[Senate Hearing 118-536]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 118-536
EXAMINING NASA'S FY24 BUDGET
AND PRIORITIES
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MAY 16, 2023
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
58-144 PDF WASHINGTON : 2025
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Chair
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota TED CRUZ, Texas, Ranking
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts ROGER WICKER, Mississippi
GARY PETERS, Michigan DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin JERRY MORAN, Kansas
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
JON TESTER, Montana MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona TODD YOUNG, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada TED BUDD, North Carolina
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico ERIC SCHMITT, Missouri
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado J. D. VANCE, Ohio
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
PETER WELCH, Vermont Virginia
CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
Lila Harper Helms, Staff Director
Melissa Porter, Deputy Staff Director
Jonathan Hale, General Counsel
Brad Grantz, Republican Staff Director
Nicole Christus, Republican Deputy Staff Director
Liam McKenna, General Counsel
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on May 16, 2023..................................... 1
Statement of Senator Cantwell.................................... 1
Statement of Senator Cruz........................................ 2
Statement of Senator Sinema...................................... 4
Statement of Senator Schmitt..................................... 6
Article dated March 3, 2023 entitled, ``A Chinese spacecraft
has been checking out US satellites high above Earth'' by
Andrew Jones............................................... 7
Article dated April 21, 2023 entitled, ``China building cyber
weapons to hijack enemy satellites, says US leak'' by Mehul
Srivastava in London, Felicia Schwartz and Demetri
Sevastopulo in Washington.................................. 8
Statement of Senator Wicker...................................... 19
Statement of Senator Hickenlooper................................ 20
Statement of Senator Budd........................................ 22
Statement of Senator Lujan....................................... 23
Statement of Senator Rosen....................................... 25
Statement of Senator Blackburn................................... 27
Witnesses
Hon. Bill Nelson, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration................................................. 11
Prepared statement........................................... 12
Appendix
Response to written questions submitted to Hon. Bill Nelson by:
Hon. Maria Cantwell.......................................... 29
Hon. Amy Klobuchar........................................... 31
Hon. Kyrsten Sinema.......................................... 32
Hon. Raphael Warnock......................................... 34
EXAMINING NASA'S FY24 BUDGET
AND PRIORITIES
----------
TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2023
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room
SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Maria Cantwell,
presiding.
Present: Senators Cantwell (presiding), Sinema, Rosen,
Lujan, Hickenlooper, Cruz, Wicker, Blackburn, Budd, and
Schmitt.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
The Chair. The Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation will come to order.
For more than--the hearing this morning is going to be
examining NASA's Fiscal Year 2024 Budget and Priorities, and
discussions of that.
For more than 100 years, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and its predecessor agency, the National Agency
Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, have delivered on its
commitment to make the United States of America a world leader
in aviation and space. I am not sure how many know about the
deep connection between NASA and the aviation industry, but
there is a saying at the Agency, ``NASA is with you when you
fly.'' When many of the aircraft roll off the line in Everett,
Washington, they have a quieter and cleaner engine technology
developed and tested, thanks to at least two NASA programs. So
NASA has long been an important partner to the development of
the 2 million strong American aviation and defense sector jobs.
When it comes to space exploration, the scientific
research, NASA has also been equally powerful. In 2022 alone,
NASA delivered the first images from the James Webb Telescope
and demonstrated the space launch system, an Orion crew vehicle
that will send the first woman to the moon. The NASA DART
mission even proved for the first time that this country could
defend itself from a planet-killing asteroid, and every single
one of these stories made national news. Two of them have close
ties to the Washington State workforce. Workers in Redmond,
Washington built part of the propulsion system for both the
space launch system and the DART mission, and we also have
several scientists who have been assigned research time on the
Webb Telescope.
But as a Congress, we cannot afford to take NASA and its
success for granted. That is why this committee in the
reauthorization of the Agency last year, was a critical part of
the CHIPS and Science Act. This was the first NASA
authorization in 5 years. Now, we might say it is because our
colleague is no longer with us, who was a key advocate for
always getting NASA authorized. But we authorized the Artemis
Program and demanded that NASA establish both accountable
leadership and a clear description of each element in the
effort in response to concerns raised in the hearing by the
head of the National Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.
We directed the Agency to create an independent program
analysis, evaluation office, reduce the cost of delays
associated with programs, and also, in response, raised
concerns in this hearing this time by the Government
Accountability Office. And we made it the policy of the United
States to maintain world leadership in aeronautics by advancing
such areas as advanced materials and manufacturing. Over the
course of this hearing, I look forward to hearing from the
Administrator about the progress of these particular areas.
It is my goal to complete another NASA bill this Congress,
this time with a multi-year authorization that will help ensure
that the Nation's leading space and aeronautic research agency
has stable, predictable funding that it needs to succeed. It
would be the first multi-year NASA authorization in 13 years.
It should be clear to every Member of Congress we cannot
operate our science agencies on the cheap, and we should not
operate them without clear, multi-year direction. Stable
growing investments in the technologies of the future, from
hypersonic wind tunnels to advanced manufacturing, are the best
way to protect our national and economic security. Given NASA
anything less could jeopardize our leadership in space
exploration, slow down our progress on key issues as faster
fuel efficiency, increase the challenges that we face at our
space station, and jeopardize commonsense safety actions, like
building redundant systems to transport astronauts.
Administrator Nelson has been a tireless advocate to
protect NASA's budget, so I look forward to working with him
and Ranking Member Cruz to make sure that NASA and the United
States keep their leadership position. So thank you for joining
us today, Administrator Nelson, and now I turn it over to my
colleague, Senator Cruz, for his statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. TED CRUZ,
U.S. SENATOR FROM TEXAS
Senator Cruz. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. I
suppose we should begin with a moment of regret. You and I had
a wager going about the Kraken and the Stars, and last night as
these wagers, we bid on winning sides and losing sides of the
wagers. But I will say I look forward to some wonderful
delicacies from Washington State as we celebrate the Star's
game seven victory last night.
The Chair. Well, congratulations, Senator Cruz. At least--I
told him he should up on time if he wants to gloat, but it is
OK.
[Laughter.]
The Chair. We are very proud of the Kraken. Congratulations
to the Stars, and, yes, some great salmon is coming your way,
and I think some beer, OK?
Senator Cruz. Fabulous.
The Chair. OK.
Senator Cruz. Good morning. Administrator Nelson, welcome
back to this committee. All of us have spent a lot of time
here. You and I have been great partners on many pieces of
space legislation, and thus far, your tenure as NASA
Administrator has seen a number of important successes. Today I
am looking forward to hearing an update on all things space.
First, I think it is fitting to open with a note of
congratulations to NASA and its international and commercial
partners throughout the United States and the world, especially
those partners in Texas, for all your recent successes. Like
many Americans, I watched with excitement as Artemis I blasted
off into space as the first phase of America's return to the
moon. I am thrilled that NASA has named the crew of the Artemis
II mission--Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy
Hansen--and I was incredibly privileged to be with you at
Ellington Field in Houston for that announcement. Over the next
year, they will complete their training at the Johnson Space
Center for their 2024 flight to the moon.
We were all equally excited about the recent test launch of
SpaceX's Starship--from their Starship in Boc Chica, Texas.
While the ``rapid unscheduled assembly'' was not exactly part
of the plan, much was learned just getting off the pad, and we
look forward to SpaceX launching again soon. Once again,
Starship will help us return American boots to lunar soil for
the first time in more than 50 years on the Artemis III
mission.
There is a reason the word ``Houston'' was one of the very
first words spoken on the surface of the moon and why it is one
of the most common words in any astronaut's vocabulary. Johnson
Space Center in my hometown of Houston is responsible for
carrying out many key missions for space exploration. Not only
is it the home of the International Space Station Program,
which I was glad after years of fighting for it, that you and I
together were finally able to extend it to 2023. But it is also
home to Mission Control and is playing a leading role in our
efforts to put a sustainable human presence on the moon, and
eventually put the first humans on the surface of Mars. From
the Gateway Lunar Outpost, to the Orion capsule, to the next
generation of space suits, to future lunar rovers, JSC is
leading the way. As a lifelong Houstonian, I am so proud of the
entire team at JSC and of the entire Houston space community.
This year's budget request includes even more funding for
new space suits developed by Collins Aerospace and Axiom, and
will help our astronauts ensure that they are safe and
productive on the ISS, on the moon, and beyond. These two
companies are just many--that will make the new Houston space
port a magnet for those who wish to help us explore the stars.
Now, Administrator Nelson, for all the good things I have
talked about, I do worry sometimes that we may be losing focus
on what makes America the preeminent space-faring Nation. One
of the reasons you and I were able to accomplish so much on
this committee is both of us worked very hard to keep politics
out of NASA and to focus on the core mission of exploration.
Looking at this year's budget request, I see things like $22
million for the ``Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity,''
which has little to do with what you have called ``a space race
between the free world and China.'' If we show up at the
Shackleton Crater, I highly doubt the communist--Chinese
Communist Party will care much about how we have advanced an
equity action plan.
Similarly, this year, NASA, along with DOD and GSA,
advanced a new climate-related regulation that requires
contractors to disclose their ``greenhouse gas emissions, the
risks they pose, and submit reduction targets validated by
Science-Based Targets initiative,'' a non-governmental entity.
Rather than helping us win the space race, the proposed rule
would ensure that NASA could do less exploration and less
science for more taxpayer dollars.
Earlier this year, every one of my Republican colleagues on
this committee joined me in sending a letter to you asking you
to rescind the proposed rule. Your response to the letter was,
unfortunately, underwhelming. I suspect that had you received
such an answer when you were sitting on this committee, you
would not have been especially pleased. I understand that any
NASA faces pressure and political pressure from a White House.
That was true in the prior administration. That is true in this
administration. But one of the keys, I believe, for NASA's
success is having the fortitude to press back on political
pressure from either direction and to focus on the core
mission. I very much hope at NASA we can continue to do so and
continue to do so together.
The Chair. Thank you, Senator Cruz. We will now turn to the
Chair of the Subcommittee and the Ranking Member for their
opening statements. And I have asked Senator Sinema to chair
the rest of this hearing, and so thank you, Senator Sinema, for
your leadership on space issues.
STATEMENT OF HON. KYRSTEN SINEMA,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA
Senator Sinema. Well, thank you, Chair Cantwell. Good to
see you again, Administrator Nelson. I am honored to chair the
Space and Science Subcommittee where I am proud to continue the
leadership that led to the bipartisan passage of the CHIPS and
Science Act last Congress. I look forward to building on those
historic advancements and achieving America's space and science
goals.
NASA has a tremendous impact on my home State of Arizona,
accounting for over $700 million and over 3,800 jobs in Fiscal
Year 2021, and that doesn't account for all the manufacturing,
contract work, and growing commercial space, industries that
are all strengthened by NASA's work. Ultimately, American
leadership in space is critical to keeping us safe, building a
healthy economy, and serving as an engine to fuel rewarding
careers.
For the United States to remain the global leader in space,
we need to ensure that Congress makes the necessary
investments. That starts with NASA's initiatives in planetary
defense, space exploration, earth and space science research,
and advancing aeronautic and other technologies.
There are few roles of government more important than
planetary defense, and I am proud of Arizona's outsized
contribution to confronting these challenges by playing a
leading role in the NEO Surveyor and NEOWISE missions, helping
to equip the planet against potentially harmful space objects
and debris. It is absolutely essential that Congress fund the
NEO Surveyor Program as requested in the Fiscal Year 2024
budget request and at the appropriate levels for years to come
as we approach the 2028 launch date.
