaneous competition excluding SpaceX 
because they already have that under procurement law and cannot 
participate in the next competition. The winner of that 
competition would have the opportunity, as SpaceX, to land an 
uncrewed lander first and then do the crude landing. They would 
have that opportunity.
    And then we would have two landers somewhere in the 2027 
timeframe, having both already landed to make the ultimate 
choice of the lander that would last for some period of time as 
the lander on the moon. That is a decision that you will have 
to make in this President's request, and I believe that that is 
the plan that can bring us all the value of competition. You 
get it done with that competitive spirit, you get it done 
cheaper, and that allows us to move away from what has been a 
plague on us in the past, which is a cost-plus contract, and 
move to an existing contractual price.

                        AERONAUTIC CAPABILITIES

    Senator Moran. Thank you for your answer. Let me ask about 
aeronautics. You did mention that it has a great value to 
Kansas and the country. That portfolio includes everything from 
low-sonic boom aircraft to developing advanced materials and 
technologies that lead us to a safer, cleaner, more fuel 
efficient aircraft. You are asking for an increase of $90 
million to further our understanding of aeronautics. That is a 
$972 million dollars request.
    While NASA is involved in identifying and improving this 
research, there are great opportunities within the university 
research community to improve our understanding and develop 
aeronautic capabilities within the aviation sector. How does 
NASA intend to use its proposed aeronautics budget to build 
upon the strong university research capabilities that exist 
today to solve current and future aeronautical problems of 
tomorrow?
    Senator Nelson. Well, for example, at Wichita State, they 
are working on composites. Here is the problem today with 
composites. You can do an airliner, like the, I think it is 
called the 787. It is a composite body. It is much lighter, but 
it is kind of like a one-of-a-kind. You need to be able to 
stretch that process out where you can make composites and it 
be much more of an assembly line situation. Wichita State is 
working on that. You get that to the point through aeronautical 
research that NASA is working on so that we can start popping 
out air frames that are composites. Then you have saved a lot 
of weight, and, therefore, you have saved a lot of fuel, and 
you have gotten a lot greater efficiencies. And according to 
the passengers that fly on the 787, it is also more comfortable 
inside because of the humidity.
    Senator Moran. It seems like you agree with me that the 
private university--the public and private universities are of 
value to NASA and to the country in this regard.
    Senator Nelson. Absolutely, and as a matter of fact, 
Senator Shaheen was here 12 years ago when we passed the new 
NASA bill on a track where there was going to be the government 
program, and there was going to be a commercial program, and we 
are seeing the fruits of that, for example, going to and from 
the International Space Station today because we are 
transporting crew by NASA contracting with SpaceX and 
eventually Boeing. And Boeing should launch its spacecraft, by 
the way, in a week or so, and this is a test flight, and then 
the crew would be later this year. So we would have two ways of 
getting to the International Space Station--SpaceX and Boeing--
and we have already got lots of ways to get cargo up there, 
including Northrop Grumman launching from Senator Van Hollen's 
constituency. It is actually right across the State line in 
Virginia, but most of the people live in Maryland that work 
there at Wallops Island launch facility.
    And so there is just so much that is happening in the 
commercial area, whether it is done directly under NASA's 
government contracts or whether NASA contracts with commercial 
entities in order to produce what we are asking them to 
produce. Now, when it comes to safety, NASA is all over it. We 
are not simply going to put up crew in spacecraft that are not 
safe, even though we have contracted with a commercial company, 
and the proof is in the pudding. Look what has happened with 
commercial crew going to and from the International Space 
Station.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Moran. Senator Van 
Hollen.

                        WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY

    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Madam Chairman, and to the 
Ranking Member. Great to have both of you here. Administrator 
Nelson, thank you for your enthusiasm, for all the initiatives 
that you are overseeing, and for presenting a budget that 
includes important investments in space exploration and 
discovery, as well as robust funding for earth sciences, which 
you said are very important to all of us and encompass many of 
the Maryland-based missions, including at Goddard.
    And appreciate the funding for PACE, for OSAM 1, and, 
again, continuing support for the Webb Telescope. We are all 
thrilled with the fact that that deployed successfully, and we 
all know a million things had to go right in order for that to 
be successful, and it has been. And I am very proud of all the 
folks at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore who 
were responsible for mission operations for the Webb as well as 
about 2,000 other Marylanders at Goddard and other places. And 
as you say, we all look forward to getting the first images 
back soon.
    Thank you for mentioning Wallops. I am going to spend a 
moment focusing on the Wallops Flight Facility, which, as you 
indicated, is critical to our space and earth science missions. 
It is a hub for unmanned flight. It is a supplier to the 
International Space Station. It is a home to NASA's Balloon 
Program. This is a great budget, but it does have a shortcoming 
in that it does not include the funds that we have 
traditionally provided to the 21st Century Launch Complex 
Program. Other Administrations have also admitted that, and we 
have worked on a bipartisan basis to make sure those funds are 
provided because Wallops is attracting new commercial space 
partners. It is growing, and I think you have acknowledged as 
well in your infrastructure needs budget the importance of the 
Wallops Island Causeway Bridge.
    So Mr. Administrator, I know you have been there, just your 
commitment to work with us to make sure that that is a success.
    Senator Nelson. Not only do you have my commitment. I have 
been out there, and we are afraid that bridge is going to fall 
in the water.
    Senator Van Hollen. Yes.
    Senator Nelson. And it is the number one priority, and I 
thought with machinations with some of your colleagues on this 
Committee that we were going to get it in the 2022 budget. I 
may get in trouble by saying this, but I hope that there is 
going to be kind of infrastructure bill that is still going to 
come out of the Senate that would allow us then to have high-
priority, desperately-needed infrastructure projects like the 
Wallops Island Bridge be taken care of.
    Senator Van Hollen. Yes.
    Senator Nelson. The only way we got some of the others was 
that you all passed our hurricane emergency supplemental, and 
we got the roof being done down in New Orleans on the big 
facility down there, but we have not been able to get that 
Wallops Bridge--yes.
    Senator Van Hollen. I hear you. I hear you, Mr. 
Administrator. We are going to work on that. I mean, the 
infrastructure modernization bill had a lot of good investments 
in it, but it did neglect some critical U.S. Government 
investments like this one. I mean, obviously if you do not have 
a bridge going to the Wallops Space Complex, you are in a world 
of hurt. I do want to flag also the issue of bridge repair over 
the BW Parkway for Goddard.
    Mr. Administrator, let me ask you about heliophysics 
because I indicated that I think the budget is a good one, but 
in the area of heliophysics, there is a slight reduction, which 
I will work with my colleagues to remedy. But I do want to 
applaud you for your continued support to the science 
directorate. If you look at the Heliophysics Division's budget, 
it has been reduced. I think that is a mistake, especially as 
we witness the impact of solar flares on Starlink satellites, 
and space weather, as you know, poses a serious risk to our 
satellites and communication systems. So I have--I also believe 
you are--you are committed to that mission.
    In my remaining time, Dr. Panch, if I could just thank you 
also for all your work at the National Science Foundation. 
Quantum science is obviously a critical area for our country, 
and you mentioned it in your remarks, and Maryland is an 
important center for quantum information science. Can you 
elaborate a little bit more on what you are doing in that area, 
and at the same time, talk a little bit more about your efforts 
to bring HBCUs--
    Dr. Panchanathan. Yes.
    Senator Van Hollen [continuing]. Into your efforts to make 
sure that all of our talent is on the playing field when it 
comes to science.

                      QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE

    Dr. Panchanathan. Thank you, Senator, for asking the 
question. As you pointed out, it is a very, very important 
technology, and it is very important that we stay in the 
vanguard of innovation. It turns out yesterday, I was giving a 
talk at IBM Yorktown, and I was standing in front of the 
quantum computer right there and admiring the tremendous work 
that has gone into it in terms of many, many things: materials, 
devices, the fabrication technologies, of course, that goes 
with it, the Quantum Information Science, and a whole lot more, 
and the quantum networking, all of those things that have come 
together in order for us to be building such a fantastic 
machine. And I was told that it is deployed not only across the 
United States but also will be deployed all across the globe, 
so really a world leader in this.
    From an NSF perspective, this investment has happened for 
several decades. We are here today because of the sustained 
investments that NSF has made in all aspects, whether it is 
physics, chemistry, you know, material science, computing, 
engineering, and a whole lot more, over several decades to get 
to the point where we are right now. And I am very thrilled to 
say that through a partnership with the Department of Energy 
and other partners, we are continuing to invest in quantum 
institutes, which are large-scale partnerships, to be able to 
advance it at speed and scale, as I would often say. We also 
have a number of investments in terms of how we take these 
ideas to action in terms of entrepreneurial ventures and 
supporting industry partnerships, things of that nature, and 
that is why I was there at IBM yesterday.
    But as you said, the most important thing for us is to make 
sure that we have the quantum workforce. This is an exceedingly 
important imperative. Yes, we will have great quantum 
researchers, and we will continue to invest in that, but we 
need to make sure that we have quantum inspiration starting not 
just at the university level but right at the K to 12 level. So 
we have a Q-12 Program, which essentially is focused on K to 12 
inspirations of quantum. How might we get quantum foundry-like 
ideas accessible for high school children to be able to, and 
middle school children to be able to, get excited about quantum 
science? How can we relate quantum futures at the K to 12 
level? So this is something that we are working with many 
partners to develop that kind of curriculum at the K to 12 
level.

              HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

    To your point about HBCUs, we have a program called Expand 
QISE, Quantum Information Science and Engineering. This is 
precisely the focus. How might we get the quantum futures also 
exciting people at HBCUs, at other MSIs, Hispanic-serving 
institutions, Tribal colleges and universities, so we are 
working diligently with our partners? Specific to HBCUs, since 
we met last, Senator, I have had many conversations with HBCU 
presidents and chancellors, and I am thrilled to report that 
one of those presidents and chancellors is University of 
Maryland Eastern Shore President Anderson, and so we had good 
conversations and asking them how might we have more 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities. How might we have 
the minority- serving institutions, R2 institutions, also 
participating in the quantum revolution? We also need community 
colleges in this because it requires a lot of technical skills 
also to be part of how we build the quantum future.
    So we are working on all of this in terms of STEM training 
for talent everywhere to be inspired by quantum.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you. Senator Capito.

                           COMMERICAL LANDER

    Senator Capito. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you both 
for being here today. Administrator Nelson, it is good to see 
you. About a week ago I was pleased to be at a conference--I 
just missed you. You came, I think, the next day, but I was 
with a couple of your leaders, James Reuter and Thomas 
Zurbuchen from the Space Technology and Science areas. And the 
goal is to combine the skill and resources, both in people and 
capabilities, of West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania regions 
to become more active contributors to our space industrial 
base. A really exciting conference. I have seen this firsthand 
at Constellium and Ravenswood, which does a lot of the 
aluminum, and then also I toured the Astrobotic--I do not know 
if you got to do that--while we were in Pittsburgh, which was 
exciting to see what they are going to be landing in the 4th 
quarter.
    So how do you see this perspective? I know you touched on 
it a bit with the question that I heard with Senator Moran, the 
private sector and even the more rural parts of our Nation that 
can really capitalize on the exciting, I think, futures in 
space?
    Senator Nelson. Specifically, that consortium of three 
States is responsible for 10,000 jobs in the three States, and 
it is impressive what you all have done. Also, while I was 
there, I did go to Astrobotic, and they revealed the first 
commercial lander on the moon. This will be, and it will be 
later this year, this will be the first U.S. landing on the 
moon since a half century ago when we last landed with Gene 
Cernan on Apollo 17. And this is going to be a commercial 
landing under the CLPS Program, of which we have incentivized 
the commercial industry to build the landers and put scientific 
payloads on them, many of which are NASA payloads, and do all 
kinds of things without NASA having to do the lander.
    And so, for example, there are three companies that are 
going to be landing. One of those companies is going to have a 
NASA instrument on it. It will land on the South Pole. It will 
dig down to see if the water that we know is there in the 
shadowed crevices on the South Pole, which is now ice, is there 
water underneath, and if so, then there is the potential for 
rocket fuel, hydrogen, and oxygen. And so these are the kind of 
things that you are doing out there in combining the efforts of 
three States, and it is only going to grow.
    Senator Capito. Yes, it was really exciting to hear not 
just the private sector, but that higher ed, educational, and 
the nonprofit community. As you know, Pittsburgh has some 
really great community organizations from their long history of 
building this country, that they have now--are now sustaining 
and looking at space.
    Let me ask you one other question about the upcoming OSAM--
it used to be called Restore-L--and because West Virginia's 
Robotic Technology Center is a part of that. That is the in-
space service, assembly, and manufacturing of satellites. What 
do you think--how important is this? I mean, I can see it, but 
if you could quantify a little bit.
    Senator Nelson. Hugely important.
    Senator Capito. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
    Senator Nelson. If we are able to service a spacecraft on 
orbit, then we get extra life out of it.
    Senator Capito. Right.
    Senator Nelson. Not only repairs and maintenance, but also 
fueling.
    Senator Capito. Right.
    Senator Nelson. And so it makes sense.
    Senator Capito. Right.
    Senator Nelson. And we are developing--NASA's developing 
this capability. We have contracted out for commercial entities 
to do this as well. And by the way, before you get through, I 
just want to give kudos to you. You know, we have what we call 
the IV&V Center--
    Senator Capito. Right.
    Senator Nelson [continuing]. In West Virginia--
    Senator Capito. Mm-hmm.
    Senator Nelson [continuing]. Independent verification and 
validation of software.
    Senator Capito. Right.
    Senator Nelson. That is so super important to NASA, and I 
am going to be there in a couple of weeks, and I hope your 
schedule on a Monday morning works out so that you can come 
with us. And then I will try to get you and whoever in the 
delegation is with us back to Washington.
    Senator Capito. Sounds great. That is named for Katherine 
Johnson, as you know, one of our proud West Virginians. I was 
there for the dedication. I look forward to that, and I will be 
looking at my schedule. Thank you. I have a question for you, 
but I will submit it for the record. Thank you so much.
    Senator Nelson. Thank you so much, Senator. Good seeing 
you.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Capito.
    Senator Braun.
    Senator Braun. Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, where I 
come from, which was running a business for 37 years prior to 
getting here, investment was always the most important thing 
you had to consider. When you invest, there is a return on it, 
and if you do not do it well in business or government, you end 
up paying the price. Your competitors generally outmaneuver you 
in the long run.
    When we are looking at both NASA, the National Science 
Foundation, you might be surprised, but I think we ought to be 
putting as many resources into it as we can. It is one of the 
few things that, even though it may not be tangible, it is very 
important, and sometimes it is very tangible as well in terms 
of what it yields down the road. So I am one that generally 
always thinks of the particulars, which I see $23.27 billion 
enacted in fiscal year 2021, $24.04 request, $25. That is about 
as mild a request in terms of increases of anything I have seen 
since I have been here. It is in the context, though, that we 
are $30 trillion in debt. That is such a complicated subject. 
All I can tell you, it is not a great business plan to borrow 
your way into the future when a lot of it does not give you a 
true return on investment.
    I want to talk about I think what is even a more an 
existential discussion, and that is our main geopolitical 
competitor. So, Dr. Panch, when it comes to the Chinese, they 
are not apologetic. They are not even quiet about it. They 
would want to replace us someday and do it, I think, by merit, 
according to maybe what they might think that might be, but in 
the meantime, I have observed them as being ones that, I do not 
know, their handshake business partners. And if we do enable 
and invest more in the National Science Foundation or NASA, how 
are we sure that with their behavior, especially when you are 
maybe doing it to some extent where there is--even if it is not 
shared information, it could be extracted, how are we certain 
that we are going to do it in a way that keeps us secure and 
does not aid the competition? And then, Mr. Nelson, I would 
like you to answer that same question as it would apply to 
NASA. Go ahead.