NASA's research is no less vital than its planetary defense
missions. The State of Arizona is a vital contributor to space
physics, astrophysics, and other studies through Arizona State
University and University of Arizona. Both universities has
successfully supported NASA science missions for decades and
provide a strong pipeline for future scientists and engineers
to start careers in government and commercial space. That is
why our work on the CHIPS and Science Act ensured NASA's
reauthorization and incorporated provisions I helped draft to
direct NASA to fund key science research at Arizona's
universities. We must continue to provide resources to these
and other leading institutions.
The scientific research NASA leads, including through the
Earth Information Center and other data-related initiatives,
benefits Arizonans and all Americans right now, not
theoretically in the future. NASA is a critical part of efforts
to combat difficulties Arizona families face every day from
water scarcity to extreme weather events and beyond.
Space is no longer the exclusive domain of the Federal
Government. Commercial space has invested heavily in Arizona,
from Artemis manufacturing to the innovative new space program
at Arizona State University. And just last month, Blue Origin
recently opened a Phoenix office, specializing in avionics,
systems engineering and supply chain management. This follows
the opening of a Virgin Galactic manufacturing facility in Mesa
last year, and expansion of existing facilities for Boeing and
Northrop Grumman in recent years.
It is absolutely essential that NASA has the resources to
be an effective industry partner and that we continue to grow a
thriving commercial space industry. Success in commercial space
means American leadership and a center for rewarding careers.
Those careers must be open to all, and this means making the
right investments in STEM education. Finally, NASA needs the
resources to hire and maintain a world-class workforce which,
in turn, requires physical infrastructure. It is our job in
Congress to ensure that the taxpayer money is spent wisely, and
we must, therefore, be critical and ask the necessary questions
to any budget request. But the responsibility to spend taxpayer
money wisely also means that we are making sure the money is,
in fact, spent where it must to help keep us safe, secure, and
promote a healthy economy with rewarding careers.
I look forward to asking Administrator Nelson questions
today and working with NASA this Congress to continue helping
Arizona and the American people. Thank you, Madam Chair. I
yield back.
The Chair. Senator Schmitt. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF HON. ERIC SCHMITT,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSOURI
Senator Schmitt. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you,
Administrator Nelson, for joining us here today. It is great to
be with you in this committee on this hearing focused on space,
NASA, and exploring the final frontier. The story of Missouri
is intimately tied to the exploration of the stars. Famous
astronomer, Edwin Hubble, was born in Marshfield, Missouri, and
the telescope dedicated in his name has forever changed our
understanding of the universe. As ranking member of the
Science--or the Space and Science Subcommittee, I look forward
to working with you to progress the priorities of this
committee. Of those, the one in front of us here today is
NASA's reauthorization, and I am eager to work in a bipartisan
fashion with you and the full committee chair and ranking
member to hopefully get that across the finish line.
Here in the United States, we are privileged to have a
robust commercial supplier base at the foremost space flight
companies in the world. Over 20 Missouri-based companies, from
Joplin to Hazelwood, are actively supporting the Artemis
mission to return man to the moon. As Ranking Member of the
Space and Science Subcommittee, I want to do everything in my
power to leverage the abilities of innovation that U.S.
companies possess to maintain American space dominance. It is
imperative that the U.S. and the appropriate agencies develop
thoughtful, commonsense standards when it comes to the
development and deployment of technologies related to orbital
debris management, commercial space stations and other deep
space waypoints, hypersonics, human landing systems, and the
numerous other technologies necessary to get us back to the
moon and beyond to Mars.
I cannot emphasize enough--I cannot emphasize this enough.
So much of this developing technology is just that, developing.
Sadly, the default approach around this town, in my view, is
what more can the government do, not less innovation thriving
under the light torch of regulation, not the heavy hand of
government. While I still have not--while I still have a lot to
learn in this space--no pun intended--I, along with my staff,
continue to hear from industry about how knee-jerk and
untenable regulations have stymied U.S. leadership. This should
not be anybody's goal, especially as foreign adversaries seek
to undermine our efforts at every corner. On that note, I want
to speak about the near and present danger of China. China's
capabilities in space and beyond is alarming.
Madam Chair, I would like to submit the following articles
entitled, ``A Chinese Spacecraft Has Been Checking Out U.S.
Satellites High Above Earth,'' and ``China Building Cyber
Weapons to Hijack Energy Satellites, Says U.S. Leak,'' which
highlight the ability of the CCP multi-directional satellites
to stop and gather intel on U.S. space equities, and ``The
CCP's Development of Cyber Weapons to Seize Control of U.S.
Space Equities.''
While I commend the Administrator for the many initiatives
he will highlight in his testimony, I strongly disagree with
this administration's obsession with misguided woke policies
related to climate change and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Administrator Nelson, America cannot afford to take its eye off
the ball with the rising threat of the CCP. There is simply too
much at stake. President Xi and the CCP are hell-bent on
dominating us on every front. We must be laser-like focused on
our approach, and I can assure you that China has no interest
in out de-eying us, and they are not intimidated at all by this
divisive radical policy that has found its way in this budget.
Madam Chair, thank you again for convening this hearing,
and thank you to Mr. Nelson for appearing before us today. I
look for today's hearing and the proceedings. I yield back.
Thank you.
The Chair. Thank you, and without objection, we will enter
those articles into the record.
[The information referred to follows:]
A Chinese spacecraft has been checking out U.S. satellites
high above Earth
Andrew Jones--March 3, 2023
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
An illustration of Earth showing how far away geostationary orbit
is.
A Chinese satellite launched in 2018 has been inspecting other
nations' spacecraft high above Earth in geostationary orbit.
Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing-3 (TJS-3), named vaguely as a
communications experiment satellite, was sent up into geostationary
orbit in late 2018. It then released a small subsatellite, possibly to
help test TJS-3's capabilities.
Orbital data reveals that TJS-3 has been making close approaches to
American satellites in recent months. For example, the Twitter account
Orbital Focus notes that the satellite has been drifting along the
geostationary belt, but pausing to take a closer look at satellites USA
233 and USA 298, both thought to be military communications satellites
operated by the U.S. Space Force.
Satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) operate at 22,236 miles
(35,786 kilometers) above Earth, where their velocity matches the
rotation of the planet and sees them appear fixed over one point on the
surface below. This orbit is thus highly prized for its use for
communications and other purposes.
At the same time, a spacecraft that either raises or lowers its
orbit a few tens of miles will be able to drift west or east respective
to other satellites, allowing a satellite over time to sweep past
others and take a look.
Satellite Dashboard, a web tool that collates and analyzes space
situational awareness (SSA) data, reveals that TJS-3 approached as
close as 3.8 miles (6.2 km) to USA 233 on Oct. 31, 2022.
Related stories:
Chinese scientists call for plan to destroy Elon Musk's
Starlink satellites
2 Russian satellites are stalking a U.S. spysat in orbit.
The Space Force is watching.
Is Earth-moon space the U.S. military's new high ground?
U.S., Russian and Chinese satellites have all increasingly been
scouting each others' satellites in GEO in recent years, using close
approaches to attain images and other data.
This has led to a game in which countries aim to learn about each
others' spacecraft and test their counterspace and SSA capabilities.
Little is known about the TJS-3 satellite, but the U.S. and other
nations will doubtless be watching its movements closely.
______
Chinese politics & policy
China building cyber weapons to hijack enemy satellites, says U.S. leak
Classified CIA document assesses Beijing's ambitions to take
control of communications critical to fighting wars
The Dragon SpaceX satellite. China's ambitious cyber attacks aim to
mimic the signals that satellites receive from their operators,
tricking them into being taken over or to malfunction European Space
Agency
Mehul Srivastava in London, Felicia Schwartz and Demetri Sevastopulo in
Washington--APRIL 21 2023
China is building sophisticated cyber weapons to ``seize control''
of enemy satellites, rendering them useless for data signals or
surveillance during wartime, according to a leaked U.S. intelligence
report.
The U.S. assesses that China's push to develop capabilities to
``deny, exploit or hijack'' enemy satellites is a core part of its goal
to control information, which Beijing considers to be a key ``war-
fighting domain''.
The CIA-marked document, which was issued this year and has been
reviewed by the Financial Times, was one of dozens allegedly shared by
a 21-year-old U.S. Air Guardsman in the most significant American
intelligence disclosures in more than a decade.
A cyber capability of this nature would far exceed anything Russia
has deployed in Ukraine, where electronic warfare teams have taken a
brute-force approach with little effect.
These attacks, first developed in the 1980s, attempt to drown out
signals between low-orbit SpaceX satellites and their on-ground
terminals by broadcasting on similar frequencies from truck-borne
jamming systems such as the Tirada-2.
China's more ambitious cyber attacks aim to mimic the signals that
enemy satellites receive from their operators, tricking them into
either being taken over completely or malfunctioning during crucial
moments in combat.
The classified U.S. document said this cyber capability would allow
China ``to seize control of a satellite, rendering it ineffective to
support communications, weapons, or intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance systems''. The U.S. has never disclosed whether it has
similar capabilities.
Taiwan, which has taken note of how indispensable satellite
communications have been to the Ukrainian military, is seeking to build
out communications infrastructure that can survive an attack from
China.
It is courting investors to establish its own satellite provider,
while experimenting with non-geostationary satellite receivers in 700
locations around Taiwan to guarantee bandwidth in the event of war or
disasters, the Financial Times reported in January.
In a sign of how crucial satellite communications have become in
warfare, a Russian cyber attack succeeded in rendering thousands of
Ukrainian military routers from US-based Viasat ineffective in the
hours before it launched its full-scale invasion on February 24 last
year. A Ukrainian official described the attack at the time as
``catastrophic''.
It also knocked out service to thousands of Viasat customers in
Poland, Italy and Germany, where several hundred wind turbines were
affected.
The Viasat hack, while sophisticated, involved breaking into the
company's computer systems and sending out instructions to the modems
that caused them to malfunction.
China's goals, according to the leaked assessment, are far more
advanced. They would seek to knock out the ability of satellites--which
tend to operate in interconnected clusters--to communicate with each
other, to relay signals and orders to weapons systems, or to send back
visual and intercepted electronic data, according to experts.
US military officials have warned that China has made significant
progress in developing military space technology, including in
satellite communications.
General B Chance Saltzman, commander of the U.S. Space Force, told
Congress last month that Beijing was aggressively pursuing counter-
space capabilities in an effort to realise its ``space dream'' of
becoming the foremost power beyond the Earth's atmosphere by 2045.
``China continues to aggressively invest in technology meant to
disrupt, degrade and destroy our space capabilities,'' he said.
Saltzman said China's military had deployed 347 satellites,
including 35 launched in the past six months, aimed at monitoring,
tracking, targeting and attacking U.S. forces in any future conflict.
Charlie Moore, a retired Air Force general who served as deputy of
U.S. cyber command, said China was making huge efforts to counter the
asymmetric advantage that the U.S. had in the cyber and space domains.
``China understands the superiority that the United States has in
the space and cyber domains, so they are very interested in not only
improving their own capabilities but in capitalising on what we refer
to as a first-mover advantage in both domains,'' said Moore, now a
visiting professor at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.
``They are working on all the capabilities that they want to have
from a defensive and offensive standpoint, and from an ISR
[intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] standpoint. They're
firing on all cylinders,'' he said.
The National Security Council, the CIA and the Pentagon declined to
comment. The Chinese government had no immediate comment.
Additional reporting from Joe Leahy in Beijing
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2023. All rights reserved.
The Chair. We will now turn to questioning, and,
Administrator Nelson, I wrote to you in January about a
manufacturing USA Institute, something that NASA could inform,
is really an action that NIST would take. But in my State
alone, we are looking at 60,000 STEM worker shortfall by 2026,
and this notion of continuing our efforts on material science,
I believe, is a key aspect of where we need to go.
So NASA, NIST, industry need to continue to collaborate on
what I think is training and skilling people in material
sciences. Do you agree that NASA should help and work on these
issues?
Senator Nelson. Indeed I do, and another thing that you
were looking at is thermoplastic composites as a new material
that would not only help aviation industry, but also the space
industry. And we have a NASA project going on on high-rate
composite aircraft manufacturing, and we are working with the
partners, obviously those in Washington State as well, to
reduce the cost and increase the production rate of composite
aircraft. You know, the Dreamliner, the 787, is built of
composites, and it has a lot of advantages, including a weight
advantage. And so this is a new kind of composite.
So at your request, Madam Chairman, NASA, Commerce, Defense
are developing recommendations to leverage the manufacturing
here in America to accelerate our capabilities in manufacturing
aerospace technologies, like thermal plastics.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you for that answer. I think
there are some that believe we are falling behind to where
Europe is on this R&D side of the equation, so thank you for
your answer on that. I would like to ask a couple of other
things. Obviously, you and I have had many conversations about
NASA's need to continue with redundancy and making sure that we
keep programs, you know, on schedule and reduce risks, and also
the fact that we need a multi-year budget.
The President's 2024 budget for NASA is a 7-percent
increase over 2023, but your requested increases in the out
year appear to be only 2 percent or less. So we think here in
discussions, getting a 3- to 5-year authorization would help
NASA on making sure that we do not fall behind in what we need
to do to be competitive. Thank you for your detailed answer on
thermoplastics. Many of our supply chain are making thermal
plastic products today for the space sector, and so we
appreciate that answer.
But could you talk a little bit about a multi-year request
and how do we stay competitive in redundancy?
Senator Nelson. And I commend you for a multi-year
proposal. It is true that the last NASA authorization bill, as
Senator Cruz has mentioned, the two of us fashioned that. That
was back in 2017. It is true that for that, one of the primary
drivers was the NASA bill of 2010, which Kay Bailey Hutchison
of Texas and I fashioned, that set us off on this course of the
dual approach in our going back to the moon and to Mars. One
track is government. The other track is commercial.
And so I would welcome a multi-year approach to
appropriations instead of in the past where it has been you get
into the negotiation between the House and the Senate, and then
you all cannot agree on this, and you have to accept what they
want, but that is not the comprehensive approach. I think what
you have said, a 5-year authorization bill, would be very, very
well received in the aerospace community.
The Chair. Thank you. Senator Sinema, I am turning the
hearing over to you, and thank you for chairing. Oh my gosh.
Totally forgot your opening statement.
Senator Nelson. Well, I was going to shorten it and----
The Chair. Totally. I jumped right into questions, and so
we had such a dynamic here of members talking about all these
priorities. Sorry. I apologize for not giving you the
opportunity to make a statement.
Senator Nelson. Well, let me--let me just see, Mr.
Chairman, if I could hit some of the topics----
The Chair. Please, go right ahead, Administrator. Oh my
gosh.
Senator Nelson.--that you four raised in your opening
questions.
STATEMENT OF HON. BILL NELSON, ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL
AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Senator Nelson. First of all, we have talked about
aviation, and you are so right, and they are big things
happening in aviation. Just for example, in Washington State,
we have just announced with Boeing basically the plan to design
the next 737 aircraft, which is the one that is most frequently
used, single-aisle, medium-range, commercial transport. But
this time we are going to do it by working with Boeing of
designing a high, thin wing, high on the fuselage, and it is so
thin that it needs struts to support it. But what this design
is doing is giving, along with the improvement in the engines,
a 25-percent greater efficiency. And, Senator Cruz, that would
mean 25 percent less fuel, which is a good thing for the
airlines, but might also be a good thing in the overall energy
policy of the country.
Senator Cruz, you mentioned the GHC. You and I in this
committee have a different approach to what is happening to the
earth's climate. It so happens that NASA is in the middle of
this. Why? Because all those assets up there. We design them,
we build them, we launch them, and we operate many of them.
Others we turn over to like NOAA, and NOAA then, of course, has
the National Weather Service.
Now, the fact is that they are recording what is happening
to the earth, and what you are specifically referring to is, in
2022, the Federal Acquisition Regulation Counsel published a
draft rulemaking. That is in the draft. There are three
agencies involved: NASA, Department of Defense, and I think it
is, which one? GSA. And so it is in the middle of taking
comments, but there is a provision in there, if this will give
you some satisfaction. There is a provision in there that I, as
the NASA Administrator, can waive any requirements that might
be in the rule with regard to small business, and small
business is something that we take very seriously in our
contracting and so forth. So I would ask you to continue with
your advocacy of that position but look at the details in the
proposed rulemaking, and it is in the hearing stage accepting
comments.
Senator Sinema, I brought show and tell. You raised this
issue. This is DART. This was incredibly successful. We wanted
to see if we could hit, bullseye, an asteroid. So we chose an
asteroid that was about 100 meters in diameter that was
orbiting about another asteroid that was about a half a mile in
diameter, because if we hit it, we could then measure with our
telescopes did we move it.
This is DART. The size of DART is 4 by 4 by 4, so it is a
relatively small spacecraft, but that spacecraft hit that 350-
foot wide asteroid at 16,000 miles an hour right on the money,
and sure enough, it changed the orbit of that. And, therefore,
we wanted to see if we could hit--if we discover a killer
asteroid is headed for earth, would we have a chance of
altering its trajectory by hitting it, and that brings this
one: Arizona State NEO Surveyor. This is a 3D printing of what
is the spacecraft. It is obviously much, much larger than this,
and it will go in 2027, and it is going to be looking out there
for killer asteroids that would endanger us. So this program,
primary principal investigator is Arizona State. I have been
there. I have talked to them, and so I wanted to bring you all
up to date on that.
And, Senator Schmitt, you raised the issue of China. We are
in a space race with China. The staff of this committee has
already received an intelligence briefing, and I would
encourage you all to get that briefing to understand just how
serious this space race is of getting on the moon. And I have
said many times that--it is my old country law practice days--
possession is nine-tenths of the law. It is always possible
that to get to the area that we are going to, the South Pole,
where we think the resources are on the moon, especially water,
and, of course, if there is water, there is hydrogen and
oxygen, and you got a gas station. I would not want us to be
there second because what is to say, if you recall the history
of China, the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, and
suddenly they are claiming that is their territory. I would not
want to see them get there first and then claim this is our
territory in the South Pole, you stay out. We go as an
international mission. We go with international astronauts. We
go with international participants in our scientific
instruments. I want us to get there first.
[The prepared statement of Senator Nelson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Bill Nelson, Administrator,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Cruz, and members of the Committee,
I am pleased to be here to discuss the President's $27.2 billion
request for NASA for Fiscal Year 2024. NASA has set a bold vision for
the future, one defined by innovation and exploration throughout the
heavens. This request will help prepare NASA to make that vision a
reality, through investments in human and robotic exploration
throughout our solar system, Earth science, groundbreaking technology,
the next generation of air travel, and educating our Nation's future
explorers. It's an investment to support good-paying jobs, businesses,
and schools that partner with NASA in all 50 states. This request
supports almost 150 missions, and I would like to highlight a few for
you today.
In November 2022, NASA took the first major step in America's
return to the Moon with the Artemis I mission. That historic launch and
25-day mission tested the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft, and
Exploration Ground Systems in preparation for Artemis II in 2024, which
will carry humans beyond low-Earth orbit for the first time in more
than 50 years. That mission will be followed by Artemis III in 2025,
which will return astronauts to the surface of the Moon. The Budget
requests more than $8 billion for the Artemis program, putting the
Nation on a path to annual crewed missions to the surface of the Moon
starting with Artemis IV in 2028.
Through the Artemis campaign, NASA is partnering with the broadest
exploration coalition in history, including multiple international and
commercial partners. Together, we will continue to develop the
technology and systems needed to live and work on and around the Moon
in preparation for human missions to Mars. The Budget makes investments
in the long-term architecture for Artemis, including enhancements to
the Space Launch System, new ground infrastructure, the Gateway lunar
space station, space suits, and competition in the Human Landing System
program that will enable the first woman and person of color to walk on
the Moon.
The missions of tomorrow will be enabled by the technology
development of today. With an investment of nearly $1.4 billion for
space technology, the Budget funds development of communications and
power systems needed for long-duration stays on the Moon. Investments
in new capabilities like advanced propulsion and landing systems will
enable humanity's next giant leap to Mars.
The $4.5 billion request for Space Operations supports continued
research on the International Space Station (ISS) with regular crewed
missions to this orbiting laboratory through 2030. There, NASA
astronauts conduct research on the risks associated with future deep
space exploration missions and perform groundbreaking experiments on
human health that benefit life on Earth. Increasingly, the ISS is
hosting experiments that look back at Earth to help us observe and
understand changes to the planet. The Budget positions NASA to continue
the space station's legacy in low-Earth orbit after its planned
retirement in 2030, with investment in the development of commercial
space stations, while also investing in a U.S. capability to safely
deorbit ISS at the end of its life. Collectively, these investments
will pave the way for sustained American presence in orbit and create
scientific and economic opportunities.
In 2022, NASA had the world on the edge of their seats as we
revealed the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The $8.3
billion request for science will continue worldleading missions like
Webb, Hubble, and Perseverance, as well as enable the next generation
of great science with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Mars
Sample Return, Europa Clipper, Dragonfly, and more. The FY 2024 Request
is the highest request for NASA science in history, supporting over 120
NASA science missions and 10,000 U.S. scientists through more than
4,000 openly competed research awards.
Over the past three decades, much of what we have learned about the
Earth system has been built on NASA satellite observations and
research. The Budget will build on that legacy by funding the next
generation of Earth observatories that will give us a 3D-holistic
understanding the Earth's systems. The Budget request will make NASA's
Earth Science data more accessible to Federal, state, and local
governments, universities, researchers, and the public through the
development of the Earth Information Center and other data initiatives.
NASA's direct observations, made on and above Earth's surface, put
humanity in the best position to measure and respond to changes in our
environment while confronting challenges that impact all of humanity.
Focusing our efforts on the Earth, planetary defense, orbital debris,
and the safety, security, and sustainability of space will equip
policymakers with the best information possible to protect our planet.
Through ambitious experimental programs, including the X-57
electric aircraft, X-59 low boom supersonic aircraft, and the
Sustainable Flight Demonstrator, NASA is poised to revolutionize the
future of air travel and keep U.S. industry competitive in the global
marketplace. The Aeronautics budget request of almost $1 billion will
put the U.S. aviation industry on a path to meet the ambitious goal of
net zero emissions by 2050. We are accelerating research and
development of aircraft technologies that are safer, faster, and more
fuel efficient.
NASA has always dared to make the impossible possible. To do so,
the $158 million request for the Office of STEM Engagement will build
the workforce of tomorrow by broadening student participation,
expanding K-12 student engagement, and building partnerships to magnify
our reach.
NASA's success is made possible by our world class workforce and
enabled by our physical infrastructure. The Budget request contains
investments to ensure NASA infrastructure, laboratories and critical
facilities are safe, secure, and mission ready. Robust investment in
construction, revitalization, and maintenance of facilities is
essential to ensure NASA can meet our mission requirements.
The President's Budget request for NASA is an investment in our
Nation's future. It is an investment in U.S. innovation and
competitiveness, and it is an investment in our next generation of
workers. It will prepare America to compete--and succeed--in the 21st
century.
The Chair. Thank you----
Senator Nelson. Madam Chairman----
The Chair. Thank you for that passionate opening statement,
Administrator.
Senator Nelson. I didn't get to the budget, which you asked
about.
The Chair. We will--we will get to that. I want to turn to
my colleague, Senator Cruz, and then we will, again, thank
Senator Sinema for chairing the rest of the hearing and for her
leadership. She mentioned CHIPS and Science, and that was a key
aspect of the CHIPS and Science Act. She played a key role in
helping us get it over the goal line, and so appreciate it and
appreciate your focus this morning. So, Senator Cruz.