              RESEARCH SECURITY STRATEGY POLICY AND CHINA

    Dr. Panchanathan. Thank you very much, Senator, for that 
question. I often say research is security. Research is 
research integrity. Research integrity is research security. So 
clearly, before I get to the specific question about China, we 
are working with international partners who share our values, 
who share our values of research integrity, transparency, 
openness, and also reciprocity. So we are working with partners 
who emphasize that, and we are building those partnerships.
    So one of the things that NSF did 2 years ago, and I was at 
that time on the National Science Board, is we commissioned a 
security group called JASON, and we asked them to look at the 
problem so that it is not just an internal thing only but an 
external group of experts looking at it and giving us advice in 
terms of how do we move forward in research security. And we 
are pretty much following the guidelines that have been given 
to us by JASON, of course, in consultation with many other 
constituencies.
    One of the principal recommendations that was made was to 
appoint a chief officer for Research Security Strategy and 
Policy, whose job it is to, every day, wake up and think about 
research security on its own--in its many forms to make sure 
that we are protecting those things that need to be protected, 
and set up the policies that need to be set and put in place 
for that to be, you know, exercised in its fullest form. And I 
am very happy to say that that person reports directly to me, 
and that was part of the recommendation. But more importantly--
yes.
    Senator Braun. Are you confident that in this case, 
especially with what we have observed over the last decade or 
so, especially more recently, that it will be foolproof, it 
will not be breached if we are making these investments to 
where it would be nothing more than giving them information 
that would end up hurting us somehow in the long run?
    Dr. Panchanathan. Senator, this is where I think the 
partnership with agencies, and that is what we are working with 
right now, NSF is closely partnering with this chief officer, 
with the intelligence agencies, with other agencies like NASA, 
with the Department of Energy, and all these agencies because 
it is an all-of-government approach. In fact, NSF co-leads with 
the Office of Science and Technology Policy, with the 
Department of Energy, and NIH to make sure that the policies 
that we are putting in place is consistent across the board for 
all researchers in institutions that we essentially invest in.
    And so I can tell you that we have constant conversations 
about this. In fact, I will tell you since we met last time, we 
have developed an analytic software that can actually look at 
where people are supposed to be declaring their conflicts of 
interest and things of that nature of commitment, that they are 
surfaced, and we are able to then make sure that people are 
ensuring that they are declaring their conflicts, as the case 
may be. But more importantly, the work happens in the academic 
institutions. So we are partnering with the academic 
institutions to make sure that the policies that we are putting 
in place are going to be, you know, essentially implemented.
    But in terms of taking care of any breaches, we work very 
closely with the Office of Inspector General. As you know, it 
is an independent entity from NSF, and we make sure that we 
take care of any such situations.
    Senator Braun. Thank you because it looks like you are well 
aware of the potential of what might happen. Mr. Nelson, would 
you weigh in?
    Senator Nelson. Senator, your question about China, I have 
made no bones about, in response to Senator Shaheen, they are 
simply not transparent. They have not cooperated. We have given 
them ample opportunities, and I will not repeat what is already 
on the record for the Committee. We would welcome that, but we 
would be very guarded in our dealings with the Chinese. But 
thus far, all the opportunities that we have given them, and 
the example that I gave was that life was threatened on the 
face of the earth with the uncontrolled entry of their first 
stage of their rocket when they put up their space station. Not 
only had they not saved enough fuel for a controlled reentry, 
and, thank goodness, it came down in the Indian Ocean, but it 
could have come down in Europe, and it could have come down in 
Saudi Arabia.
    And not only had they not done that, but they refused to 
give us coordinates and information about the track. We 
fortunately had our own information about the track, so we were 
pretty on top of it, but it is just another illustration. And 
it is such a contrast to what we have been doing with the 
Russians ever since the Soviet Union, in 1975, where the 
civilian space program has always had a cooperation to this 
point now and going forward, why this is such an international 
space program with the Japanese and the European Space Agency, 
and now the UAE are all participating with us, not only on the 
space station, but as we go to the moon and the gateway, which 
is like a space station, that will orbit the moon.
    Senator Braun. Well, thank you for being vigilant and alert 
to the potential. Thank you.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Braun. Senator Braun 
raised the issue of investing, and I agree. I think it is one 
of the reasons that I support the U.S. Innovation and 
Competition Act, because I think that is a place where we are 
investing in science in a way that we really need to, science 
and innovation. And one of the provisions that is included in 
that that I support requires that at least 20 percent of NSF 
investment go to EPSCOR States, like New Hampshire.
    So, Dr. Panch, can you talk about why it is important for 
us to also encourage small States to participate in EPSCOR and 
to invest in those programs?

               ENCOURAGING STATE PARTICIPATION IN EPSCOR

    Dr. Panchanathan. Madam Chair, thank you so much for that 
question. If you recall, last year when I gave the testimony, I 
said talent and ideas are democratized all across our Nation, 
no exception. I happen to come from one of the small States, 
too, and, therefore, I fully understand that when you energize 
talent everywhere, I think innovation will happen, can happen 
anywhere. I always say innovation anywhere, opportunities 
everywhere, for which we need to energize talent everywhere.
    I have been deeply committed to this since I got in. In 
fact, the central pillar of my three-pillar vision is about 
ensuring inclusivity access and ensuring that we embrace 
diversity of all kinds: diversity of geography, socioeconomic, 
demographic, and racial diversity. So we need to make sure that 
talent everywhere is energized, so that is the first point that 
I want to lead off with.
    So if you look at some of the programs that NSF has 
launched, let us take the AI institutes or the quantum, even, 
programs. You will be very pleased to know that AI institutes 
right now, with just two rounds, with 16 institutes, spans 40 
States and the District of Columbia, and a third round is 
coming in. And this is an intentional effort because I truly 
believe that AI is everywhere, and AI should be everywhere, and 
quantum, likewise, should be inspired everywhere.
    So I think in terms, therefore, how do we get these ideas 
that we say are everywhere to rise up? And that is why I talked 
about this new program that we launched where, if you look at 
institutions that truly deserve the level of investments with 
the fantastic ideas that is everywhere, one way of doing that 
is to make sure some of the institutions have the research 
infrastructure support that makes it possible for them to rise 
up and be successful in the gold standard merit review process 
of NSF. How do we get those institutions, and other 
institutions also to play ball? And this is why the GRANTED 
Program is a virtual research infrastructure office.
    How do we get to such developments support? How do we get 
pre-award, and post-award support? How do we get support in 
terms of how we transact intellectual property? How do we build 
a partnership with industry? This kind of support that--is not 
necessarily available in all institutions. How do we make it 
possible in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, in 
other MSIs, in States like the EPSCOR States, where there is a 
lot of talent and ideas that need to be lifted up? So I am a 
huge fan of the GRANTED program to lift those ideas and make 
them successful. So I am very, very comfortable with the fact 
that we have it as an aspirational goal of how we might invest 
in all these States, the ESPCOR States included, in a way that 
can bring out those talents and ideas.
    Senator Shaheen. And so you would agree then that helping 
to build that infrastructure also means ensuring that NSF's 
large-scale programs, like science and technology centers, 
engineering research center, midscale infrastructure, AI 
institutes, the new technology directors, director, and all of 
those should also encompass EPSCOR States.
    Dr. Panchanathan. Absolutely. In fact, I have made the 
point, in fact, publicly I have said this, that when 
institutions like R1 institutions lead and some--they bring in 
partnership other institutions, I have said that we should also 
look at R2 institutions, and MSIs, and HBCUs. Sometimes they 
should be the lead and R1s should be partner institutions. And 
so I am fully in concert with the fact that all these 
institutions can be everywhere and should be everywhere because 
ideas are everywhere.
    Senator Shaheen. And does that 20 percent of NSF 
investment, is that a goal that allows us to do that?
    Dr. Panchanathan. So an aspirational goal because if the 
GRANTED Program, as we have outlined it, which I am confident 
is going to be wildly successful, you will find that we will 
end up over the years that we are essentially probably 
exceeding even that kind of investment that goes to the EPSCOR 
States and the regions of our Nation where the investments are 
not as prominent right now. So, you know, as an aspirational 
goal, it is a good goal to have.
    Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you. I am counting on--Senator 
Moran is a member of--a conferee of the conference committee to 
hold tight on that 20 percent to go to EPSCOR States, small 
EPSCOR States, so share that with Senator Moran since he is not 
here right now.
    Let me also ask you, Dr. Panch, about the number of 
additional grants that NSF would be able to fund if you are 
funded at the request level. What does that allow you to do 
that you would not be able to do otherwise, and how do you see 
that contributing to our goal of promoting innovation and 
competition?

      ADDITIONAL GRANT FUNDING WITH FISCAL YEAR 2023 REQUEST LEVEL

    Dr. Panchanathan. Madam Chair, if you will recall the last 
testimony that I gave, I talked about the numbers of grants, 
what we need, and what we are leaving on the cutting room 
floor. I, in fact, invoked this when I was with Senator Moran 
in Kansas when a question was asked from a faculty member who 
had gotten a competitive rating and said, but I did not get 
funded, right? So NSF, we receive about 40,000 to 50,000 grant 
proposals a year. Last year, for example, it was about 43,000 
grant proposals. We fund about 11,000 of them, a 25-percent 
sort of a success rate, let us put it that way. Now, clearly, 
if you ask me, Panch, so what is the number of proposals that 
are recommended by the Gold Standard Merit Review Process that 
the NSF, you know, is very well known for, it turns out it is 
close to about, you know, one-third, or 30 percent, of the 
proposals. So clearly, we have a number of proposals that are 
ranked competitive that are left behind on the cutting room 
floor, right? So right now, with 25 percent, with the new 
investments that are being proposed, we will get to about 2,800 
more proposals, our success rate going from 25 percent to 26 
percent.
    But I also talked about the size of our grants last time. 
You know, I said average is about 200K. We need to work towards 
raising it to 300K. With this increase, we will get from 200K 
to 240K. You know, we will be part way there. We will be 20 
percent of the way there, and so the 50 percent that we desire, 
but that is a good trend to take to where we need to be in 
terms of how we should get this done. And I see this as a 
national security issue because the unfunded ideas and unfunded 
proposals are the ones that our competitors invest in, and we 
should not leave that on the cutting room floor.
    And I am hoping, and I am grateful for all of you for 
recognizing that, and I am grateful to the President and the 
Administration for investing in NSF because this would make 
that possible.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you. Senator Moran is back, but 
while he is still getting settled--
    Senator Moran. If you would ask another question--
    Senator Shaheen. Yes.
    Senator Moran [continuing]. I would be grateful.
    Senator Shaheen. I will do that because I wanted to wait 
until you got back to follow up on your question to 
Administrator Nelson about the 2025 date, because, obviously, 
it depends on a lot of things going right if we are going to 
make that 2025 date. And I was a little fuzzy on how confident 
you are that that can actually happen. So can you tell us today 
that, if you get your budget request, that you will be able to 
make that 2025 date for the landing?