Senator Cruz. Thank you, Madam Chair, and as I said, it
is--it is good, Administrator Nelson, to have you back in the
Committee. It is unusual to have you on that side of the dais.
Senator Nelson. And by the way, thank you for coming to
Houston for the announcement of the crew. This is a big deal,
and, by the way, the crew is here today----
Senator Cruz. Good.
Senator Nelson.--and tomorrow and Thursday. And it is my
understanding that I am going to be able to bring them to the
Republican luncheon on Wednesday, and so I look forward to you
seeing them there.
Senator Cruz. Excellent, and they are so incredibly
impressive, and we are proud of the courage that they bring in
this incredibly important mission, going back to the moon, but
also keeping our eyes focused that Mars is the objective, and
getting to the Moon as an integral part of proving up the
technology to go to Mars.
I want to start by asking about, NASA has a long history of
phasing down programs. And we saw with the space shuttle, with
Constellation, that there can be real bumps in a phase-down. At
some point, the International Space Station is going to need a
phase-down. We have extended the time on that until at least
2030, but at some point, that is going to have to happen. How
do we avoid a brain drain, and how do we maintain the technical
expertise and leadership we need when that time comes?
Senator Nelson. First of all, understand that among young
people, which we actively recruit in our intern program, the
excitement about space--I often say, ``space is the place,''
but that is not some light statement. Look at any classroom in
America, and look at the excitement in the areas of
engineering, and mathematics, and technology, and science, and
it is real. And what better way to get the young people of the
country motivated than the Space Program? It was that way 50
years ago in Apollo, and we are reviving that now again with
Artemis.
So I think as then, specifically to your question, how do
we keep this going, in large part, it is going to depend on you
all and the challenges that you all have in the next couple of
weeks, and then the challenges as you get up to September the
30th on the appropriation deadline for the next Fiscal Year,
Fiscal Year 2024. But if the resources are there for us, then
we are going to have this continuing program of going back to
the moon, this time to learn, to live, to work, to invent, to
create for the purpose of going further, going to Mars. That is
going to generate a lot of excitement.
When you combine that with all the science that is going
on--I just mentioned DART and NEO Surveyor, the James Webb
Space Telescope, and the discoveries that it is bringing, you
mix all of that together, and there is going to be a continuing
interest.
Senator Cruz. You just rightly noted that--one of the
challenges of ensuring NASA's exploration focus are the
constraints of resources, and that has always been the case. It
is worth noting that NASA's acquisition management has been on
GAO's High Risk List for years, and GAO noted last year that
``Continuing their recent trend, NASA's portfolio of major
projects experience significant cost and schedule overruns, and
more projects were added.''
That is one of the reasons why I and every Republican
member of this committee is so concerned about the proposed new
greenhouse gas rule. It is estimated that rule will increase
costs among Federal agencies across the board by almost $4
billion, a significant portion of which will likely be borne by
NASA. Has NASA done any calculations? Have you measured how
much this new proposed rule will drive up the cost for all the
companies that do business with NASA and, in turn, how much
more that will drive up NASA's expenses and remove dollars that
otherwise would be available to go to the moon or to go to
Mars?
Senator Nelson. In the process of the rulemaking, they are
receiving comments, and then I will be able to answer your
question specifically. But we cannot deny that NASA deals with
climate, and, therefore, it deals with these greenhouse gases.
That is what we have the instruments up there taking these
measurements.
Senator Cruz. But, Administrator Nelson, my question is
just how much are you all driving up costs because of a
political mandate from the White House? I will give you another
example.
Senator Nelson. I will get you an answer.
Senator Cruz. One of the ``works in progress'' under
``safety, security, and mission services'' within the budget is
to implement a 5-year plan to transition NASA's entire fleet of
more than 2,600 traditional combustion vehicles to all-electric
vehicles. Has NASA done any cost estimate as to how much it
will cost to get rid of 2,600 combustion vehicles, replace them
with electric vehicles, and then install the charging
infrastructure everywhere that will be needed for those
vehicles?
Senator Nelson. I will get you an answer, but if you are
suggesting that we should abandon the entire national effort to
move toward electric vehicles, I would say that there is a
significant difference of opinion about that.
Senator Cruz. What I am suggesting is NASA should stay
focused on its core mission of going to space, and going to the
moon, and going to Mars. And the extent to which--I understand
this is a very political White House. I understand most White
Houses are. The extent to which NASA salutes and jumps on board
with those political objectives, that will significantly
undermine not only the ability of NASA to have the resources it
needs to keep building things to go to space, but it also--we
have worked very hard--you and I have worked very hard to keep
NASA out of partisan politics, and I would encourage you
energetically to continue that work because we have got a
Republican House of Representatives now. If NASA is seen as
partisan, that is very bad for space and space exploration, and
so I hope NASA will continue its tradition of staying out of
those battles.
Senator Nelson. And I assure you NASA is and will be if, I
am around, not only bipartisan, but nonpartisan, and it will
continue that way. Now, the reality is, Senator Cruz, and you
know I love you, it is the fact that we have political
differences, and it was on display in this very room over a
number of years. But I can guarantee you that NASA is being run
in a nonpartisan way.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. Welcome again, Administrator
Nelson. I will now recognize myself for a few round--a few
questions.
I am proud of Arizona's longstanding leadership in
planetary defense, including addressing the threats of
destructive near-earth objects, or NEOs, as you have discussed.
In fact, the Catalina Sky Survey and Space Watch at Kitt Peak
in Arizona have detected more than half of all of the
identified NEOs. Unfortunately, to date, NASA has only
identified approximately 42 percent of the NEOs larger than 140
meters in size that could cause a devastating impact should
they hit the earth. This is far less than the 90 percent by
2020 that was required by the 2005 George E. Brown Junior Near-
Earth Object Survey Aircraft.
However, the NEO Surveyor Mission led by Professor Amy
Mainzer at the University of Arizona, would dramatically
increase the rate of discovery of NEOs through a space-based
infrared telescope optimized to find, track, and characterize
the NEOS. Now I have strongly supported funding for this
mission in the past, and I want to ensure that it is adequately
funded to fly before the March 2028 deadline. So why is this
year's $209.7 million budget request for the NEO Surveyor
Mission, as well as continued support for additional funding in
the future years, so essential to meet the statutory
requirements and protect our planet from potentially harmful
objects?
Senator Nelson. We cannot identify every object. However,
NEO Surveyor will be able to identify 90 percent of all the
potential asteroids that are greater than 140 meters wide
within the 10 years of the launch. Now, that is important
because when you think of an asteroid that will do serious
damage--millions of years ago, the asteroid that wiped out the
dinosaurs was about 6 miles wide. If we can identify 90 percent
of the asteroids that are 140 meters wide, then we are well on
our way, but that is the technology that this will enable us to
do, and launching it in 2027.
By the way, there is a similar problem. Look at all the
junk in earth orbit. There are a lot of pieces up there that
are big, and they can do damage coming down through the
atmosphere because they do not all burn up. We can only
identify with existing technologies pieces that are larger than
that in width. But something like that coming back to the
atmosphere can still do a lot of damage.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. Is NASA on track to meet the
March 2028 launch readiness date required by the CHIPS and
Science Act?
Senator Nelson. Are we talking about silicon chips? Is that
what the question is?
Senator Sinema. So the CHIPS and Science Act required that
NASA meet a launch readiness date. This was part of the
reauthorization package that was inside CHIPS and Science, and
the idea was that you would be ready to launch by March 2028.
Senator Nelson. Which mission are we asking?
Senator Sinema. The Surveyor. The NEO Surveyor.
Senator Nelson. Is it not going in 2027? 2028.
Senator Sinema. We are on track?
Senator Nelson. We are on track.
Senator Sinema. Great. Thank you. Arizonans face tremendous
challenges from urban heat, water availability, and wildfires,
and as you know, the CHIPS and Science Act directs NASA to
pursue earth system observatory missions. So how will you
ensure that these missions advance the critical science that
will allow Arizonans to better plan, avoid, and mitigate these
challenges?
Senator Nelson. Well, the specific question is about--would
you state that again?
Senator Sinema. Sure. Thank you. So how will you ensure
that NASA's missions around earth system observatory missions
actually advance the critical science that allows Arizonans to
better plan for issues like urban heat, wildfires, and water?
Senator Nelson. OK. There are four great observatories that
we are going to put up over the course of the next decade that
will do what you just described, the Earth System Observatory.
As a result of these, and, by the way, this is part of the
science budget that I would urge you all to continue on. As a
result of these, we are going to have a 3D compendium of
everything that is happening to the earth in its land, in its
water, in its atmosphere, and its ice, and how that is
affecting everything on earth.
For example, I had gone to Kansas for Senator Moran, and
one of the reasons I wanted to go is that we have systems up
there, including Landsat, but so much so with this Earth System
Observatory, that the chairman has just mentioned, that can
tell a farmer in his particular pasture crop, that particular
segment of land, what is the moisture content of the soil. And
as a result, it has the applications here on earth, all the
more so when we put up these four great observatories giving us
an understanding of what is happening to the earth, so much
greater.
I would just add one other example, and that is we can
tell, for example disease in crops, but also disease in trees.
And so we can warn that there is likely to be a wildfire in a
particular forest as a result of the vegetation that we are
detecting from space as being diseased.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. Senator Schmitt.
Senator Schmitt. Thank you, Madam Chair, and it is good to
see you again. We had a great visit in my office, and I noticed
you already pulled out the ``I am just a country lawyer'' line
earlier, which is one of my favorites.
[Laughter.]
Senator Schmitt. But anyway, it is good to see you again.
I did want to ask you, you know, NASA has such a great
tradition and reputation as relates to working with private
industry for the development of new technologies, and you see
this kind of innovation, and it is only continuing to grow. And
we are on this--I mean, space has always been referred to as
the final frontier, but we are continuing to push that
envelope, which is--which is great. Could you give the
Committee, or the three of us, I suppose, an idea of what you
are doing or some specific efforts that you have employed as
commissioner or the Agency in general to help foster that kind
of innovation as Opposed to being an impediment, because this
is one of the--you know, obviously, the great concerns is
government getting too involved, potentially stymieing some of
that innovation, and this is--you know, with space.
I appreciate your comment earlier about China. I serve on
the Armed Services Committee as well, and, you know, China is
playing for keeps, and space is, you know, sort of ground zero
for that competition that we are in. So just if you could walk
through some of the things that you are doing that help foster
innovation as opposed to hinder it.
Senator Nelson. Our seed corn is research and development.
We do not want to ever give that up, and that is the mission of
NASA. It may be in space. It may be aeronautics. It may be in
climate by what I just described. It may be looking for
asteroids. It may be trying to understand these phenomenon that
you are being briefed on in the Senate Armed Services Committee
on UAPs. It has got a new name: unidentified anomalous
phenomena.
Senator Schmitt. Mm-hmm.
Senator Nelson. It may be all of this, but it is the
research and development that allows this country to move
forward, so we see it in so many things. The reason it is going
to accelerate and sustain itself is we do it not just as a
government agency, but we do it with our commercial partners
and now our international partners, and that all brings to the
table a new mix of research and development, whether we are
talking about space.
Let's take the example there, our going back to the moon.
Now we go and have already demonstrated, without a crew on the
test flight, the Artemis Mission Number I, and the spacecraft,
Orion, flying around the moon, we are putting a crew on. But we
go with commercial partners because the third mission, we are
going into lunar orbit. We are going to start to establish a
lunar space station, and we are joining up with a commercial
lander. The first winner of the first competition was SpaceX.
We have a second competition that is just coming to a close,
and the winner of that competition, so we--will be announced
very shortly, and so we will have two landers. And, therefore,
it is a public/private partnership.
We also--to go back to the moon this time in a different
way, we go with our international partners. That was not the
case half a century ago. We did it as the U.S. Government. This
time, even on the first crew, the ones that are coming here to
Capitol Hill today, our first international astronaut is Jeremy
Hansen, a Canadian F-18 Royal Air Force pilot. And so it is the
beginning of these international crews. Now, on the
International Space Station, we have been having international
crews there ever since the late 1990s when we opened up the
International Space Station.
Senator Schmitt. Well, I appreciate that, and I am limited
on time, but I do want to make the point in following up with
some of the comments from Senator Cruz. And he was talking
about climate, and you have indicated that China is a--is a
serious threat competitor here. In the budget, it is worth
noting that China is mentioned one time in the budget.
[Cellphone ringing.]
Senator Schmitt. ``Les Miserables.'' I hear the ringtone.
China is mentioned one time, but climate and DEI-related
items were mentioned 153 times in the budget. Talk about
priorities, not that that is the litmus test, but my concern is
in also serving on Armed Services Committee, we have had
leadership of Senator Wicker as the ranking member, had a lot
of questions to some political appointees to those positions
about, again, this obsession with this political ideology. And
NASA has had such a great reputation, I do not want to see NASA
dragged into these political fights and the politicization that
dominates everything. NASA has no business in that.
So it is more of a comment than a question. I would urge
you to rethink this--again, this administration's obsession
with this divisive ideology that is now finding its way in
military budgets, NASA budgets, and I just think it is
completely wrongheaded, but thank you for your time today.
Senator Nelson. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Sinema. Senator Wicker.
STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER WICKER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSISSIPPI
Senator Wicker. Well, thank you very much, and it is great
to see you again, Mr. Administrator, and I congratulate you on
the great work you are doing. It may come as a total shock to
you that I would want to ask about the Stennis Space Center.
But you and I have worked on this world-class facility in the
past, and I understand you have some words of encouragement
about Stennis and other space centers as we transition to a
different phase of NASA's long and very vital career. So what
could you tell us on the record about that?
Senator Nelson. The Stennis Space Center is a very valuable
national asset because it is the location that, when we are
developing exquisite new engines, we have to go to test them.
And it is strategically located so that huge rockets can be
delivered there on barges on the canals that once tested, and
their motors in the integrated form can be put back on the
barges and sent to the launch site wherever the launch site is.
Now, the testing of rocket engines is not going to cease.
It is going to continue, but they are new kind of rocket
engines, so it is not just government rocket engines. It is now
commercial rocket engines because, indeed, there is a very
viable commercial space industry now, not only satellites but
also rockets that are finding cheaper ways to get up to orbit
because of exquisite new materials and manufacturing
techniques.
So I see a very bright future for the Stennis Space Center,
and that future, I think, includes, because Stennis has so many
thousands and thousands of acres of land so that its testing
does not disturb the surrounding community, I think it becomes
a multi-user space center--test center that will be utilized by
many other users other than the U.S. Government. But beyond
NASA, I think in the U.S. Government, there are many other
users in the U.S. Government that will test in the future and,
in fact, are beginning to test at Stennis.
Senator Wicker. OK. Well, let me then transition to another
aspect of this, and that is the budget for rocket propulsion
testing. It has held steady. I would have preferred and been
more reassured if that had been increased over time as only a
0.8 percent proposed increase from Fiscal Year 2023 to Fiscal
Year 2024. Where do you see that going, and giving the--given
the unfunded infrastructure projects in our rocket propulsion
test centers, is this funding request going to be sufficient to
sustain the programs?
Senator Nelson. I want to see it increase and, thus, all
the more reason that you all need to keep us out of budgetary
chaos. And I am not talking about in the next few weeks. I am
talking about also when we get close to September the 30 and we
need a new appropriations bill. So your question specifically
is, are we going to have increased need of increased
appropriations in order to provide the testing facilities for
our space rocket, and the answer, in large part, is up to you.
By the way, we have $5 billion of unmet needs on
infrastructure. Fortunately, we were able to address some of it
in an emergency appropriations for both Michoud and New Orleans
as well as Stennis because of hurricanes. So in a hurricane
supplemental, we were able to repair damage, but this is
throughout all NASA's 10 senator--10 centers and 10 facilities.
We are sucking air when it comes to the needs of
infrastructure.
Senator Wicker. OK. Well, I appreciate your answer, and,
Madam Chair, I will yield back in a sentence or two. But I
think what I hear you say is that, yes, we could and, in fact,
need some additional appropriation in order for these testing
facilities to meet the needs that we have. I certainly agree
with you when you talk about continuing resolutions and the way
they do not meet the needs and, in fact, waste--waste--billions
and billions of dollars when we are forced to continue under
last year's plan rather than move forward on what is actually
needed. So I appreciate you working with us on this, and, of
course, you do not have a stronger supporter of the Artemis
Program and the space programs then many of the members on this
side of the dais. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. Senator Hickenlooper.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HICKENLOOPER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO
Senator Hickenlooper. Yes, and thank you, Mr. Nelson. We
have got some sort of a space object between us.
You have referred a little bit to some of the risks and
dangers of debris. The Orbits Act, which passed the Senate
unanimously in the 117th Congress, would jumpstart a
partnership with industry to figure out how we are going to
develop the technologies to get this debris out of the LEO. I
think it is--it is critical for tackling this problem that
continues to grow.
Now, other nations, including European nations, the
Japanese space agencies have all established dedicated programs
to advance their own debris removal technologies. Can you
describe NASA's current efforts to address orbital debris and
what you could call the orbital debris crisis, and how does
NASA plan to maintain its global leadership in active debris
removal?
Senator Nelson. It is a real problem, and we are going to
have some catastrophic consequences if we cannot get nations
that are launching things into space to provide enough fuel to
have a controlled reentry and, in fact, to have a reentry so
that all the junk is not sitting up there. One of the obvious
examples is the ASAT test that was done by China a decade ago
put tens of thousands of pieces right in that zone of altitude
of where a lot of our spacecraft are and, indeed, our
International Space Station.
Most recently, Russia as well about a year ago did an ASAT
test, unbelievably putting junk into the very altitude where
the International Space Station is, which they built with us
and operate with us with their cosmonauts on board. And, in
fact, we have had to move the space station to a higher
elevation to get out of the way of junk that we can identify.
And earlier in the hearing, I was saying that we can
identify in low earth orbit objects that are that long or
greater, but smaller stuff, we cannot even identify yet, and it
is a real threat. I mean a speck of a paint chip coming at the
right velocity at the right angle, you can imagine what it
could do to a space suit on a spacewalk of an asteroid.
So there has got to be not only our effort, and it looks
like we have to lead the international effort, to be serious
about designing everything that we are launching, that it has a
minimal amount, preferably none, amount of junk that is going
to be up in space, either to let it degrade and burn up on
reentry, or to get it into a higher graveyard orbit----
Senator Hickenlooper. Right.
Senator Nelson.--where it is not going to threaten
anything.
Senator Hickenlooper. Great. I appreciate that. We are
working on it as well to try and provide you the resources
for--to make sure that technology does get developed in this
country. Going to let you free range a little bit just with the
last question, which you only have about 40 seconds. We have a
whole bunch--over 200 Colorado companies have played a role in
the successful Artemis I mission, supporting the development of
a space launch system and the Orion spacecraft. The CAPSTONE
satellite is owned and operated actually by a Colorado company,
Advanced Space. I think they are still orbiting the moon as we
speak sending back critical information for the Artemis
mission. So just giving you an open palette, can you describe
the value of the public/private partnership in our return to
the moon? How is NASA engaging our industry partners to keep
the human landing systems and the Lunar Gateway on budget and
on schedule? And you are only going to have about--maybe you
will get 5 extra seconds.
Senator Nelson. Well, I----
Senator Hickenlooper. You might have to--you might have
to--actually, I should rephrase that. You might have to respond
to that in a written since--now that I see that the----
Senator Nelson. Well, I cannot say it in 5 seconds, but I
can say that that mission that you are referring to, it is
characterizing the orbit that eventually our Gateway or space
station will go in.
Senator Hickenlooper. Right.
Senator Nelson. It is a California--it is a Colorado
company that, in fact, did manufacture the spacecraft, and what
is illustrative, it was launched by a private rocket company
that, albeit an American company, also it was launched from a
foreign location, in this case, New Zealand. Rocket Lab is the
company. And it is providing exactly information that we need
that the government did not have to do it, but we need that
information about this new orbit that we are going to put our
Gateway Space Station in lunar orbit.
Senator Hickenlooper. Yes, that is great. We are big fans.
I yield back. Thank you.
Senator Sinema. Senator Budd.
STATEMENT OF HON. TED BUDD,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA
Senator Budd. Thank you, Chairwoman. Administrator, thank
you for being here today. It is an honor to meet you. Thank you
for your service. You know, this committee, as you know, is
working through the FAA reauthorization. One area that I hope
gets a lot of attention is next-generation aviation
technologies. You know, in your testimony, I believe you
mentioned the X-59 Low-Boom Supersonic Aircraft Program under
NASA's aeronautics research arm. So that flight program could
help unlock next-generation commercial supersonic flight
through reduced noise pollution.
For example, in Greensboro, North Carolina, North Carolina
being the great state that I get to represent, boom supersonic
plans to manufacture a commercial supersonic airliner that will
revolutionize travel. So what is the current status of the X-59
Low-Boom Program, and, specifically, how close is NASA to
meeting its goals on designing and building the research
aircraft and flying it over the U.S.?
Senator Nelson. And your state is first in flight.
Senator Budd. Thank you for that.
Senator Nelson. The X-59, which is this extraordinarily
super designed needle-nosed aircraft is going to fly at the end
of this year. It will fly out of Edwards Air Force Base. Let us
see. It is coming out of the Skunk Works at Palmdale, but I am
pretty sure it is going to fly at Edwards, and what it will do
is what you just said. It will fly supersonic but its design is
such a radical design, that instead of pushing the bow wave
going through the atmosphere, as you go from subsonic to
supersonic, which causes that audible sound that goes ``boom,
boom,'' it will, because of the design as you go supersonic, it
will be a muffled roar.
Senator Budd. Mm-hmm.
Senator Nelson. And the whole thing is just what you said,
designed to allow us to travel supersonic over populated areas.
An obvious one would be from coast to coast. Now, back in the
old days when they had the French Concord, which was Mach 2,
two times the speed of sound, they didn't fly supersonic over
the ocean, but when they got to the shores of either Europe or
any other location, they had to slow down subsonic because of
that ``boom'' being such a shattering sound.
Senator Budd. So you hope to fly by the end of the year out
of Edwards or Palmdale, but what data do you hope to collect,
and how could a successful demonstration clear the way for
aircraft manufacturers, like Boom in North Carolina, hopefully
not just first in flight in our state, but first in
supersonics, how could that help them to have regulatory
certainty that there is going to be a market for overland
supersonic flight?
Senator Nelson. Well, as a matter of fact, specifically on
that question, there are, in fact, private companies that are
getting into the business now of supersonic transports, but
they do not have this characteristic. So your question
essentially is, is there a market out there in going into the
headwinds from coast to coast that would normally take you 5, 6
hours? Is there a market out there to cut that almost in half?
And I suspect there is, and if you can do that----
Now, you asked also about the testing. This thing is first
going to be tested to make sure it flies, and then once they
get through that, what we are going to do is a multi-year test,
taking it to different locations all over the United States,
and see if the muffled roar is acceptable to the people on the
ground.
Senator Budd. So, Administrator, that is the data you are
looking for to see if it is acceptable to the public for
overland flight?
Senator Nelson. That is correct.
Senator Budd. Thank you. Chairwoman, I yield back.
Senator Sinema. Senator Lujan.