                          MOON FLIGHT TIMELINE

    Senator Nelson. We will not fly astronauts until it is 
safe, and if that means there is a delay, then we will delay. 
But we have every reason to believe that we are on a schedule 
that, first of all, that Artemis will certainly, through the 
SLS Rocket and the Orion Spacecraft, be ready, and we will have 
flown in 2024 a crew after this first test flight later this 
year. We will have flown a crew in a 30-day mission in lunar 
orbit. And then we have every confidence to feel that, under 
the contract with SpaceX, that in 2024, they will land an 
uncrewed lander as part of their demonstration, and that a year 
later, in 2025, that we will be ready for them to have launched 
their lander into lunar orbit. Orion goes into lunar orbit, the 
crew is transferred, and the lander goes down and lands and 
stays for whatever the prescribed time is, a day or so, and 
then they come back and rendezvous in lunar orbit with Orion, 
and come home.
    Now, of course, we believe that that is the schedule, but I 
can just tell you that if I am making the decisions, it is not 
going to fly until it is safe.
    Senator Shaheen. Well, I certainly think we would all 
expect no less than that--
    Senator Nelson. Yes, ma'am.
    Senator Shaheen [continuing]. That certainly needs to be 
the bottom line for the decisionmaking. My question is really, 
assuming that it is safe, are we going to meet all those other 
deadlines in order to ensure that it is safe--
    Senator Nelson. Yes.
    Senator Shaheen [continuing]. And get the landing done?
    Senator Nelson. And I appreciate your question, and you 
ought to ask that question. It is also true that every space 
mission that we have had, there have been delays. You think 
back to Apollo. Look what happened after the Apollo 1 fire. I 
mean, they were down for over 2 years and still, with an 
incredible amount of money poured in, were able to make 
President Kennedy's goal of landing on the moon by the end of 
the decade. Look at the space shuttle, the space shuttle, a 
fantastic flying machine, by the way, that we now know had 
certain technical flaws, and we lost 14 souls. It, too, was 
delayed until 1981 when, in fact, a lot of people thought that 
it was going to fly not long after Apollo-Soyuz in 1975 and fly 
in the late 70s. It did not happen, and look what happened. 
When we lost Challenger, we were down 2-1/2 years, and then in 
2003, we lost Columbia and were down another couple of years 
and the further delays.
    So you cannot go until it is right, but all these things 
cost money. These delays cost money. That is another reason we 
had a question here about competition. That is another reason 
to get to fix-priced contracts and then hold them to it, and we 
are doing that with the landers for the moon.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you. Senator Moran.

  MAINTAINING BASIC RESEARCH LEVELS WHILE ESTABLISHING TIP DIRECTORATE

    Senator Moran. Thank you, Chair. Dr. Panch, again, thank 
you for your presence here and your leadership at NSF. Let me 
begin by talking about the TIP Directorate. You mentioned in 
your testimony about the development of the new directorate, 
and you did so with great excitement. The NSF budget proposes 
$880 million for the continued establishment of the TIP 
Directorate, which is now about 20 percent of the total amount 
that is being requested for research. Is NSF balancing the 
creation of the TIP Directorate while preserving its basic 
research foundation, the bedrock of NSF's work, its mission, 
and should I, should we be concerned that TIP will change the 
direction of NSF and undermine that basic research needed to 
enable us to reach the goals of TIP?
    Dr. Panchanathan. Very good question, Senator. Thank you 
for asking that question. So if you look at some of the 
programs in the TIP Directorate--let us look at SBIR/STTR 
Program, the Innovation Corps, which is the entrepreneurship 
program, and the Partnership For Innovation, which is also a 
program that was at NSF, some of those programs that have been 
focused on the translation of scientific ideas into the market 
have been existent at NSF in terms of training the 
entrepreneurs of the future.
    What we are trying to do right now is to scale them, but on 
top of that, also build a program called the Regional 
Innovation Engines, and these regional innovation engines, to 
be very clear, are meant to train the next generation, the 
future practitioners and future researchers also, in a fused 
environment of academia and industry working together. So it is 
about the mission of NSF, which is about training the STEM 
talent for the future and inspiring new ideas, so it is the 
same mission that we are working on.
    I cannot talk enough about the NSF's vision. When I came 
in, I started describing it this way. It is the DNA of NSF. The 
one strand of the DNA of NSF is curiosity-driven, discovery-
based exploratory research, and that is something that you 
alluded to, Senator, but we also at NSF have been doing the 
other strand, which is what I called use-inspired, solutions-
focused, translational research or innovations. To me, these 
are highly synergistic like DNA is. Explorations make possible 
translations, but translations make possible more explorations.
    There are many, many examples of this, you know, including, 
for example, in space exploration. You start working on the 
technology for space exploration. You explore. You find new 
sites, new problems to solve, and this synergy is exceedingly 
important, in fact, to open up new vistas of scientific 
explorations also. That is why this is exceedingly important. 
The TIP Directorate, I want to make sure, is not a distraction. 
It is an attraction. It is an attraction to do more in 
exploratory science rather than distracting of explanation, so 
that is the first thing I want to say.
    The second thing I want to say is it makes possible the 
kind of work that we need in States like Kansas. You and I saw 
this, Senator, first time, the unbelievable work and the talent 
that is there in the Johnson Community College. Let us take 
that as an example. They are doing amazing work. They won the 
Community College Innovation Challenge when we were there. And 
when I met these students, it is very clear that if we do not 
have these crucibles of innovation, we will not have the 
community colleges, universities, and other researchers getting 
the practitioner talent trained at the highest level of 
intensity for where we need to move forward in terms of the 
industries of the future.
    So I am happy to elaborate more, but this is what we are 
trying to do.
    Senator Moran. Let me follow up with, in the absence of 
what research takes place at NSF, where would the private 
sector--in the absence of that research, what would we lose the 
most? What does the private sector do in comparison--applied 
research versus basic research--or do we need to focus public 
funds?

                   APPLIED RESEARCH VS BASIC RESEARCH

    Dr. Panchanathan. Yes, so the public funds, I think, are 
mostly focused--still in NSF, the majority of the public funds 
are focused and will continue to be focused on fundamental, 
basic research. But as I said earlier, we are also trying to 
invest so that more fundamental research can be uncovered 
through the practitioner work that we do. But let us not 
forget, just in the last year--let us take some examples. In 
the AI institutes, in fact, the private sector has come to us 
and said we will co-invest with you. Amazon invested in the 
Fairness in AI Program. One of the AI institutes scaled funding 
of $20 million were invested by a combination of Intel, Google, 
Accenture, and Amazon. So the private sector is coming to us 
and saying we will co-invest with you because our basic 
research needs are something that NSF is well positioned to do. 
You have a gold standard merit review process. We can work with 
you to unearth more basic research that benefits all 
industries, so, in fact, I would say it is an additive effect 
rather than a subtractive effect.
    So yesterday I was in IBM. You know, IBM is investing about 
$100 million on HBCU campuses to empower them. And we were 
talking about how we might collaborate with companies who have 
interest in wanting to get the talent of the future and also 
newer ideas that they want to work in, and they are willing to 
partner with NSF. This is a new world: a new world of 
partnership. So what we are also doing at the same time is, to 
address your question in another way, I am developing a strong 
partnership with the Department of Commerce so that their 
regional technology hubs and our regional innovation engines 
are tightly integrated. So the scientific prowess of what we 
have, which is what makes our Nation unique, the innovation 
potential that is there is able to be taken out and scaled, and 
that we are able to compete now with other nations who are 
starting to become more tight.
    So I want us to be a lot more tightly coupled between 
agencies, between the various programs, and nice handoffs, and 
we have a fantastic partnership with NASA at so many levels, 
and that is what we need more of. And I am a huge fan of that 
because our Nation, I think, needs all the public investments 
to then translate to economic prosperity, societal prosperity, 
and, most importantly, every region of our Nation, and the 
ideas and talent lifted up there. And we saw firsthand what is 
happening in the great State of Kansas.
    Senator Nelson. Senator, if I may, Dr. Panch has just 
described the emphasis on public/private partnership, the ethos 
that is very similar to what we are doing. It is a new day. 
Government cannot do it all. You all give us X amount of money, 
and we have got to make that money happen the way that we are 
trying to achieve, and we can leverage that money by working 
with the commercial industry and through competition, bring 
those costs down to NASA.
    I will give you one more example: the development of SpaceX 
and their very successful rocket, the Falcon 9 and the Falcon 9 
Heavy. General Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, 
told me last year before he retired, he said the fact that we 
have competition now ongoing to space just for the military has 
saved them $40 billion in launch costs. So it is just another 
example of the public/private partnership. We are doing this 
with regard to climate, and, of course, I will be happy to go 
into examples if you would like that, Senators.
    Senator Moran. Dr. Panch, my questions are not intended to 
be critical but to garner an understanding of how we can more 
rapidly advance--
    Dr. Panchanathan. Yes.
    Senator Moran [continuing]. The outcomes that we need 
economically and in national security in a time in which our 
adversaries have--seemingly an adversary has unlimited public 
funds.
    Dr. Panchanathan. Yes.
    Senator Moran. How do we do this in a way that gets us to 
the places that we need to be the fastest?

           PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN SCIENCE VS COMPETING NATIONS

    Dr. Panchanathan. Senator, I never look at your question as 
a criticism at all. In fact, on the contrary, I look at it as, 
you know, your expression of strong support. I will tell you, 
to the point that you make about our competitors, our 
competitors somehow, because they have a top-down approach, 
they seem to force the synergy. Forced synergies will not work. 
We all know that, at least not in the long term. That is what 
is fantastic about our Nation. I repeat this slogan. I say 
innovation anywhere, opportunities everywhere. I will keep 
saying this because we have that innovation potential anywhere, 
and that is why we need to bring that out by, not forced 
synergies, by natural synergies of coming together, and that is 
what we are doing.
    How can we use the public funds in a way that inspires 
every talent and idea everywhere, but at the same time, how do 
we leverage, as Senator Nelson was saying, through public-
private partnerships, scale even more and scale faster? I am 
anxious to scale fast because I think we are so good, but we 
need to scale fast and use every bit of talent that we have in 
our Nation.
    Senator Moran. Absolutely. The capabilities of the United 
States to advance faster, better, be safer, be more 
economically secure than our adversaries comes from the 
initiative, enterprise. Innovation that comes from our private 
sector, that comes from private citizens.
    Dr. Panchanathan. Yes.
    Senator Moran. And government is a tool in which we can 
enhance and speed up that process, but I will choose the 
innovator over the government decision every time.
    Dr. Panchanathan. You are right. I mean, innovation is 
everywhere, but we have a role, I often say, Senator, if I can 
say that. We have a role of catalyzing, enabling. As public 
investors, that is what we are doing. The innovation is there. 
All we are doing is we are trying to make it surface up. We do 
not want anybody to be left behind. You know, I have met 
unbelievable talent all across the Nation. I am traveling quite 
a bit. Like Administrator Nelson, I am also traveling quite a 
bit around the Nation, and I am so inspired. Every time I go, I 
meet K to 12 students. I meet our community college students. I 
meet our university students and entrepreneurs. I am really 
inspired to do more, faster, better, as you said.
    Senator Moran. As we would say, I adopt Dr. Panch's last 
few paragraphs as my own remarks. Thank you.
    Dr. Panchanathan. Thank you.
    Senator Moran. Let me ask, in regard to the conference 
committee that is hopefully soon to meet, what is it that you 
hope to see occur in USICA, or whatever the legislation 
ultimately is called, that advances the cause at NSF?

                     IF USICA/COMPETES ACT ADVANCES

    Dr. Panchanathan. Big, bold investments that take all of 
the ideas that I talked about that are being left behind. And, 
Senator, we saw a concrete example in our conversation at the 
Johnson Community College. It is disheartening to see people 
who are putting a lot of effort to take their idea with so much 
hopes and aspirations, and writing a fantastic proposal, 
submitting it to NSF, and getting a gold standard merit review 
saying, yes, this is worthy of investment, and not having that 
idea flourish is a totally missed opportunity; likewise, those 
ideas that need to be, you know, inspired everywhere that 
result in innovation ecosystems, you know.
    For example, we talked about the States of Kansas, you 
know, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, just as one example, 
where they can be the crucible of the innovation for the future 
of agriculture--smart agriculture--then such crucibles of 
innovation that we can build all across our Nation. And I was 
with John Deere the other day, just 2 weeks ago, in Illinois 
visiting John Deere, and I am looking at their technological 
roadmap. I am looking at what they are doing, and I am saying, 
wow, you know, I never knew a tractor company has so much 
technology built into this with AI, computing, and so on.
    And so I think that is what we need to do more is to see 
how we can build those crucibles of innovation, and to do that, 
the proposals that are made in the USICA and COMPETES Acts, I 
think, is the right strategy, the investment for this bold, 
rapid scaling of ideas and talent. And I am really, really 
hopeful, and I am very thankful for all of your support so that 
we will make this happen very soon, sooner than later, because 
we cannot miss any more time. This is the time.
    Yesterday, my talk at IBM was the time is now. This is the 
time. We need to accelerate our progress to stay far ahead of 
our competition, not even look behind.
    Senator Moran. Senator Shaheen, I am down to no longer any 
questions, but just one comment, and that is to the NASA 
Administrator. Senator Nelson, earth-observing satellites are 
an essential tool for Kansas because it aids us in our 
agricultural practices, and that is a hugely important 
component of our State's economy. And your offer to educate me, 
show me, and demonstrate to Kansans and Americans the value of 
those earth-observing satellites is very much appreciated, and 
I look forward to the moment in time in which we accomplish 
that.
    Senator Nelson. Yes, sir, and, indeed, a lot of people 
think of NASA as the space agency--do not forget the first 
``A,'' aeronautics. But also people do not realize NASA is the 
point of the spear on climate and climate change because all 
the measurements that are being made are done by instruments 
that we design, build, launch, and many of them we operate. And 
over the course of the next decade, we are going to have the--a 
great observatory of five additional major spacecraft, that all 
of this information is going to be put into a 3D composite on 
precisely what is happening to the earth's climate, what is 
happening to the water, to the land, to the ice, to the 
atmosphere.
    We are putting up at the end of this year a mission that is 
going to be able to measure for the first time the elevation of 
the streams, and rivers, and lakes, the freshwater. We have 
been able to measure the elevation of the oceans, the salt 
water. We are going to be able to find out very precisely what 
is happening to the ice. And all of this, and we have the 
support of the White House on this, and we hope we will have 
your support. We are going to create, if you can envision in 
space terms, a mission control center. It is going to be called 
the Earth Information Center. It is going to bring all of this 
data in, and it is going to be displayed, and it is going to be 
available to everybody, not just government at all levels, 
including your local county commission when they are planning 
their land planning. But it is going to be available to 
schools, and universities, and the private sector as well as to 
what is happening and the changes that are happening to the 
climate.
    Senator Moran. Rainfall may be the most common topic of 
conversation among my constituents on most days.
    Senator Nelson. And, Senator, I just want to say on Dr. 
Panch's testimony, we did not collaborate on our testimony, but 
I feel like I could start a sentence and he could finish it, 
and vice versa. And what he said, big, bold investments, and 
that is equally applicable to NASA.
    Senator Moran. Thank you.