STATEMENT OF HON. BEN RAY LUJAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO
Senator Lujan. Thank you, Madam Chair, and, Administrator
Nelson, thank you so much for being with us today and for your
continued service.
Over the past several decades, Congress has created several
agency-modified, nonprofit research foundations. Some of those
examples, Administrator, are the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation, the Food and Agriculture Research Foundation, as
well and most recently the Department of Energy foundation for
Energy Research and Innovation. I believe that a foundation at
NASA might help attract more partnerships, more public/private
ventures and investments. And so my question, Administrator, is
with an appropriate mission and funding, do you believe that
NASA could benefit from a foundation to help develop public/
private research partnerships, and would NASA be able to use a
foundation to enrich public education on space and provide
awareness of its role?
Senator Nelson. I do not know the answer to the question. I
do know that, Senator, we do everything that we can to partner
with not only commercial industry but also universities and
other academic institutions. And it has been enormously
successful, and the proof is in the pudding. You look at, for
example, commercial crew to the International Space Station.
That has cost NASA significantly less. Our partner, in this
case, SpaceX soon to come Boeing with their Starliner, which
should fly later on in the year for the first time with crew,
it is on a fixed-price contract, and it delivers crew and cargo
to the International Space Station. That was an employment of
commercial activities, ingenuity, creativity in a way that NASA
had never done, doing it all as a government program in the
past.
So, too, in our science research, we join up with
commercial ventures as well as academic institutions. We put
out a lot of grants, and we specifically, by the way,
considering your state, we put those grants into areas that do
not normally identify with the aerospace communities because we
want the creativity of, in one example, rural communities, that
creativity to be brought forth in the scientific research.
So I think we have got the approach of a public/private,
for that matter, international partnerships now that we are
getting the biggest bang for the buck.
Senator Lujan. I appreciate that response, sir. You are
familiar with the NASA White Sands Test Facility out in New
Mexico, Administrator, which was established back in 1962. It
is 94 square miles located on the western slopes of the San
Andreas Mountains, which is 18 miles north of our largest city
in the area Las Cruces, New Mexico, and has supported the
testing of space flight equipment for decades. Unfortunately,
we know that site operations resulted in the release of
hazardous substances, including volatile organic compounds from
tanks and impoundments used to store waste materials.
NASA is currently stabilizing the contaminant plumes so
that it does not grow any bigger, but NASA's own modeling shows
this method is not effective at removing all of the
contaminants. Even after running the system for 100 years,
model simulations show that contaminants are still present.
Does NASA believe that it has a responsibility to fully remove
the contaminants from the groundwater?
Senator Nelson. Yes, sir.
Senator Lujan. And, Administrator, can we expect NASA to
identify additional restoration actions?
Senator Nelson. As a matter of fact, we have already spent
$200 million to date to address this groundwater contamination
problem, and we are committed to continuing the investigation
and evaluation, along with our partner, the New Mexico
Environment Department.
Senator Lujan. I appreciate that, sir. Administrator, I
would like to follow up with your--you and your team on this
particular issue. It does matter to us, and there has been a
communication from myself and United States Senator Heinrich in
the past, going back to 2022, to the Deputy Assistant Secretary
of the Army asking about their role and responsibility. And at
the time, the response that came back to us said that it was
too early to assess damages. It has been about--you know, we
are going to be coming up on a year here soon, but just want to
make sure that we are on the same page, so I look forward to
following up with you, sir.
Senator Nelson. We are on the same page, and NASA owns and
operates that local public water system, so we have every
reason to continue this investigation.
Senator Lujan. I appreciate that, sir. Thank you, Madam
Chair.
Senator Sinema. Thank you, Senator Lujan. Administrator
Nelson, we have a few Senators who are on their way back. In
the meantime, I am going to ask a few questions while we wait
for them to arrive.
The last time I was asking questions, I was asking about
the CHIPS and Science Act as it relates to Arizona's unique
climate issues, such as water, and heat--urban heat, so I want
to kind of pick up on that. My question for you now is how will
NASA ensure that all the data that is gathered through the
Earth System Observatory, how can we ensure that it is
available to all states, and tribes, researchers, et cetera, in
a timely manner so that, in Arizona, we can address issues like
urban heat and water availability?
As you recall, the CHIPS and Science Act requires that that
data be provided. Does NASA have a plan to do so in a timely
manner?
Senator Nelson. Yes, ma'am, and let me give you a specific
answer to your question. Knowing that we have this great
observatory that is being put up with four additional elements
in addition to what we already have, and the specificity of
information of what is happening to the earth and its climate
that will result therefrom, yours truly said we have got to get
this information out to everybody. And I knew the concept of a
mission control center where everything is on display, so I
said why can't we do this for all the information that we are
bringing in from all of these assets that are up in space.
What has come to be is our request that was funded the
first time last year, we are asking for that funding this
coming year, the Earth Information Center. And I see that not
just as a physical location in many different locations where
people could go, but I see that being offered virtually to
everybody--school children, international partners, everybody.
We are going to get a first glimpse of this because we have
taken the east lobby of our building, which is a stone's throw
from here, about 4 or 5 blocks away, and we are remaking that
lobby into a very preliminary example of what an earth
information center would offer, complete with a board that is
constantly bringing information. That is going to be open in
about 3 or 4 weeks, and so I want you to come and see it.
And it is just an example of something to come, and that
something to come it is going to be extensive information
available at the touch of a click.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. Arizona's major role in space
extends to the private sector, and I am proud of the diversity
of space companies in my state and everything that they are
doing and accomplishing for the Nation. We have a robust
business climate in Arizona and look forward to our commercial
space partners' continued success. How does NASA plan to invest
in the commercial space industry through large programs, like
Moon to Mars or Artemis, that will drive innovation and
competition?
Senator Nelson. Everything that we are doing is being
approached in this commercial public/private partnership. So if
it is the example that Senator Lujan was talking about of going
to the moon, we have a public/private partnership. The
government is going to get there with Artemis, with the
capsule, Orion, but then a commercial lander is going to
rendezvous and dock, and the lander is going to take the crew
to the surface. We see that in science. We see the commercial
partnerships that are being done.
Another example is the Senator from Colorado, Senator
Hickenlooper, was talking about this Colorado private startup
company. They have got an instrument in this new orbit that we
are going into at the moon that is polar, it is elliptical, and
we have never been in that kind of orbit. We are doing it
because we are going to have constant ability to communicate
with our spacecraft at the moon because it is not going behind
the back side of the moon where we lose radio contact. A
California startup instrument put up by a private rocket
company is what has that instrument in that unusual orbit
called the NHRO Orbit.
Senator Sinema. Thank you. Senator Rosen.
STATEMENT OF HON. JACKY ROSEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA
Senator Rosen. Well, thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate
you calling on me, and, of course, Administrator Nelson.
Senator Nelson, it is so good to see you here today and hear
all the great things that you are working on. I want to talk a
little bit about some things going on in Nevada because we have
an area called Railroad Valley, which NASA has been asking for
a land withdrawal on that.
So last month, the Bureau of Land Management has approved
NASA's application for the withdrawal of over 22,000 acres of
public land in Railroad Valley. This area is located in Nye
County. It is being used by NASA for calibrating satellites. My
team has been told that this site is the only one of its kind
in the United States and benefits critical research and
national security initiatives.
However, this area in Nevada is also rich with lithium and
other critical minerals, and a number of clean energy companies
are also looking to pursue projects there. These projects could
help provide our domestic supply chain with critical minerals
and further our clean energy goals. So I am, therefore,
disappointed that up until now and the withdrawal announcement
just last month, my office, Nye County, and other stakeholders
have had a very difficult time learning about NASA's land
request and getting in touch with your Agency. You know, over
80 percent of Nevada's land is Federal, so communication for us
is key in ensuring responsible multiple-use land management.
And so can you--will you commit to improving NASA's
communication about this effort with my office, Nye County, and
other stakeholders as we look at the Railroad Valley land
withdrawal and see what the impact is, and really work with
Bureau of Land Management with the entities that are interested
in developing there as well?
Senator Nelson. Let me define the problem and give you the
background. What does this area do? It is flat, and it has a
reflective value because of the composition of the soil, that
there are only three places in the world that have this:
Nevada, China, and Libya, three others outside of the United
States, including Israel. Israel, China, Libya, and this site,
of which we calibrate our satellites by being able to beam to
the earth and those beams come back in order for the satellite
to be doing whatever it does. That includes the DOD and the
NRO; in other words, the defense and the intelligence missions.
Now, from a matter of national security and certainly for the
operation of civilian satellites that we operate, we think this
is of such an importance, that the United States would not have
this access if we were to rely on trying to go to China to do
this, or Libya, or, for that matter, our ally, Israel. And as a
result, it is essential from a standpoint of national security.
Now, your mining companies think that there is lithium
there, and that ought to be explored, but not at the expense of
our national security. And indeed, we have talked to your
staff, certainly this committee staff, about this issue. Back
last year, Senator Cortez Masto called me, and we talked at
length about this very project. And to your question--am I
committed to continue talking to you--yes, ma'am, I certainly
am, and maybe I ought to come out there to Nevada and the two
of us go take a look at this, and I would be happy to do that.
Senator Rosen. Yes. We welcome you coming to Nevada. Like I
said, over 80 percent of our land is owned or managed by--it is
all public land, and so many different agencies have access to
that. In the meantime, we also have to live with all of that
and try to be sure that we are doing the right thing for
national security and safety and for our folks in Nevada who
live there. So I welcome your visit and to continue this
conversation on this and other issues with aeronautical
research, and the EPSCoR, and other things in STEM as well. So
we will continue the conversation. Thank you so much.
Senator Nelson. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Sinema. Senator Blackburn.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARSHA BLACKBURN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM TENNESSEE
Senator Blackburn. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Administrator
Nelson, we are always happy to see you and appreciate that you
are there today. I do have a couple of questions for you.
Oakridge National Labs. As you are well aware, they are
leading the charge on R&D when it comes to new materials,
fuels, petrol solutions that are necessary for the Nuclear
Thermal Propulsion Program and the success of that program. So
what I would like to hear from you, as NASA and DARPA move
forward with this interagency agreement, how will these two
agencies continue to work through R&D that is critical to this
program? How are they going to leverage the National Labs and
continue to work with them so there is a continuum and a
process for this research? And are they going to leverage that
research from our National Labs to be certain that we meet
those programmatic goals?
Senator Nelson. Senator, this research is absolutely
critical for us exploring the heavens. Under conventional
technology, chemical propulsion, it would take us 6, 8,
depending on the alignment of the planets, 10 months to get to
Mars. We just simply cannot sustain a crew for that long, get
to Mars, and then have to stay on the surface of Mars for a
year or 2 years until the planets realigned in order for us to
get back to earth in the same amount of time. And so we got to
go faster.
Nuclear thermal and nuclear electric are the two
propulsions that can get us there a lot faster. May I say that
for the first time, last year, we were able to get in the
President's budget, albeit the Congress has been authorizing
nuclear thermal research money, but we got everybody on the
same page now, all asking for these technologies to be
developed.
Nuclear thermal, as you just pointed out, is the first one
out of the gate, and it is a joint project between DARPA and
NASA. By the way, this is low-enriched uranium. This is not
weapons-grade uranium, and the heat that comes from that
enriched/low-ridge enriched goes into making nuclear thermal
propulsion or the other one, nuclear electric.
It is my hope that we are going to get a joint project with
other agencies that will start working on nuclear electric, but
they are in Tennessee. You are involved with nuclear thermal,
and that is underway as we speak.
Senator Blackburn. Well, and I think we all look at this,
and we know for a space force to be successful, we have to pick
up the pace in this. I want to ask you also about the unmanned
aircraft systems because your reauthorization last year gave
you the opportunity to work in this space. And as you are doing
some research work on the UAS, I would love to hear from you.