                     HELIOPHYSICS AND SPACE WEATHER

    Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you. We appreciate that. I do 
have a few more questions actually before we close the hearing. 
And I share your enthusiasm, Administrator Nelson, for this 
budget, but I will admit I have a couple of concerns. One is 
the one that Senator Van Hollen raised about heliophysics, and 
that is based on a parochial concern because the cut has the 
potential to impact the University of New Hampshire, which is 
one of our Nation's premier heliophysics institutions, but also 
because one of the things that heliophysics does, as you know, 
is helps us to understand how our sun impacts the solar system. 
And part of that is what happens with climate change, as you 
were so eloquent about, and also our weather.
    And I appreciate NASA's establishing the space weather as 
its own program, but I wonder if you could help me understand 
why the request cuts space weather more than 12 percent, and 
what activities are proposed to be terminated. And one of the 
things that I always remember is one of the reasons we were not 
successful back when we were trying to get the Iran hostages 
out was because we did not accurately understand what the 
weather was going to be when we landed those helicopters, and 
we saw the same thing happen when we went to get Osama bin 
Laden. The weather almost undermined that mission as well. So 
it is not just about our crops and what we need to do, but 
there are also significant national security implications for 
understanding what is happening with our weather.
    So help me understand why the cut, and how the decision to 
reduce funding for heliophysics was made.
    Senator Nelson. I do have, in my previous life, some 
credentials in this area because there is an instrument up 
there called Discover. It was terminated in politics in a 
previous administration because it had been proposed by a 
former Vice President of the United States.
    Senator Shaheen. Yes, I remember that.
    Senator Nelson. And yours truly had the opportunity to get 
some more--fortunately, NASA had the good sense to keep it in 
mothballs. And then, lo and behold, the Department of Defense 
had a reason for wanting to get it up to give us a quick alert 
on a solar explosion and all that radiation, and so it is out 
there, a million miles. This is now called Discover, and it 
warns us of the solar radiation that is coming so that we can 
determine, our satellites as well as our ground stations, when 
that solar explosion is coming at us.
    University of New Hampshire, you are right, is a leader in 
the field of heliophysics. The decrease in the Space Weather 
Program, which was $2.7 million, or, as you stated, 12 percent, 
is due to a ramp down in the spending on space weather 
monitoring on an instrument called HERMES, which stands for 
Heliophysics Environmental And Radiation Measurement Experiment 
Suite, and will complete its integration and test this coming 
December. Now, there were a bunch of things going on in 
science. This was the decision since every now and then we get 
arbitrary amounts that are handed to us, and scientific 
decisions had to be made, but there is also a truth that the 
President proposes and the Congress disposes.

                         PROJECT COST OVERRUNS

    Senator Shaheen. Okay. I appreciate that response. The 
other concern that I want to raise is a report from the GAO 
because, at the direction of this Committee, the Government 
Accountability Office analyzes the cost and scheduled 
performance of major NASA projects. And I do not think this is 
a problem of your leadership or even your predecessor's 
leadership. It is a long-term problem at NASA. What the GAO 
found was that NASA projects are experiencing the largest 
collective cost and schedule overruns since they began 
reporting in 2009. The overruns cannot be attributed to COVID 
alone. Many projects had late-stage design changes that led to 
costly modifications and schedule slippage, and the collective 
budget pressure is delaying launch dates and squeezing out 
newer projects.
    So can you help us understand what you are working on to 
improve this project management, and do you see improvement 
anytime soon in our ability to manage those big projects?
    Senator Nelson. Madam Chair, there better be, and you are 
exactly right. There is no excuse for cost overruns, but the 
old way of doing things was always cost-plus.
    Senator Shaheen. Mm-hmm.
    Senator Nelson. And because of the competition that we have 
been talking about, we have been moving to the fixed price, 
where we can, under procurement law. In those that we cannot do 
cost-plus, we are moving to really crack down on them. I want 
to give you an example because Bechtel underbid on a cost-plus 
contract in order to, what appears, to get the next mobile 
launcher for the larger version of the SLS. The larger version 
has an enhanced upper stage that will carry more payload, 
including the gateway, which is like the mini space station 
that will be in lunar orbit. And they underbid it, and then 
they could not perform, and NASA is stuck.
    And what I have done is I have called in the CEO of 
Bechtel, who, by the way, is the grandson of the founder. His 
name is Bechtel. And they have readily acknowledged it, but 
there is no way under the contract, since it is a cost-plus 
contract, that we can do anything but eat it, and that is not 
right. And times are a-changing, and so what I have done 
specifically, other than jawboning and giving a lecture to all 
of our managers about tightening up on all of this, and, 
particularly, going forward, I have specifically named the 
deputy administrator, Colonel Pam Melroy, an astronaut 
commander, to serve as the Agency's chief acquisition officer 
to elevate the importance of acquisition.
    We are working closely with GAO and our inspector general 
at NASA on the recommendations. I think we are beginning to 
make some progress in closing out the GAO recommendations 
related to strengthening this acquisition process. We are 
committed to improving our management of our cost and our 
schedule commitments. And I have also established a new chief 
program management officer dedicated to strengthening NASA's 
oversight of its enterprise, of its management, and of its 
program management policies. Under the law, that is what I can 
do, and going forward, if we take this competition seriously, 
we are going to be able to do a lot more cost-plus contracts 
well.
    Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you. I appreciate that 
explanation, and it sounds like progress. Obviously we will 
want to continue to stay in touch with what you are seeing and 
what we can do to be helpful as you look at whether you need 
any new authorities to address what is happening. My final 
question, Dr. Panch, is for you because, in addition to space, 
which is really a new frontier not just for research, 
unfortunately, for our security, so is that the Arctic is a new 
frontier--
    Dr. Panchanathan. Yes.
    Senator Shaheen [continuing]. Both for research and for our 
national security.
    Dr. Panchanathan Yes.
    Senator Shaheen. And as we look at the inroads that some of 
our competitors are making in the Arctic, it raises serious 
concerns about what we should be doing there. So can you 
describe NSF's plans for expanding Arctic research and how you 
see that rolling out?

                     ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC RESEARCH

    Dr. Panchanathan. Senator, thank you so much for the 
interest. Cleary, you know, the Arctic and Antarctic are of 
great interest to NSF, and we have a lot of work that we invest 
in, in both the Arctic and Antarctic. As you know, in the 
Arctic case, we also, you know, look at the North Atlantic as a 
huge partnership, not only what we do within the Nation but 
also with our partners in Europe, Canada, and others. So this 
is critical for economic as well as security in making sure 
that we are building resilience into the future.
    And so one of the things that we are doing is, you would be 
happy to know that we are working closely with the Arctic 
communities because we need to make sure that we are including 
them in the conversations. And so increasingly, NSF is very 
sensitive to the idea of making sure that our Arctic colleagues 
living in the Arctic are, you know, party to conversations, and 
that is why you will find that we are taking a social/
behavioral, not just a scientific approach only, a social/
behavioral humanistic approach in terms of how we are devising 
the future for the Arctic. So clearly, there is an investment 
area that NSF has always made, and we plan to continue to do 
that.
    And I am very pleased to say that it is not just, you know, 
in a few States. You know, many States across the Nation 
participate in this, all the way ranging from Alaska to New 
Hampshire, and so we expect that this will continue into the 
future, and that is the way I see it.
    Senator Shaheen. Well, good. Thank you very much. Are you 
all set, Senator Moran?
    Senator Moran. Yes.

                     ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

    Senator Shaheen. Let me just point out that if there are no 
further questions, Senators have until May 10 to submit 
additional questions to the subcommittee's official hearing 
record, and we request that NASA and NSF respond within 30 days 
to any questions that you might receive.
    [The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but 
were submitted to the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration for response subsequent to the hearing:]

            QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Questions Submitted to Administrator Bill Nelson, National Aeronautics 
                        and Space Administration
    Question 1. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy 
(SOFIA) was scheduled for termination again this year, following 
several previous years in which NASA has recommended eliminating its 
budget. I understand that this is based on the recommendation of many 
astronomers and astrophysicists, but I do want to note that the SOFIA 
program has made several key discoveries during its life, including 
confirming the presence of water ice on the Moon, which is now of key 
interest for the Artemis program. SOFIA also discovered the presence of 
helium hydride in interstellar space, which was first theorized in the 
1970s.
    Now that the program is slated for termination in October, I am 
concerned that scientists who have relied on SOFIA do not have 
sufficient time to close out their research. This is even more critical 
since there are no alternatives to SOFIA's observational capabilities. 
Additionally, Administrator Nelson described in the hearing with the 
Appropriations Committee how critical it was that the DSCOVR project 
was put into storage and was able to launch once interest in its 
capabilities revived. Administrator Nelson, will all remaining accepted 
science proposals using the SOFIA instrument be completed by the 
termination of activities? If not, what support does NASA require in 
order to ensure that those planned flights occur?

    Answer. SOFIA will conclude its science operations at the end of 
September 2022. During fiscal year 2022, SOFIA will continue to carry 
out a full program of science operations that has included multiple 
deployments to the southern hemisphere. As of June 5, 2022, SOFIA has 
54 science flights planned for the remainder of fiscal year 2022, which 
includes 32 flights for its annual deployment to New Zealand during 
June-August 2022 and an additional 18 flights from Palmdale, 
California, in September 2022. During fiscal year 2022, SOFIA is 
prioritizing the completion of legacy surveys to establish an enduring 
archive of data for community use. Most selected proposals from Cycle 9 
will be completed; however, some selected proposals will not be 
conducted due to scheduling conflicts. With the remaining planned 54 
flights, 80 percent or more of Cycle 9 programs are expected to be 
complete before the end of fiscal year 2022, which will be the highest 
completion rate achieved for any cycle over the lifetime of the SOFIA 
project. Of the nine multiple-cycle SOFIA legacy programs, four legacy 
programs and two pilot legacy programs are anticipated to be fully 
completed, while the majority of the remaining two legacy programs and 
one pilot legacy will be completed. In addition to completing U.S. 
programs, SOFIA is ensuring that our German partners are also able to 
complete their programs.
    The SOFIA project is developing a project closeout plan for fiscal 
year 2023. That plan will include completion of data reduction and 
archiving; training of personnel at the Infrared Science Archive 
(IRSA), where all the SOFIA science and (housekeeping) observatory data 
will reside; user support for completed Cycle 9 observations; 
documentation and tools on how to use or reprocess SOFIA observations; 
and general observer funding for completed observations.

    Question 2. Administrator Nelson, can you describe the plan for the 
SOFIA aircraft and telescope? Has NASA looked at the possibility of 
keeping the technology like it did with DSCOVR?

    Answer. The SOFIA project is developing an orderly project closeout 
plan for fiscal year 2023. As a part of that closeout plan, SOFIA will 
follow the standard NASA disposition process. As a part of that 
process, NASA will determine if any part of the SOFIA mission, such as 
one or more of its instruments, may be used in support of another NASA 
or other Federal agency mission, and, if so, will be dispensed in 
support of that mission. The SOFIA telescope is the property of the 
German Space Agency (DLR), and discussions are underway with DLR as to 
how they would like to proceed.

                                 ______
                                 
              Questions Submitted by Senator Brian Schatz
    Question 1. The United States is a leader in both ground- and 
space-based astronomy due to six decades of sustained commitment to 
develop, fund, and operate cutting edge instruments. In spite of this 
long-standing history, there is no funding in either NSF's or NASA's 
fiscal year 2023 budget to begin implementation of any of the 
recommendations in the decadal survey of astronomical science, 
Astro2020.

          A.  Please explain the absence of implementation funding in 
        either the NASA or the NSF budget.

          B.  Does the lack of implementation funding signal that the 
        Administration intends to pivot away from our nation's six-
        decade commitment to astronomy? If the Administration is 
        turning away from astronomical science, please explain why.

          C.  If not, why is there no mention of either ground- or 
        space- based priorities in its budget request?

          D.  If the Committee were to provide near-term funding to 
        start implementation of Astro2020, may I have your commitment 
        that you begin as soon as the funds become available?

    Answer. The Administration is not turning away from astronomy as 
evidenced by NASA's fiscal year 2023 budget request. NASA's fiscal year 
2023 budget request includes funding for space-based astronomy. This 
request for NASA Astrophysics proposes a program balanced between 
realizing the science of the world's greatest portfolio of space 
telescopes (including increased funding for realizing the science from 
the Webb Space Telescope and operation of the newly launched IXPE) and 
completing and launching missions under development (including the 
Roman Space Telescope, SPHEREx, and the newly selected COSI). Due to 
the delay in the publication of the Decadal Survey, NASA had limited 
time to incorporate Decadal Survey recommendations into the fiscal year 
2023 Budget Request. The fiscal year 2024 budget request will be fully 
informed by the Decadal Survey recommendations.

                                 ______
                                 
               Questions Submitted by Senator Joe Manchin
    Question 1. I'm looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks May 
15th for the Robotics Championship at Fairmont University.
    Last year, I spoke to you about the importance of NASA's IV&V 
Facility, which is proudly named after the incredible Katherine Johnson 
and just down the road from Fairmont State.
    Through their work in communities across the state, staff at the 
IV&V Program have done an incredible job educating the next generation 
of West Virginians. Over the last year, they engaged over 8,000 
students in student workshops, STEM competitions, events, and hands-on 
activities. The IV&V Program has also trained 200 teachers in educator 
workshops which will have far reaching, and continuing, impacts to the 
students of West Virginia.
    West Virginians have played a key role in our nation's developments 
and achievements in space, from the contributions of `Hidden Figures' 
like Katherine Johnson and `Rocket Boys' like Homer Hickam. We need to 
make sure we are seeking out the next generation of these rural 
students.

          A.  What are you doing to use the resources of NASA to help 
        reach the next generation of rural students?

    Answer. NASA is focused on broadening student participation, which 
includes reaching students in rural areas. Here are a few examples of 
these efforts:
    NASA CONNECTS is a community of practice for K-12 teachers, aimed 
to reach teachers through a virtual platform and enable increased 
accessibility to NASA learning opportunities and resources for them and 
their students. NASA CONNECTS is reaching students where they are.
    NASA has also established the TEAM II Community Anchors, now in its 
first year, to include small-medium sized informal education 
institutions in providing more direct access to NASA experts and 
resources. TEAM II investments in science centers, museums, and other 
informal education organizations, have yielded programs and resources 
that are focused on reaching underserved and underrepresented students 
including those in rural areas.
    In December 2021, NASA selected a group of 21 diverse projects, 
called Community Anchors, from museums, science centers, library 
systems, and other informal education organizations across the country. 
Designation as a Community Anchor recognizes an institution as a local 
community resource, allowing access to rural areas. These 21 projects 
are bringing space exploration to traditionally underserved areas and 
broaden student participation in STEM fields.
    In January 2022, NASA's Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums, and 
Informal Institutions (TEAM II) program selected three informal 
education organizations to help inspire the next generation of 
explorers through STEM learning--and to expand student participation in 
STEM, including rural communities. One of the selected institutions, 
Franklin County Historical Society, Ohio, created the NASA Learning 
Lunchbox, with the goal of feeding STEM diversity and serving 
underserved youth across the Nation, including in rural areas. The 
Center of Science and Industry (COSI) distributed 30,000 kits at local 
food banks across the United States. In fact, NASA Learning Lunchboxes 
were sent to Wheeling, West Virginia. A West Virginia news article 
features this website, with the following quote: ``This unprecedented 
effort has already reached all corners of Ohio, Tennessee, West 
Virginia, Kentucky, and more, while bringing together over 400+ 
partners to help address the education needs.''
    In NASA's Sparking Participation and Real-world eXperiences in STEM 
(SPARX) program, K-12 students participate in challenges, competitions, 
and hands-on activities at after-school programs. NASA SPARX is a Next 
Gen STEM pilot initiative that aims to broaden student participation in 
Agency STEM opportunities with a focus on underserved and 
underrepresented communities, including rural areas.

    Question 2. The bipartisan U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness Act, 
which passed the Senate in June last year, authorizes $10 billion for 
NASA to choose another company to compete for the Human Landing System 
within the Artemis program to land astronauts on the Moon.
    Some are arguing that locking in competition for this system will 
ensure long-term cost savings, while redundancy will ensure that we're 
not relying on foreign companies to take us to the Moon. Others argue 
this is a bailout for rich billionaires like Jeff Bezos.
    We're likely going to have a vote today on this provision.

          A.  What do you view as the importance of having a second 
        Human Landing System?

    Answer. Per NASA's mission schedule for the Artemis program, the 
Human Landing System (HLS) will be employed for the first crewed lunar 
landing in 2025, and the second Artemis crewed lunar landing is planned 
as soon as 2027. SpaceX's Starship-based HLS will be employed for the 
2025 landing. In fiscal year 2023, NASA plans to enlist a second HLS 
development contractor for subsequent crewed lunar landings, and this 
approach is important to maximize the likelihood of satisfying the 
overall Artemis schedule and to avoid potentially costly impacts that 
an HLS delay would create for other elements of the Artemis 
architecture (e.g. the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft, Gateway, 
EVA spacesuits, etc.) that also support crewed lunar missions.

          B.  What role do redundancies play in the safety and security 
        of our astronauts and missions?

    Answer. As a tool to ensure mission success and crew safety, 
redundancy may be applied to individual components, such as backup 
computers, or to larger elements, such as complete spacecraft. This can 
be done using the same or different designs that can perform the same 
function. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses, and the ideal 
case allows both to be implemented as appropriate. Space exploration 
programs, by their nature, expand the limits of our capabilities. 
Because space exploration programs operate at the edge of our 
experience base, we must address the potential for problems, including 
the use of backup designs and suppliers. The Commercial Crew Program 
faced a similar challenge, which was addressed by contracting with both 
Boeing and SpaceX. This resulted in one of the vendors successfully 
providing crew transportation to the ISS even when the other vendor had 
technical problems that delayed their capability. This freed the United 
States from dependency on Russian services years sooner than might have 
occurred.
    As the first human rated lunar landers to be built in over 60 
years, the Human Landing Systems will need to address the highest risks 
in the Artemis program. The SpaceX design is highly innovative and 
offers the potential for outstanding performance, and it will need to 
demonstrate equitable levels of safety to validate its performance 
prior to crewed missions. While NASA has much confidence in the SpaceX 
team and their design, good program management practices encourage 
including additional suppliers and designs when practical.

    Question 3. West Virginia benefits from a program called EPSCoR 
that is designed to allow states that are underrepresented in Federal 
research projects, including those at NASA and NSF, to participate in 
research. Because of this program, West Virginia researchers have 
received funds to investigate the effects of solar activity and space 
weather on Earth and its magnetic field, played a role in building an 
autonomous rover for Mars exploration, and created 3D printed materials 
and devices suitable for space usage. It's clear that Federal research 
funding has economic and quality of life implications for our states 
and communities.
    Unfortunately, that Federal research funding is not widely 
distributed. The 25 EPSCoR states and jurisdictions, including WV, 
receive just 10.15 percent of NSF research funding. In contrast, the 
top five states that receive the most NSF grants account for nearly 40 
percent of the total. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) 
includes a provision that would set aside 20 percent of NSF and 
Department of Energy research funding for the 28 EPSCoR states that are 
underserved by research funds.

          A.  Administrator, can you speak to the importance of this 
        program and can we work together to ensure that future budget 
        requests for the NASA EPSCoR program are more robustly funded?

          B.  Administrator, West Virginia researchers have told me 
        that they benefited from a NASA program called the Technical 
        Interchange Meeting (TIM), but NASA recently made changes to 
        the programs so that it is less research-focused. Can we work 
        together to ensure that the research needs of EPSCoR states 
        like mine can continue?

    Answer. A. NASA's EPSCoR program continues to provide sustained 
support to jurisdictions and their institutions through a broad set of 
competitive research opportunities to build research capacity within 
the underrepresented (EPSCoR) states. This accountability entails close 
partnership and effective collaboration with the NASA Mission 
Directorates. Additionally, the fiscal year 2023 budget request 
accelerates NASA efforts related to K-12 partnerships, and broadening 
student participation, which supports the Administration's initiatives. 
NASA EPSCoR's contribution to these goals is more indirect and can be 
sustained with the fiscal year 2023 budget request as submitted.

    Answer. B. In the past, the EPSCoR Technical Interchange Meeting 
(TIM) was a stand-alone EPSCoR-only meeting that took place at a NASA 
Center. EPSCoR would conduct a meeting between the 28 EPSCoR 
jurisdiction researchers and researchers at the host Center to discuss 
possible collaborations on EPSCoR-funded research within the 
jurisdiction. Now that NASA OSTEM has moved to an enterprise approach, 
which involves integrating operations across geographic locations to 
allow for an optimum service delivery approach to meet mission needs, 
the need to create even broader connections has been paramount. Thus, 
the term ``TIM'' was dropped, and the activity was integrated into a 
larger meeting called ``Better Together,'' which incorporates more than 
just research discussions for a wider audience. The purpose of ``Better 
Together'' is to strengthen grantee and stakeholder relationships with 
OSTEM and NASA missions, integrate across projects, network, exchange 
ideas, and establish new connections. The EPSCoR discussions are now a 
smaller part of this larger meeting involving all four of the OSTEM 
enterprise projects. Although other audiences such as K-12, 
internships, broadening student participation, etc. are addressed at 
the ``Better Together'' meeting, EPSCoR is given time for their 
jurisdiction researchers, along with MUREP and Space Grant researchers, 
to meet with NASA researchers to discuss possible collaborations.

                                 ______
                                 
               Questions Submitted by Senator Van Hollen
    Question 1. Maryland's Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the 
largest group of Earth Scientists in the world and to programs like 
Landsat, the longest continuous space-based record of Earth's land in 
existence, and the PACE mission, which is set to launch in 2024 and 
will advance data on our ocean health and study long-term climate 
trends.
    How will the Administration continue to strategically bolster 
NASA's role in our national response to climate change?

    Answer. The fiscal year 2023 President's Budget Request for NASA 
invests $2.4 billion in Earth-observing satellites and related research 
to improve the Nation's understanding of climate change. The fiscal 
year 2023 budget request will enable NASA to continue to provide the 
world with climate data from its existing fleet of Earth observing 
satellites and will expand its role as a leading provider of satellite 
Earth observations by investing in the next generation of missions to 
monitor changes taking place on Earth. The future Earth System 
Observatory (ESO) will comprise five missions that will enable 
scientists to generate a 3D, holistic view of the entire planet and to 
better understand, measure, and model the nature of the Earth's 
climatic changes. The data from the ESO will also assist with the 
evaluation of scenarios and policy options for how society might 
respond to climate change. NASA will augment the core of the ESO with a 
new class of mission, the Earth System Explorers (ESE), to make 
additional high-priority observations, potentially including greenhouse 
gases, and encourage innovative solutions through competitive mission 
selection.
    NASA also continues to advance technology for new measurement 
capabilities that can make possible future generations of airborne and 
satellite-based measurements of greenhouse gases. The fiscal year 2023 
President's Budget Request for NASA includes funding is included to 
advance the development and testing of new technologies for space-based 
greenhouse gas measurements. These technologies will enable NASA to 
improve measurements of carbon dioxide and methane fluxes and trends as 
well as global and regional quantification of point sources and 
identification of source types.
    NASA makes its data, including climate data, freely available to 
ensure anyone can access it for use in research or to inform policies 
and actions to address the threat climate change poses to economic 
prosperity and national security. In addition, NASA trains and works 
with hundreds of partners through our Applied Sciences program to 
leverage and maximize Earth science data for societal benefit. As part 
of a renewed emphasis on providing actionable data and information to a 
broad range of users, NASA is planning a new Earth Information Center 
(EIC) with an initial focus on prototyping capabilities for a 
greenhouse gas monitoring and information system that will integrate 
data from a variety of sources. A key goal of the EIC will be to make 
its data more accessible and usable to Federal, State, and local 
governments; researchers; the public; and other users.
    The fiscal year 2023 President's Budget Request for NASA also 
invests more than $500 million of the $972 million Aeronautics request 
to reduce the climate impacts of the aviation industry, which includes 
the Sustainable Flight National Partnership, through which NASA and 
U.S. companies will develop and fly a highly efficient, next-generation 
airline prototype as early as 2026, and support the global aviation 
community's aggressive goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. NASA 
Aeronautics is investing in cost-sharing partnerships with U.S. 
industry under the Sustainable Flight National Partnership to research 
and demonstrate high risk, high payoff technology advancements that 
will enable entry into service in the early 2030s of next-generation 
single-aisle aircraft that are 25-30 percent more energy efficient with 
the capacity to utilize 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel and fly 
optimal trajectories. NASA Aeronautics will invest in a focused set of 
major technology demonstrations by NASA with industry, including a 
first-ever high-power megawatt-class electrified powertrain for large 
transport aircraft propulsion, advanced high-efficiency airframes, 
advanced composite structures produced four to six times faster than 
the current state of the art, and advanced small core engine 
technologies based on breakthrough NASA innovations. NASA Aeronautics, 
in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines, 
will pioneer new air traffic management automation tools to safely and 
reliably put future aircraft on flight paths optimized for minimal 
environmental impact; the next evolution of air traffic management will 
safely increase operational efficiency at the vehicle, fleet, and 
system-wide levels. Finally, NASA Aeronautics is working with our 
nation's universities to pioneer next-generation technologies for a 
zero-emissions aviation future through the highly successful University 
Leadership Initiative.