We know the Chinese are very aggressive in this. Are you
working with any Chinese drone manufacturers or not? What is
your participation? Is there private sector participation with
you in this program?
Senator Nelson. Yes, ma'am. We are seeing in front of our
eyes the change of air transport and mobility as a result of
drones. Not only are we seeing the commercial use of these
drones, but we are going to see the transport of humans,
particularly in the urban setting. So if you want to go from
downtown Washington to Dulles and you do not want to fight all
the traffic, you will be able to get on a human-rated drone
that will lift off electric propulsion and will take you out to
Dulles. This will remake transportation in the urban setting
and even short----
Senator Blackburn. And are you working with any Chinese
manufacturers or any Chinese-based research in these programs?
Senator Nelson. Not to my knowledge. As a matter of fact,
the----
Senator Blackburn. Will you look further into that and
confirm to us either yes or no?
Senator Nelson. Of course.
Senator Blackburn. Awesome.
Senator Nelson. But let me say that we are well down the
road working with American companies on this air mobility.
Senator Blackburn. Excellent. Thank you so much. Thanks,
Madam Chairman. I yield back.
Senator Sinema. Thank you, Senator. Administrator Nelson,
thank you so much for your participation today.
The hearing record will remain open for 4 weeks, until June
13 of 2023. Any Senators that would like to submit questions
for the record should do so 2 weeks from now, by May 30 of
2023. We ask that responses be returned to the Committee by
June 13, 2023.
And with that, our hearing is concluded.
[Whereupon, the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
Hon. Bill Nelson
Space Technology Development Funding
The Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) is critical to the
Artemis program and more broadly, to the commercial space industry. In
partnership, STMD and commercial industry are developing the
technologies we need to establish a sustainable lunar presence and
develop a truly commercial economy in Low Earth orbit (LEO).
Innovative technologies and space capabilities create jobs and
opportunity in my state and across the country. For example, Ultra Safe
Nuclear Corporation in Seattle received funding from the Space
Technology Mission Directorate to develop advanced nuclear power and
propulsion systems to propel humans to Mars and provide power to our
astronauts on the Moon.
Innovative technologies and space capabilities create jobs and
opportunity in my state and across the country. For example, Ultra Safe
Nuclear Corporation in Seattle received funding from the Space
Technology Mission Directorate to develop advanced nuclear power and
propulsion systems to propel humans to Mars and provide power to our
astronauts on the Moon. The Directorate also funds space flight
opportunities for industry start-ups such as Starfish Space in Kent,
and Gravitics in Marysville to demonstrate important capabilities in
orbit such as cleaning up dangerous space debris and maintaining
privately operated facilities for in-space assembly and manufacturing
(ISAM).
Question 1. The STMD budget has been relatively flat in recent
years and last year's appropriation provided over $200 million less
than the President's Budget Request. This year's request restores most,
but not all of the $200 million gap. Can you describe the impact of not
fully funding STMD at the FY 24 request level on critical technology
development activities and partnerships with industry?
Answer. Not funding STMD at the FY 2024 budget request would
negatively impact the development of crosscutting technologies that
enhance capabilities and reduce the cost of space missions. For
example:
Minimal funding for the Fission Surface Power (FSP) and
Nuclear Electric Propulsion projects, impacting the technology
development needed for Artemis and risk delaying the timeline
for living and working sustainably on the lunar surface
Cancelation of ongoing Technology Maturation projects,
impacting NASA's ability to deliver critical mission needs and
to do meaningful technology research and development
activities, and delaying delivery of surface technologies by
approximately 1 year;
Inability to award new Early Stage Innovation proposals,
impacting university partners conducting technology research
and development;
Cancelation of the 2023 Announcement of Collaboration
Opportunity (ACO) solicitation, rendering NASA unable to award
and initiate new ACO projects, further impacting partnerships
with industry and support to Artemis and science mission needs;
Greater impacts to critical technology development should be
expected if STMD is funded below the FY 2023, $1.2B, level, leading to
cancellation of additional ongoing projects with strong industry
partnerships.
Question 2. What would be the impact to NASA's programs and
infrastructure of falling below the growth rate requested by the
President's budget request over the next five years?
Answer. Cuts to the Science budget request could result in delay or
cancellation of multiple missions currently in formulation. Lower than
expected budgets will likely impact NASA's ability to issue new
competitive opportunities across Science Divisions, impacting science
communities across the country and their progress on critical research.
Any cuts to the Exploration Systems Development budget request
would impact NASA's ability to carry out the Moon to Mars lunar
program. After the success of the Artemis I mission, NASA is at a
critical juncture for human spaceflight. Significant efforts are
underway to execute the Artemis II, Artemis III, and Artemis IV
missions, all planned to occur within the next 4 years.
Reductions from the FY 2024 budget request could result in delays
to the Artemis IV launch. Artemis IV will initiate the sustained lunar
operation model with Gateway's delivery to lunar orbit, initial Gateway
expansion with International Habitat through the international
partnership with the European Space Agency, and demonstration of
sustained Human Landing System docking with Gateway for crew exchange
and continued exploration of the lunar surface.
Reductions could also force the Agency to terminate or not award
contracts for new and ongoing systems production and development to
support work on Artemis V and beyond. This could include not issuing
planned awards for the Lunar Terrain Vehicle that would support mobile
Lunar exploration and portions of the SLS and Orion production
contracts for Artemis V and beyond. These actions could result in
contractor layoffs. NASA could also be forced to halt/delay any Mars
development efforts.
In the area of Space Operations, cuts to the budget request could
delay the procurement of the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV), potentially
slipping the date of its availability to safely deorbit the
International Space Station (ISS) in 2030. Reductions in funding to the
Commercial LEO Development (CLD) program would delay the operational
availability of one or more platforms NASA would otherwise use to
continue its important exploration research efforts in LEO after the
deorbiting of ISS and avoid a gap in U.S. human presence. Finally, a
reduction in space station operations funding could require NASA to fly
fewer crew and cargo missions to ISS, which would result in a reduction
in the amount of research and utilization on orbit. In addition, budget
reductions will impact the ability of the Space Communications and
Navigation (SCaN) program to fully support Artemis and Science
community missions, as well as address infrastructure shortfalls.
Reduced funding for aeronautics could force NASA to cut investments
in cutting-edge aviation technologies that will increase the speed,
efficiency, and safety of air travel, and significantly reduce
emissions.
Reductions from the budget request would curtail technology
development with commercial partners intended to increase U.S. space
capabilities, stimulate the U.S. economy, and create jobs.
NASA may be forced to reduce awards to Space Grant and other space
STEM-related programs that educate our Nation's next generation of
scientists, engineers, and explorers, decreasing participate by an
estimated one million students and educators.
The FY 2024 request provides needed funding for critical
infrastructure needs. If the requested funding level is not sustained,
NASA would be severely limited in its ability to right size its
infrastructure portfolio and improve the overall health and reliability
of its facilities and assets through the Agency Master Plan. There
would also be a continued growth of NASA's Deferred Maintenance, with
the most recent estimate growing to over $3.0B, the highest level
ever.
Question 3. Administrator Nelson, can you update us on the standing
up of the new program office and implementing its Congressional
requirements? Can you also explain how the office intends to
incorporate capabilities provided by Artemis mission partners into the
overall Moon to Mars architecture?
Answer. The new Moon to Mars Program Office was established within
the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA
Headquarters on March 30, 2023. As directed by the 2022 NASA
Authorization Act, the Moon to Mars Program Office focuses on hardware
development, mission integration, and risk management functions for
programs critical to the Agency's exploration approach that uses
Artemis missions at the Moon to open a new era of scientific discovery
and prepare for human missions to Mars. This includes the Space Launch
System rocket, Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, human
landing systems, spacesuits, Gateway, and more related to deep space
exploration. The new office will also lead planning and analysis for
long-lead developments to support human missions to Mars. Through our
international and public-private partnerships, NASA will leverage
capabilities provided by mission partners to build a sustainable
Artemis architecture that creates a lunar exploration plan and
establishes a clear path to the human exploration of Mars.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to
Hon. Bill Nelson
Growing the STEM Workforce
For NASA to continue to innovate, we need to attract the next
generation of engineers, inventors, chemists, biologists, astronauts,
and so much more. That means ensuring that all American students
receive the best training and education to compete with other economies
around the world.
Question 1. How is NASA leveraging its budget to build a more
diverse STEM workforce, expanding K-12 student engagement, and building
partnerships in the technology sector?
Answer. NASA makes vital investments toward building a diverse
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce. Our
STEM engagement endeavors to attract, engage, and educate students and
to support educators and educational institutions. Given the Nation's
need for a skilled STEM workforce and projected demand, NASA clearly
has a vested interest in attracting, engaging, and preparing its future
STEM professionals. The national STEM ecosystem will benefit from NASA
contributions to attract and retain students on STEM pathways, with
increased attention on underserved and underrepresented students.
NASA implements strategies to broaden student participation to
increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in STEM
through NASA opportunities and activities. While the number of women
and underrepresented minorities earning STEM degrees has grown in broad
science and engineering occupations over the last decade, significant
underrepresentation remains in areas critical to NASA such as
engineering and computer and mathematical sciences. NASA is committed
to building a diverse, skilled future STEM workforce--our next
generation of explorers with the technical skills needed to carry
forward our Nation's vital mission and work in aeronautics and space
into the future.
Additional steps to improve STEM engagement among underrepresented
students include the recent funding of more than $5 million to seven
Women's Colleges and Universities (WCUs) to research and develop
strategies that increase retention of women in STEM degree programs and
careers. The agency's Minority University Research and Education
Project (MUREP) created the Women's Colleges and Universities
opportunity to help women overcome obstacles and barriers to working in
the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. This award
seeks to address the significant national gender gap and disparate
experiences of women in STEM in the United States, both in higher
education and the workforce. This funding opportunity asked Women's
Colleges and Universities to take advantage of their expertise by
developing programs that encompass academics, research, student
support, college prep, career prep, mentoring, and more. NASA explores
the unknown for all, and values diversity, equity, inclusion, and
accessibility for the future STEM and agency workforce.
Food Security/Agriculture
NASA has been at the forefront of applying Earth observation to
address critical agricultural and food security challenges facing our
farmers, ranchers, and food systems. NASA has partnered with the USDA
to provide publicly available satellite images to estimate global
growing conditions, such as soil moisture.
Question 2. Do you agree that making this kind of data available to
farmers can improve soil health and boost productivity?
Answer. NASA, in partnership with the USDA, helps farmers and the
agriculture industry in a variety of ways. For example, NASA's soil
moisture data enables the assessment of existing conditions and the
extent to which these conditions are localized or regional. Farmers and
the agriculture industry integrate this information into groundwater
models and crop models that use multiple NASA and ground observations
(e.g., evapotranspiration, precipitation, ground and surface water
supply, vegetation health). Integrating these data advances the
agriculture communities' ability to provide crop condition forecasts,
assess the risk of flash drought, provide irrigation decision support,
and provide fertilizer management for efficient applications to reduce
costs and protect the environment. This information enables farmers to
assess whether farm management practices are improving soil health and
supports efforts to maintain or improve crop yields.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema to
Hon. Bill Nelson
NEO Surveyor Mission
Thank you for your time and insights during the NASA FY24 budget
hearing earlier this month. I was particularly grateful for our
productive exchange on the NEO Surveyor mission and the critical role
it plays in planetary defense. As you know, I have strongly supported
funding for this mission in the past and want to ensure it is funded
adequately this year and in the future to ensure it remains on track
for the March 2028 deadline. I was very happy to hear NASA remains
confident of that timeline and that the mission is a priority.