    Question 2. Hardware and service costs have increased substantially 
due to supply chain constraints and logistics impacts because of the 
situation in Ukraine and the long-term impacts from COVID-19.
    How is NASA planning for and responding to the budget impacts of 
these events?

    Answer. NASA has on-going efforts underway to assess all of the 
areas cited by the question:
    COVID-19 has impacted NASA projects in multiple ways. In the early 
stages of the pandemic, NASA projects were impacted by facility 
shutdowns, restarts, and reduced on-site access due to social 
distancing and cleaning protocols; and interruptions to test and 
construction efforts. In March 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus 
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law 116-136), 
which included $60 million for NASA to help address these immediate 
impacts and support continued Agency operations. As the pandemic 
evolved, NASA projects already underway deployed cost and schedule 
reserves to address increases and delays caused by workforce 
availability issues at contractor sites, supply chain disruptions, and 
travel limitations which hindered plans for international cooperation. 
NASA has used existing risk management systems and tools to track 
evolving impacts and develop project-specific mitigation strategies. 
During COVID-19, NASA takes these risks and mitigation strategies into 
account when establishing Agency baseline cost and schedule commitments 
for projects transitioning from formulation to implementation. NASA 
also takes into account COVID-19 related impacts during project replans 
and rebaselinings.
    To date, NASA has notified Congress of nine projects across the 
Agency that have experienced cost and schedule growth due in part to 
COVID-19 pressures. These projects include the Roman Space Telescope, 
James Webb Space Telescope, Geostationary Carbon Observatory (GeoCarb), 
Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), the NASA-Indian Space 
Research Organization Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), the Orion 
exploration crew vehicle, the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and 
Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) and Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) technology 
demonstration missions, and the Low-Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD).
    Supply chains are another area of impact. Impacts include 
significantly reduced availability of materials and services, delays in 
products delivery, schedule slips, and increased cost of materials, 
resources, and products. Systematically building and maintaining 
visibility into the supply chains for mission programs and projects is 
the basis for Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) supporting 
situational awareness, planning, risk analysis and informed 
decisionmaking at project and enterprise levels. NASA's Office of 
Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) SCRM program launched the NASA 
Supply Chain Insight Central (SCIC) information and analysis services 
platform for operational use in March 2021 to collaboratively build 
integrated, collective visibility and insight into the supply chains of 
NASA programs/projects:
  --OSMA collaboration with Agency functions is ongoing to further 
        develop and implement SCIC capabilities and services to address 
        key SCRM and industrial base challenges.
  --OSMA has identified, as a key priority of the SCIC initiative, the 
        formulation of NASA policy and requirements for supply chain 
        visibility reporting to enable SCRM, which is currently 
        underway in collaboration with the NASA Office of Procurement.
    The OSMA SCRM program and its SCIC initiative is also supporting 
the Agency's partnership with the Department of Commerce to conduct a 
US. Civil Space Industrial Base survey, which is expected to 
substantially boost the Agency's insight into current and potential 
suppliers and their operating conditions.
    NASA also collaborates with key USG space partners in the DOD and 
national security community on supply chain risks and vulnerabilities. 
Relative to specific impacts of Russia's war on Ukraine, it has had 
limited impacts on NASA's programs. Impacts have largely been mitigated 
by having had on-hand forward purchases or through securing alternate 
U.S. suppliers. The issue of overall economic instability, in 
particular rising interest rates, are being monitored.

    Question 3. Decadal Surveys from the National Academies have been 
``the gold standard'' for NASA to conduct high priority scientific 
missions. With the release of Astro2020, the astronomy and astrophysics 
Decadal Survey, does NASA intend to continue to follow the guidance of 
the Decadal Survey?

    Answer. NASA recognizes that decadal surveys are the ``gold 
standard'' for recommending prioritized science programs. 
Implementation of Decadal Survey recommendations is modified to reflect 
existing budgets, particularly when funding for new missions is 
different from that assumed in the Decadal Surveys. Specific to the 
Astro2020 Decadal Survey, implementation of recommendations will also 
depend on the progress of necessary technology maturation.
    Ahead of and following release of the 2020 Decadal Survey, NASA has 
been developing the strategy and road mapping plans for implementing 
Decadal Survey recommendations. The fiscal year 2023 budget request 
includes realistic precursor science and technology plans that are the 
first steps in an executable plan for the NASA's future astrophysics 
mission portfolio. The Decadal Survey recommends a deliberate approach 
to beginning future great observatories. NASA is pursuing the 
recommendations based on the timelines and opportunities outlined in 
the report.

                                 ______
                                 
              Questions Submitted by Senator John Kennedy
    Question 1. I understand you made a visit to the Michoud Assembly 
Facility this past December. Michoud has weathered multiple hurricanes 
over the years, most recently Hurricane Ida. NASA's fiscal year 2023 
Budget Request includes $424 million for ``Construction and 
Environmental Compliance and Restoration.'' Is this amount sufficient 
to ensure Michoud is working on schedule and what is the status of the 
damage repairs?

    Answer. The ongoing fabrication and assembly of NASA's Space Launch 
System flight hardware at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) is 
critical to the success of the Artemis program. To ensure timely 
completion of this hardware, NASA has been repairing and upgrading the 
critical infrastructure at MAF over the last several years through 
Construction of Facilities projects funded within the Construction and 
Environmental Compliance and Restoration appropriation (CECR), and 
through the fiscal year 2022 Emergency Supplemental Appropriation to 
repair damage caused by hurricanes Ida and Zeta.
    NASA's fiscal year 2023 CECR budget request includes funding for 
three (3) repair projects at MAF. These are:
  --Building 110/114 Critical Cranes Repairs;
  --Building 110/114 Fire Suppression Upgrades; and,
  --Steam Systems Upgrades, Phase 2 of 2.
    The execution of the NASA fiscal year 2022 Emergency Supplemental 
Appropriation to repair damage caused by hurricanes Ida and Zeta is 
ongoing. NASA is continuing discussions with the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers to execute all major roof repairs at MAF (B103, B220, B320 
and B420). It is anticipated that an agreement will be finalized within 
Q4, with roof repair contract awards following immediately thereafter. 
Additionally, NASA is continuing execution of several minor repair 
projects using available local contracting mechanisms. To date 
approximately $20 million has been obligated for these various repair 
efforts.
    The current pace of funding is sufficient to ensure that MAF is 
working on schedule and sufficient to maintain the Artemis schedule.

    Question 2. Currently, the SLS Heavy Lift Rocket for Artemis 
missions is being tested so that astronauts may return to the moon. 
Beyond the planned Artemis crew missions, what specifically will be the 
role for the SLS in the next decade? Will SLS be used for cargo-only 
missions in support of staying on the moon, or our journey to Mars, or 
to launch important science missions?

    Answer. As noted previously, the Agency is in the process of 
transitioning integrated management of SLS to industry by establishing 
an Exploration Production and Operations Contract (EPOC) contract. EPOC 
will enable industry to make the SLS available as a cargo vehicle for 
other uses, such as commercial, DOD, and science--where relevant 
capability is needed, and it is cost effective.
    NASA believes that SLS is a national asset, and transition of SLS 
Exploration Production and Operations to industry--so that industry can 
reduce the rocket's production and operations costs--is the quickest 
and most cost-effective way to enhance its use.

    Question 3. Administrator Nelson, Louisiana benefits from a program 
called EPSCoR that is designed to increase research capacity in states 
that are underrepresented in Federal research projects, including those 
at NASA. I am concerned that the Office of STEM Engagement's mission 
and goals don't align well with the research focus of this program. 
Will you work with me to find a better home for this research program 
within the agency?

    Answer. NASA's Office of STEM Engagement is accountable for the 
Agency's STEM engagement function, providing strategic guidance, 
integration, and operational oversight of a portfolio of efforts to 
support students, educators, and educational institutions, as well as 
management of the appropriated STEM engagement program. This 
accountability entails close partnership and effective collaboration 
with the NASA Mission Directorates.
    NASA EPSCoR is fully aligned with the Agency's STEM engagement 
strategy and organizationally is positioned in the Office of STEM 
Engagement for cross-cutting research efforts and direct contributions 
to Mission Directorate needs and priorities. This is accomplished 
through an effective structure with established liaisons with Mission 
Directorate and Center technical organizations. These liaisons 
establish requirements for EPSCoR solicitations, review proposals and 
provide support and active engagement throughout the life cycle of the 
various EPSCoR activities. NASA EPSCoR ensures that all Mission 
Directorate needs are represented through the set of solicitations each 
year and works with technical organizations effectively to drive 
results that are of value to both NASA and the EPSCoR jurisdictions.

    Question 4. In looking over your fiscal year 23 budget request for 
the Office of STEM Engagement, can you explain why the allocation for 
NASA EPSCoR remained flat? This is a very important program for my 
state to build research capacity in areas vital to NASA's mission, and 
I am concerned that it is not being prioritized enough in your budget.

    Answer. NASA EPSCoR continues to provide sustained support to 
jurisdictions and their research institutions through a broad set of 
competitive research opportunities. Additionally, the fiscal year 2023 
budget request accelerates NASA efforts related to K-12, partnerships, 
and broadening student participation, which supports the 
Administration's initiatives. NASA EPSCoR's contribution to these goals 
is more indirect, and can be sustained with the fiscal year 2023 budget 
request, as submitted.

_______________________________________________________________________
            QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Questions Submitted to Hon. Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director, National 
                           Science Foundation
    Question 1. Support for astronomy research has long been divided 
between NASA and NSF, with NASA supporting space-based telescopes, and 
NSF supporting ground-based telescopes. Traditionally, NSF has relied 
heavily on significant private investment in ground-based astronomy. 
Astronomy remains one of the few scientific disciplines with no 
associated NSF-funded research center. Director Panchanathan, with the 
increasing scale and cost of ground-based telescopes putting this 
research outside of the scope for anyone but national governments, what 
is your plan for research investments?

    Answer. The NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences (AST) currently 
manages four federally Funded Research and Development Centers 
(FFRDCs): NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory 
(NOIRLab), the National Solar Observatory (NSO), the National Radio 
Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and Green Bank Observatory (GBO). These 
FFRDCs operate observing facilities, build instrumentation, and develop 
data analysis pipelines and archives, while also serving as focal 
points for organizing and engaging the U.S. nighttime optical, solar, 
and radio communities. These centers play essential roles to build 
collaborations and partnerships with universities, not-for-profit 
private entities, other U.S. government agencies, and international 
institutions that enable NSF to undertake projects of increasing scale 
and complexity. Significant examples include the International Gemini 
Observatory (an international partnership managed by NSF as part of 
NOIRLab), the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA, an 
international partnership in which NRAO represents the U.S. interests), 
and the soon-to-be commissioned Rubin Observatory (an inter-agency 
partnership with the Department of Energy, which will be part of 
NOIRLab as it transitions into operations). Such partnerships, along 
with those with private entities such as Keck, Simons, Moore, and other 
foundations, form a key component of NSF's strategy to undertake the 
next generation of optical and radio facilities, and our FFRDCs will 
continue to play a central role in building and maintaining these 
relationships.

    Question 2. The NSF recently launched its Technology, Innovation, 
and Partnership (TIP) Directorate, which is focused on supporting 
critical technologies, workforce development, and the translation of 
basic research for commercial goals. These goals are certainly 
laudable, but these goals should be in addition to NSF's existing 
activities and not result in decreases to basic science research 
funding. Director Panchanathan, will you ensure that basic science 
research does not receive decreased funding or support in order to 
support the TIP Directorate?

    Answer. NSF will continue to support the full spectrum of 
fundamental research, from foundational, curiosity-driven, discovery-
oriented research to use-inspired, solutions-oriented research. 
Building on NSF's longstanding leadership in science and engineering 
research and education, TIP serves as a crosscutting platform and 
collaborates with NSF's other directorates and offices to leverage, 
energize, and rapidly advance use-inspired, solutions-oriented research 
and innovation in critical and emerging technologies and industries. 
NSF has long invested in use-inspired research and the translation of 
research results into practice through a wide range of programs.
    NSF is taking a balanced approach between its existing directorates 
that support basic research and TIP in the fiscal year 2023 President's 
Budget Request. The request calls for an increase of $1.64 billion for 
the Research and Related Activities and STEM Education Accounts over 
fiscal year 2022 Enacted, around $430 million would go to TIP as part 
of the directorate's initial ``start-up,'' and $1.21 billion would go 
to the other research directorates and offices. It will be critically 
important for TIP to work closely and collaboratively with all the 
other NSF directorates and offices to identify specific areas ripe for 
co-investment.
    Increased funding for TIP is contingent upon Congressional 
appropriations, and NSF greatly appreciates the continued strong 
bipartisan support for the agency.

                                 ______
                                 
              Questions Submitted by Senator Brian Schatz
    Question 1. The United States is a leader in both ground- and 
space-based astronomy due to six decades of sustained commitment to 
develop, fund, and operate cutting edge instruments. In spite of this 
long-standing history, there is no funding in either NSF's or NASA's 
fiscal year 2023 budget to begin implementation of any of the 
recommendations in the decadal survey of astronomical science, 
Astro2020.

          A.  Please explain the absence of implementation funding in 
        either the NASA or the NSF budget.

    Answer. The delay of the Decadal Survey due to COVID resulted in 
the committee recommendations (released in November 2021) arriving well 
after the agencies' development of the fiscal year 2023 budget request 
and shortly before iterations with OMB. NSF has opened discussions with 
the projects prioritized in the Astro2020 report and is working with 
them to understand their needs, which have evolved significantly since 
their presentations to the Astro2020 committees in late fiscal year 
2019. NSF is exploring ways to provide critical funding support for 
further design and development activities that respond to the highest 
priority recommendations from Astro2020. Any future facilities 
ultimately represent significant investments by the U.S. taxpayer, 
requiring detailed planning and review through the well-developed Major 
Facility processes at NSF, which are designed to ensure the success of 
such large projects and to secure return on those investments.

          B.  Does the lack of implementation funding signal that the 
        Administration intends to pivot away from our nation's six-
        decade commitment to astronomy? If the Administration is 
        turning away from astronomical science, please explain why.

    Answer. NSF remains committed to the continued support of astronomy 
and is developing a broad and thoughtful response to Astro2020, 
including evaluation of the recommended next- generation facilities as 
well as planning for the recommended investments in other areas 
highlighted as critical to ensuring a healthy and vibrant U.S. 
astronomical community. The facilities discussed in the Decadal Survey, 
both those NSF currently operates and potential future telescopes, form 
a system of research infrastructure across many scales that will 
continue U.S. leadership in the key fields of astronomy and 
astrophysics (e.g., radio, optical, gravitational waves) and provide 
scientific data to thousands of scientists across the U.S. The 
democratization of science--allowing researchers from many different 
states, universities, and institutes to participate in world-leading 
research activities--has been an enormous strength of the U.S. 
scientific environment. NSF will continue this tradition through a 
balanced portfolio that provides support for members of the research 
community coupled with open access to the advanced tools and datasets 
that they need to do world-leading science such as that prioritized in 
Astro2020.

          C.  If not, why is there no mention of either ground- or 
        space- based priorities in its budget request?

    Answer. The unfortunate timing of the release of Astro2020 did not 
provide NSF sufficient lead time to incorporate specific initiatives in 
the fiscal year 2023 budget request. The request does, however, 
highlight the roles of two of NSF's federally Funded Research and 
Development Centers (FFRDCs) - the National Radio Astronomy Observatory 
(NRAO) and NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Laboratory 
(NOIRLab) - inleading development efforts for the next generation 
facilities prioritized by Astro2020 and in supporting the broad 
scientific priorities described in the report. Of note is the ramp up 
in operations funding for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which was 
highlighted as an ongoing priority in the Astro2020 report.

          D.  If the Committee were to provide near-term funding to 
        start implementation of Astro2020, may I have your commitment 
        that you begin as soon as the funds become available?

    Answer. NSF greatly appreciates your support of its mission and 
specifically the support for continued leadership in the astronomical 
sciences. NSF has requested funding for Astronomy in the President's 
fiscal year 2023 budget that is sufficient to advance high priority 
activities identified in Astro2020, projects in which we have already 
invested almost $100 million for development. Of course, allocation and 
award of the funding will rely upon our thorough review processes to 
ensure that the investments are made in a fiscally sound manner and 
will result in the best science opportunities for the U.S. community.

    Question 2. The US Extremely Large Telescope Consortium and its 
counterpart in radio astronomy have submitted development proposals to 
the NSF in recent weeks.

          A.  What is the schedule to begin the review of these 
        proposals?

    Answer. In general NSF neither publicly acknowledges the receipt of 
nor comments on review of proposals. However, we can assure you that we 
are communicating and coordinating with the projects prioritized in the 
Astro2020 report to understand their near-term needs. NSF strives to 
process all proposal requests in a timely manner.

          B.   If they are deemed meritorious, will the NSF fund them 
        with the considerable balances in the Agency's research 
        account, or from unobligated funds elsewhere?

    Answer. Again, NSF neither publicly acknowledges the receipt of nor 
comments on review of proposals. Being judged meritorious is one of 
many factors used in a funding decision. Successful facility design and 
development proposals are funded from the Research and Research 
Activities (R&RA) account appropriation.

                                 ______
                                 
               Questions Submitted by Senator Joe Manchin
    Question 1. I was so disappointed that we were not able to schedule 
a visit to the Green Bank Observatory last month, but I can tell you 
that there was a big ice storm there that day so we both lucked out. 
Our meeting would have otherwise had great timing, as it coincided with 
the release of the decadal survey on astrobiology by the National 
Academies of Science, which highlighted the Green Bank Telescope as 
playing a key role in the future of earth's defense against asteroids 
and other near-earth objects. For many years, I have been committed to 
ensuring the Green Bank Observatory stays open for the next generation 
of young scientists in West Virginia and around the world. Through my 
seat on this Committee, I have strongly supported Green Bank's work 
observing and cataloging near-earth objects, including the development 
of new technology that would make it the world's largest moveable 
antenna and transmitter.

          A.  How is Green Bank used in the detection of near-Earth 
        objects, and how could it be used in the future?

    Answer. As highlighted in the newly released Planetary Science and 
Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032, ground-based radar observations 
can provide invaluable information to reduce orbital uncertainties of 
near-Earth objects by several orders of magnitude and can also yield 
detailed characterization of their physical properties that can 
influence impact mitigation strategies. NSF's National Radio Astronomy 
Observatory (NRAO) and Green Bank Observatory (GBO) are developing new 
instrumentation that will enable studies of near-Earth objects to 
refine orbits and assess the level of threat they pose. pose. Over the 
past two decades, NSF and GBO have worked successfully with NASA and 
commercial entities to receive radar transmissions for scientific and 
defense purposes. NSF will be discussing opportunities for enhancing 
collaboration in the coming years that make use of the capabilities of 
the Green Bank Telescope (GBT).

          B.  How will NSF respond to the recommendations from the 
        National Academies of Science, particularly its recommendation 
        for the use of the Green Bank Telescope as a transmitting 
        station?

    Answer. NSF is currently funding a design study for a high-power 
(500 kW) radar transmitter for installation on the Green Bank 
Telescope, and discussions are underway with the scientific community, 
and other agencies as NSF plans the final design and construction of 
the system.

    Question 2. The collapse of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico 
in 2020 was shocking. While the Green Bank Telescope was built much 
more recently than Arecibo, the collapse of Arecibo does call into 
question NSF's assets around the world, and whether they too are in 
need of maintenance. With the establishment of the new Tech Directorate 
at NSF, it is particularly important that NSF does not lose sight of 
its traditional research responsibilities. I understand that NSF is 
conducting a review of its facilities in the wake of the Arecibo 
collapse.

          A.  Have you reviewed the status of Green Bank? How would you 
        grade the infrastructure at the site?

    Answer. Yes, NSF regularly assesses the condition of the Green Bank 
facilities, undertaking a thorough external review roughly every 3 
years in addition to the annual maintenance activities. The most recent 
assessment is currently being completed. Although the preliminary 
report has identified no urgent safety or structural issues, it does 
identify several elements of site infrastructure that will soon need 
significant investment to address maintenance typical of a facility 
that is twenty years old. These include work on the azimuth track as 
well as a need for large-scale repainting to ensure the structure 
remains sealed and protected from the elements, enabling it to 
withstand another twenty years of operations. NSF will work with the 
awardee, AUI, and Green Bank Observatory staff to determine the 
preferred approach and appropriate timescales for addressing the issues 
identified by this recent assessment.

          B.  Please keep in touch with my office with respect to any 
        needs or requirements for maintenance for Green Bank. It would 
        be devastating to lose the capabilities that Green Bank 
        provides.

    Answer. Thank you--NSF agrees completely!

    Question 3. West Virginia benefits from a program called EPSCoR 
that is designed to allow states that are underrepresented in Federal 
research projects, including those at NASA and NSF, to participate in 
research. Because of this program, West Virginia researchers have 
received funds to investigate the effects of solar activity and space 
weather on Earth and its magnetic field, played a role in building an 
autonomous rover for Mars exploration, and created 3D printed materials 
and devices suitable for space usage. It's clear that Federal research 
funding has economic and quality of life implications for our states 
and communities. Unfortunately, that Federal research funding is not 
widely distributed. The 25 EPSCoR states and jurisdictions, including 
WV, receive just 10.15 percent of NSF research funding. In contrast, 
the top five states that receive the most NSF grants account for nearly 
40 percent of the total. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act 
(USICA) includes a provision that would set aside 20 percent of NSF and 
Department of Energy research funding for the 28 EPSCoR states that are 
underserved by research funds.

          A.  Director, what steps can NSF take beyond EPSCoR to 
        improve its investments in smaller, more rural states like WV?

    Answer. NSF is committed to expanding its geographic engagement to 
spur innovation that provides an opportunity to capitalize on talent 
across the U.S. NSF has a critical role in catalyzing networks of 
institutions, through partnership opportunities, to build the next 
generation of centers focused on innovation and contribute to local 
economies. As of fiscal year 2021, approximately 13 percent of NSF 
funding (i.e., R&RA, EHR, and MREFC appropriation accounts) was awarded 
to institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions. The five initial EPSCoR 
jurisdictions that joined NSF EPSCoR in 1980 have increased their 
proportion of NSF's total research funding by 76 percent over the past 
42 years. Other cohorts that entered in later years have also shown 
remarkable gains, with each cohort showing an increase in research 
competitiveness over the periods of participation.
    NSF has two specific activities planned for increasing investment 
in EPSCoR states. In fiscal year 2023, NSF has proposed a new cross-
agency activity, Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative 
Equity and Diversity (GRANTED). Through GRANTED, NSF will engage under- 
resourced and under-served institutions, including MSIs, community 
colleges, rural institutions, predominantly undergraduate institutions, 
and emerging research institutions, to build and enhance their research 
support capacity. As a result, investigators at under-resourced 
institutions, including institutions within EPSCoR jurisdictions, will 
be equipped to submit more competitive research proposals to programs 
across NSF.
    NSF will also support specific targeted research capacity building 
activities for EPSCoR-eligible states. The EPSCoR program will explore 
mechanisms that will foster partnerships and collaborations among 
eligible institutions not previously engaged in EPSCoR research 
capacity building activities. These activities will include additional 
enhancements to existing Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) 
tracks, possible new funding opportunities that will leverage the 
success of EPSCoR's fiscal year 2022 RII Bridging EPSCoR Communities 
initiative in response to American Rescue Plan funding, and 
partnerships with cross-directorate funding activities aimed at 
enhancing the delivery of benefits from EPSCoR research to the 
respective jurisdiction's economic, industrial, and research 
development.
    Beyond GRANTED and EPSCoR, NSF has multiple programs designed to 
increase research capacity and leverage realized research 
infrastructure from across the Nation, including in EPSCoR 
jurisdictions. Examples of additional NSF programs that may enhance the 
research capacity of EPSCoR jurisdictions include Mid-scale Research 
Infrastructure Track 1, National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research 
Institutes, the Expanding Capacity in Quantum Information Science and 
Engineering (ExpandQISE) program, and the recently announced Regional 
Innovation Engines, which is being coordinated by the newly established 
Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP).

    Question 4. The cybersecurity of our nation's critical 
infrastructure and government systems is very important to me. We 
cannot have a strong cybersecurity defense without the workforce to 
maintain these systems. I am concerned about the state of our 
cybersecurity workforce, in particular attracting new talent to work in 
government agencies. I am pleased that the National Science Foundation 
is providing CyberCorps Scholarships to students who agree to work in 
cybersecurity jobs for Federal, state, local or tribal governments 
after graduation. As I understand, most of these scholarships are given 
to students from four-year collegiate institutions and community 
colleges can only put forth nominees if the student agrees to transfer 
to a four-year college to complete a bachelor's degree.

          A.  I think that we are missing out on a population of 
        individuals who can be very valuable to the cybersecurity 
        workforce with an associate's degree or certifications provided 
        through trade school programs. Would you be willing to consider 
        adjusting the scholarships to drop the four-year college 
        requirement?

    Answer. NSF appreciates your recognition of the important aim of 
the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, to attract 
talented students to work in Federal, state, local, or tribal 
government organizations following their graduation. Community colleges 
do play an important role in the efforts to develop the cybersecurity 
workforce necessary for the Nation's cybersecurity missions. They offer 
an important pool of students who could be recruited to fill the 
cybersecurity needs of government.
    Historically, SFS supported only students in their junior and 
senior years so community colleges were not participating. The 
Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 introduced the opportunity to 
provide 3 years of SFS support and, subsequently, community college 
(CC) students were included in the SFS program via a ``CC Pathways 
track'' where second-year students at community colleges became 
eligible for 1 year of support and could then transfer to a four-year 
SFS institution to be supported for two more years. As of December 
2021, there were 28 community colleges participating in the CC 
Pathways, in addition to the 83 four-year SFS schools.
    The CC Pathways approach was intended to mitigate a problem with 
placing SFS students without a four-year degree in Federal government 
positions until government hiring practices evolve towards a 
competency-based approach. The National Defense Authorization Act for 
fiscal year 2018 authorized an alternative approach, the Community 
College Cyber Pilot (C3P) program. Specifically, it authorized SFS 
scholarships for community college students who are pursuing associate 
degrees or certifications and who already have bachelor's degrees or 
are veterans of the Armed Forces. The C3P Pilot consists of 8 community 
colleges that in September 2018 received grants for a three-year 
period. However, due to the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 
the pilot has been extended to the fourth year and will conclude in 
September 2022. It is expected that the final evaluation of the C3P 
pilot outcomes will be available by January 2023.
    In addition to the above options, the SFS program has considered 
other changes including dropping the four-year college requirement 
(currently, only veterans of the Armed Forces are eligible). However, 
NSF would need to proceed with caution because the students who are 
unable to fulfill their government service see their scholarship 
converted into a Federal Direct Loan. This situation presents a grave 
risk.
    An additional factor is that as more and more scientific advances, 
such as artificial intelligence or quantum science, are incorporated 
into cybersecurity education, the coursework demands are increasing. In 
fact, a workforce with integrated AI and cybersecurity competencies is 
one of the strategic directions for the SFS program. Under this 
scenario, fulfilling the necessary course requirements in a two-year 
program of study may prove challenging.
    At the same time, NSF will use any opportunity to pilot and 
evaluate new models to recruit the first- or second-year community 
college students and mentor them to successfully compete for entry-
level cybersecurity positions.
    In addition to the SFS program, NSF also supports cybersecurity 
development at community colleges through the Improving Undergraduate 
STEM Education: Computing in Undergraduate Education (IUSE:CUE) program 
which invests in computing curricular development and has a community 
colleges track. The Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program, 
which focuses on the community college education of technicians of the 
future in advanced technological areas, also invests in cybersecurity 
education including both national centers of excellence, and the 
engagement of institutions new to NSF.

                                 ______
                                 
          Questions Submitted by Senator Shelley Moore Capito
    Question 1. Since its dedication in 2000, the GBT has been a 
fundamental instrument for planetary science and planetary defense, 
observing NEOs and Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, the Moon, and the 
terrestrial planets as a receiver for radar projects. Now, thanks to 
new technology under development for the GBT, it is the largest fully 
steerable antenna in the world capable of transmitting radar signals 
for research. The GBT's 100- meter diameter makes it an impressive tool 
for radar work. The location of the GBT and its maneuverability permits 
it to observe 85 percent of the celestial sphere, allowing it to 
quickly track objects across its field of view.
    Director, for several years I have had to talk to previous 
Directors imploring them to not mothball the Green Bank Telescope. We 
have a new director there, Dr. James Jackson, and I wonder if you could 
talk a moment about the possibilities and promise of radar systems in 
the area of planetary defense. The National Academy of Sciences has 
written on the dangerous effects of the impacts of Near Earth Objects.

          A.  I believe Green Bank can play a role here, what are your 
        thoughts?

    Answer. GBT can play a significant role in determining the orbits 
and characterizing the physical properties of NEOs, particularly in 
conjunction with NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar (GSSR) systems. 
GBT already occasionally operates as part of a bistatic radar facility 
in which the GSSR transmits radar pulses and the GBT receives the faint 
return signals from the reflection of those pulses by NEOs. NSF is 
currently funding a design study for a high power (500 kW) radar 
transmitter for installation on the GBT that will be complementary to 
the GSSR. Discussions are underway with NASA and national security 
agencies about how partnerships building upon this development may be 
able to enhance current capabilities.

                                 ______
                                 
              Questions Submitted by Senator Bill Hagerty

    Question 1. In my previous role as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, I 
saw firsthand the importance of maintaining U.S. superiority in 
technology and innovation. I'm very concerned by the rapid growth in 
China's R&D investments and what this means for U.S. global 
competitiveness. According to the National Science Board's 2022 Science 
and Engineering Indicators, ``The share of global R&D performed by the 
U.S. declined from 29 percent in 2010 to 27 percent in 2019, whereas 
the share by China increased from 15 percent to 22 percent.'' Dr. 
Panchanathan, how do you see NSF's role evolving as U.S. leadership is 
being challenged?

    Answer. Our Nation's economic and national security depends on its 
ability to:

  --Invest heavily in the technologies of today and tomorrow;
  --Unleash innovation everywhere by building ecosystems of innovation 
        in every region of the country; and
  --Quickly develop our domestic talent across every geographic and 
        demographic background.

    The technologies of today--from artificial intelligence to quantum 
information science to semiconductors and microelectronics--hold 
massive implications for national and economic security. It is 
imperative that NSF double down now on these critical technology areas 
and the research that will seed the technologies of the future.
    For decades, NSF has seeded high-risk and nascent ideas that have 
over time developed into applied technologies with transformative 
impacts on our economy and society. For instance, Google and Qualcomm, 
now multibillion-dollar companies, each started with a single grant 
from NSF. Similarly, the AI revolution that we are witnessing today 
traces its roots to investments by NSF in the 1980s and 1990s. As an 
example, when a streaming service recommends the next show that you 
should watch based on what you watched the night before--that 
capability is fueled by NSF-funded research on a technique called 
collaborative filtering. And the convergence of the NSF-funded page-
rank algorithm that led to Google, wireless networking, touchscreen 
interfaces, and other innovations has catalyzed unanticipated 
industries like mobility and e-commerce in which the U.S. dominates 
today.
    Global R&D investments have tripled over the last two decades, and 
while US investment has also grown, the U.S. share has gone down, with 
the rate of growth steeper in other Nations. While the top-down 
structures in non-democratic nations do not foster sustained 
innovation, it is nonetheless imperative that we strengthen our 
investments and our overall approach to R&D in critical and emerging 
technologies at speed and scale. The risk of falling behind is simply 
not an option.
    That is why NSF launched a new directorate--our first in more than 
three decades--called Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP. 
The goal of the TIP directorate is to do precisely as described above--
to leverage, energize, and rapidly advance use-inspired, solutions-
oriented research and innovation in critical and emerging technologies 
and industries. By collaborating with NSF's other directorates, the 
rest of the Federal enterprise, and the private sector, TIP will 
advance technology and address national, societal, and economic 
challenges, including regional opportunities present across the Nation; 
accelerate the translation of research results to the market and 
society; and tap into the vast talent base that exists throughout the 
Nation and has for too long been left behind when it comes to the U.S. 
research and innovation enterprise.
    This is not the type of research the private sector will support by 
itself. The U.S. has led because of the uniquely American innovation 
ecosystem that has brought together academia, industry, and government 
in a powerful way, with Federal investments in academic research 
seeding industry uptake leading to new products and services. 
Investments by both are necessary in order to stay ahead. Indeed, the 
U.S. innovation ecosystem is the envy of the world--and now is not the 
time to let up. Sustained growth in NSF, the Federal Government's basic 
research agency, is critical to ensuring the U.S. remains in the 
vanguard of global competitiveness.
    Dr. Panchanathan, NSF recently announced a new Technology, 
Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate to focus on creating 
breakthrough technologies to meet the societal and economic needs of 
our country. I understand that NSF has already moved some existing 
programs into the TIP Directorate and has begun to make new funding 
announcements.

    Question 2. Can you speak to whether the process TIP will use to 
review grants will be modified to match the goals of the directorate?

    Answer. The TIP directorate will build upon NSF's longstanding 
merit review process in developing an approach that best aligns with 
the directorate's mission while enabling the selection of the best 
proposals for funding. The directorate anticipates incorporating broad 
and diverse expertise in its review process, including individuals from 
government, industry, and nonprofits in addition to academia, along 
with detailed program-specific review criteria. TIP will also pursue 
pilots to enhance the review process, accelerate the proposal review 
and award timeline, and ensure milestone-based assessment of active 
awards.

    Question 3. Are there new, more nimble and flexible funding 
mechanisms and processes that you plan to implement that would be 
unique to the directorate?

    Answer.  TIP is actively exploring new funding mechanisms and 
oversight processes. For example, in the beginning of May, NSF launched 
the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program by issuing a Broad Agency 
Announcement--a relatively novel approach for NSF. The goal with this 
approach is to engage the broadest set of stakeholders, beyond the 
traditional academic community with which NSF usually engages. A recent 
webinar for this program drew over 2,600 participants, almost 50 
percent of whom were from non-academic institutions--an initial sign of 
success for this approach.
    More generally, NSF has partnered with a firm to run a series of 
visioning workshops and is in discussions with the Federation of 
American Scientists to explore new funding mechanisms that would help 
to accelerate research and innovation.

    Question 4. Institutions in Tennessee tell me that they are eager 
to take advantage of the programs TIP intends to launch, particularly 
possible expansions to the I-Corps program. Can you speak to your 
vision for this important entrepreneurial program? Will anything about 
it change now that it is part of TIP?

    Answer. The NSF Innovation Corps (I-CorpsTM) program, an 
experiential entrepreneurial education program, will continue to 
further the Nation's innovation ecosystem by equipping researchers with 
the tools needed to transform discoveries into innovative technologies. 
I-CorpsTM connects the technological, entrepreneurial, and 
business communities, addressing skill and knowledge gaps to accelerate 
the transformation of basic research into deep technology ventures.
    Over time, NSF anticipates enhancing and optimizing the agency's 
current ``Lab-to-Market Platform,'' which includes the I-
CorpsTM program. This will allow researchers to pursue 
additional prototyping, demonstration, and scale-up work, giving rise 
to new startups and small businesses that will lead to new markets and 
economies of scale. For example, through the I-CorpsTM 
program, NSF will build out I-CorpsTM Hubs so that every 
part of the country has easy access to these ``national resources'' and 
support an increasing number of Teams each year. With increased 
funding, NSF would be able to support partnerships between I-
CorpsTM and other NSF programs such as the Convergence 
Accelerator and NSF Regional Innovation Engines.

    Question 5. As NSF launches the TIP Directorate and is placing 
increased attention and resources towards more use-inspired research in 
key technology areas, we must be mindful not to duplicate efforts of 
other research agencies, including the Dept. of Energy. For over 70 
years, NSF's strength has been its ability to promote scientific 
progress across basic scientific and engineering disciplines as the 
cornerstone of America's basic research enterprise. How is NSF 
balancing these other fields of basic research versus the more applied, 
technology-driven research it is now pursuing? What will the future of 
other directorates look like as TIP ramps up? And how is NSF 
collaborating with other agencies, such as DOE, to ensure taxpayer 
dollars are being used efficiently?

    How is NSF balancing these other fields of basic research versus 
the more applied, technology-driven research it is now pursuing?

    Answer. NSF has consistently supported the full spectrum of 
fundamental research, from foundational, curiosity-driven, discovery-
oriented research to use-inspired, solutions-oriented research. Indeed, 
this synergy between discovery and innovation constitutes NSF's 
``DNA,'' if you will. It is how transformational leaps forward happen. 
In a similar fashion, NSF's investments in science and technology are 
also intertwined. The scientific pursuit of knowledge and understanding 
cannot be separated from the development of new technological 
capabilities. In turn, new technology capabilities enable the pursuit 
of new scientific research questions that were previously out of reach.
    NSF has long invested in use-inspired research and the translation 
of research results into practice through a wide range of programs. The 
TIP directorate constitutes a once-in-a-generation opportunity to 
double down on this type of work to focus on pivotal challenges and 
positively transform society, and to do so through public and private 
partnerships that help to inform, coordinate and grow NSF's research 
and education investments. Together, TIP and the other NSF directorates 
and offices will advance technology; address national, societal, and 
economic challenges, including regional opportunities present across 
the Nation; and tap into the vast talent base that exists throughout 
the Nation and has for too long been left behind when it comes to the 
U.S. research and innovation enterprise.

    What will the future of other directorates look like as TIP ramps 
up?

    Answer. Building on NSF's longstanding leadership in science and 
engineering research and education, TIP serves as a crosscutting 
platform and collaborates with NSF's other directorates and offices to 
leverage, energize, and rapidly advance use-inspired, solutions-
oriented research and innovation in critical and emerging technologies 
and industries. In general, NSF plans to take a balanced approach 
between its existing directorates that support basic research and TIP. 
For over seven decades, NSF has been investing in fundamental research 
in all fields of science and engineering, delivering foundational and 
use-inspired outcomes, and will continue to do so.

    And how is NSF collaborating with other agencies, such as DOE, to 
ensure taxpayer dollars are being used efficiently?

    Answer. Within the Federal research and development enterprise, 
NSF's investments complement those of other agencies. Specifically, 
many other agencies invest in R&D focused on their mission needs. NSF 
investments in fundamental research often involve partnerships with 
other agencies to leverage that research and help meet those agencies' 
needs. For example, NSF has collaborated with the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) on the NSF-led National Artificial Intelligence 
Research Institutes program, with USDA's National Institute of Food and 
Agriculture fully funding four food and agricultural institutes to 
date. Beyond these partnerships, NSF stands ready to rapidly scale use-
inspired and translational research, complementing and enhancing R&D 
investments across the Federal government.
    TIP serves as an agency-wide resource to catalyze and scale public 
and private partnerships to amplify and further the impact of NSF 
investments in research, innovation, and education. Specifically, TIP 
provides expertise and support to build partnerships, along with co-
funding to strategically advance high-impact relationships that will 
deepen and advance NSF's mission across science, engineering, and 
education. TIP ensures these partnerships expand the reach of, and 
exponentially increase the return on, NSF's investments across all 
directorates and offices.

    Senator Shaheen. This was a very informative hearing. It 
feels like our science future is in good hands, and we very 
much appreciate the work that both of you are doing--
    Dr. Panchanathan. Thank you.
    Senator Shaheen [continuing]. And look forward to 
continuing to collaborate and cooperate with your efforts.

                          SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

    Senator Shaheen. At this point, the subcommittee stands in 
recess until Wednesday, May 11, at 2:00 p.m., when we will hold 
a hearing on the budget request of the Department of Commerce. 
Thank you both.
    Dr. Panchanathan. Thank you, Madam Chair and Ranking Member 
Moran.
    [Whereupon, at 11:55 a.m., Tuesday, May 3, the subcommittee 
was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of the Chair.]