As you also know, since the hearing a bipartisan compromise
agreement to raise the Nation's borrowing limit and make changes to the
Federal budget has been released. Specifically, the proposed text of
H.R. 3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, would cap non-defense
discretionary spending at $703.7B for FY2024 and $710.7 for FY25. This
would impact Federal agencies across the board, including NASA.
Question 1. Can you commit to maintain the NEO Surveyor mission as
a NASA priority this year and into the future, including as discussed
at the hearing and in the FY24 budget request, so that the mission
remains on target to launch in 2028 and achieve its goals?
Answer. In November 2022, NASA approved the NEO Surveyor mission to
proceed into implementation with a committed launch date of no later
than June 2028. The FY 2024 President's Budget Request supports that
development schedule, and the mission is on track for launch. The main
goal of the NEO Surveyor mission is to find two-thirds of potentially
hazardous asteroids >140 meters within 5 years, and >90 percent of
these in 10 years; the latter of which would fulfill the George E.
Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey as contained in the NASA
Authorization Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-155).
Budgetary Compromise
In the FY24 budget request NASA set clear priorities for the agency
to advance science, plant new boot prints on the Moon, and continue the
study of climate change here on Earth, among other important
initiatives. Although the ultimate contours of any budget compromise
legislative remain to be finalized, it is inevitable that spending caps
for FY24 and FY25 will have some impact on NASA.
Question 2. Given this reality, are there are any general or
specific areas of concern that you were unable to or that now differ
from what you presented at the hearing? Are there particular programs
or initiatives that must be prioritized or adjusted in light of this?
Answer. Cuts to the Science budget request could result in delay or
cancellation of multiple missions currently in formulation. Lower than
expected budgets will likely impact NASA's ability to issue new
competitive opportunities across Science Divisions, impacting science
communities across the country and their progress on critical research.
Without the levels of investment proposed in the Science budget
request, NASA will struggle to move toward launching the complementary
missions in its Earth System Observatory and undertake cutting-edge
science necessary to assess a rapidly changing climate and mitigate
natural hazards..
Cuts to the Exploration Systems Development budget request would
impact NASA's ability to carry out the Moon to Mars lunar program.
After the success of the Artemis I mission, NASA is at a critical
juncture for Human Spaceflight
Significant efforts are underway to execute Artemis II, Artemis
III, and Artemis IV missions, all planned to occur within the next 4
years.
Reductions from the FY 2024 budget request could result in
substantial delays to the Artemis IV launch. Artemis IV will initiate
the sustained lunar operation model with Gateway's delivery to lunar
orbit, initial Gateway expansion with International Habitat through the
international partnership with the European Space Agency, and
demonstration of sustained Human Landing System docking with Gateway
for crew exchange and continued exploration of the lunar surface.
Reductions could also force the Agency to terminate or not award
contracts for new and ongoing systems production and development to
support work on Artemis V and beyond. This could include not issuing
planned awards for the Lunar Terrain Vehicle that would support mobile
Lunar exploration and some portion of the SLS and Orion production
contracts for Artemis V and beyond. These actions could result in
contractor layoffs. NASA could also be forced to halt/delay any Mars
development efforts.
Reductions could result in decreased investments in cutting-edge
aviation technologies that will increase the speed, efficiency, and
safety of air travel, and significantly reduce emissions.
Reductions from the budget request would curtail technology
development with commercial partners intended to increase U.S. space
capabilities, stimulate the U.S. economy, and create jobs.
NASA may be forced to reduce awards to Space Grant and other space
STEM-related programs that educate our Nation's next generation of
scientists, engineers, and explorers.
The FY 2024 request provides needed funding for critical
infrastructure. If the requested funding level is not sustained, NASA
would be severely limited in its ability to right-size its
infrastructure portfolio and improve the overall health and reliability
of its facilities and assets through the Agency Master Plan. There
would also be a continued growth of NASA's Deferred Maintenance, with
the most recent estimate growing to over $3.0B, the highest level
ever.
Approximately 82 percent of NASA's infrastructure is beyond its
design life, posing an elevated and rising risk to current and future
missions. The result is NASA's infrastructure being run to failure
rather than being repaired prior to failure when risk of failure is
high.
Commercial Space and Workforce
The Moon to Mars program, established under the CHIPS and Science
Act, sets an ambitious goal to take the sustainability efforts in Low
Earth Orbit and the Moon and translate them into a sustainable presence
on Mars. The program will also provide an inspiration to future
scientists and engineers to pursue careers in space, technology,
engineering, and mathematics.
Question 3. How will NASA help the commercial industry recruit and
retain the robust and diverse workforce necessary to sustain this
vision to set and complete ambitious goals for decades to come?
Answer. A robust pipeline of skilled space workers is critical to
achieving NASA's goals in LEO, cis-lunar space, and beyond. NASA is
working with the National Space Council, industry, and local partners
to develop pilot programs that would improve the pipeline of skilled
technical workers to the space industry. These programs will also
partner with academia to target technology gaps that market forces
would not otherwise fill.
Question 4. What role do you believe the commercial industry must
play in inspiring future scientists and engineers to pursue rewarding,
enduring space related careers? What can Congress do to ensure NASA has
the resources to be a productive partner in these efforts?
Answer. Contracting services from industry partners allows NASA to
leverage commercial innovation and provide the best value to U.S.
taxpayers while achieving our exploration and science goals. These
partnerships also provide more opportunities for inspiring and exciting
careers in the commercial space industry. By funding these programs,
like the Commercial LEO Development program, Congress is supporting
public-private partnerships that are developing systems and services
for NASA's exploration efforts, as well as a broader space economy with
many participants.
Commercial Suborbital Crew Systems
NASA's FY24 budget request states that in FY24 ``NASA will begin to
leverage commercial suborbital crew systems to fly NASA personnel to
perform microgravity research and other testing and qualification for
spaceflight hardware, as well as conduct astronaut training.''
Commercial vehicles offer NASA safe, reliable, and cost effective
access to suborbital space.
Question 5. Could you please provide an update on status and next
steps for the program?
Answer. The Suborbital Crew (SubC) activity will let NASA personnel
take advantage of commercial suborbital vehicles to meet the Agency's
microgravity research needs. NASA is currently focusing on the
potential of crewed suborbital vehicles for scientific research and
technology development. Suborbital vehicles can provide longer periods
of microgravity for experiments than either drop towers or parabolic
aircraft flights. While NASA does not plan to flight-certify the
suborbital systems it uses the way it certified orbital Commercial Crew
Program vehicles, we are working to ensure a thorough understanding of
the safety of suborbital launch systems. Our current effort consists of
conducting ``deep dives'' with vendors--including Blue Origin and
Virgin Galactic--on their systems. Once we are satisfied with the
safety of these vehicles, we will begin to leverage commercial
suborbital crew systems to fly NASA personnel to perform microgravity
research and other testing and qualification for spaceflight hardware.
NASA currently provides funding for outside researchers to fly
suborbital vehicles through its Flight Opportunities program. Using
commercial systems to conduct its research will continue NASA's effort
to enable a robust space economy.
Question 6. Can NASA commit to ensuring there is no gap between the
ISS and Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) program operation and to
letting Congress know if there is anything NASA needs to make the CLD
program successful?
Answer. NASA's goal is to align the ISS transition with CLD
availability to ensure uninterrupted human presence in space. A
commercial platform is expected to be available in the 2028 timeframe,
enabling a two-year overlap with the ISS. The extension of ISS through
2030 was a critical part of the CLD strategy and helps to prevent an
interruption in human presence in LEO. In taking a phased approach and
maintaining competition, NASA expects to have one or more commercial
platforms on orbit in time to transition from ISS to CLDs. Continued
Congressional support is critical to the success of the CLD program.
Unmanned Aerial Systems
As you know, the CHIPS and Science Act directs NASA to research and
test capabilities and concepts related to unmanned aerial systems.
Question 7. Do you have an update on the progress made here and
does NASA have the resources necessary to meet this obligation?
Answer. NASA is jointly engaged with the FAA and industry to
respond to the low altitude UAS Traffic Management Beyond Visual Line
of Sight Advisory and Rulemaking Committee (UTM BVLOS ARC)
recommendations. With the enacted FY 2023 appropriation for
Aeronautics, NASA is jointly developing technologies with and
delivering data to the FAA on three research transition products under
the NASA FAA Research Transition Teams.
Under the FY 2024 President's Budget Request, NASA will jointly
partner with FAA and industry to continue technology development and
delivery of performance requirements and data to inform standards and
procedures development for UTM BVLOS.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Raphael Warnock to
Hon. Bill Nelson
Sustainability
In November 2021, the United States released its Aviation Climate
Action Plan, which outlined a commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse
gas emissions from the U.S. aviation sector by 2050.\1\ NASA has
identified the adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs), and their
incorporation into its operations, as a key pillar of its efforts to
achieve net-zero emissions.\2\ Though the commercial aviation industry
has begun incorporating SAFs into its operations, NASA's unique mission
and operations are likely to present a special set of challenges for
the adoption of SAFs, and ultimately a net-zero aviation economy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/2021-11/
Aviation_Climate_Action_Plan.pdf
\2\ https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/programs/iasp/sa/description/
Question 1. Does NASA anticipate the incorporation of SAF into its
operations being the primary driver of emissions reduction across its
various missions and programs? If not, what is expected to be the
primary driver?
Answer. The 2021 Aviation Climate Action plan referenced in
footnote 2 speaks to NASA's research and development efforts to help
the aviation community achieve its net-zero emissions goals by 2050,
rather than NASA's own operations. NASA has identified the adoption of
Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), along improved energy efficiency via
aircraft design and operational approaches, as a key pillar in helping
the aviation community achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. NASA has an
important supporting role in SAF development, as well as a leadership
role in the improvement of energy efficiency to enable reduced fuel use
and emissions.
As with U.S. and global aircraft fleets, NASA's fleet will have to
rely on SAF as the primary driver to reach net zero as SAF is, by
definition, a drop-in conventional jet fuel replacement that can be
used with existing aircraft. New, more energy efficient aircraft and
operational approaches will be important to reducing required fuel
amounts, costs and emissions but alone cannot achieve net zero.
Question 2. How much SAF does NASA currently use to support its
missions and programs?
Answer. NASA has, in conjunction with both industry and the
Department of Defense, conducted several tests and limited operations
with multiple variants of bio-fuels. The amount of SAF used by NASA
varies by test from year-to-year. For example: during a relatively
large test planned for fall 2023, we anticipate using less than 75,000
gallons of SAF. NASA uses SAF when SAF is the key aspect of the
research, such as studying changes in emissions characteristics from
different SAF's compared to conventional jet fuel.
Question 3. How many gallons of SAF does NASA anticipate requiring
annually in order to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050?
Answer. The amount required for NASA missions in 2050 would be
negligible (as it is today) compared to the estimated 35 billion
gallons that would be required by the U.S. commercial fleet to achieve
net-zero emissions by 2050. Thus, if the U.S. can meet the demand of
the U.S. commercial aviation with SAF then there will be enough for
NASA operations.
Question 4. Has NASA identified a SAF pathway under ASTM D7566 that
is most conducive for the agency's operations? If so, what is that
pathway?
Answer. At present, NASA does not have a readily implementable or
uniform method to support a comprehensive transition. Presently NASA
would use whatever approved SAF pathway, of the 7 currently approved,
is available local to its specific operations and that its budget would
afford, noting that SAF is currently significantly more expensive than
conventional jet fuel.
Diversity and Inclusion
People of color have played an important role in supporting NASA's
missions and preserving American leadership in space. These individuals
bring knowledge and expertise to science, technology, engineering, and
math (STEM) fields that is critical to confronting emerging issues in
space exploration. However, people of color continue to be
underrepresented in STEM and NASA's work specifically. In February
2023, NASA announced grants to eight Historically Black Colleges and
Universities through the Data Science Equity, Access, and Priority in
Research and Education opportunity to enable students and faculty to
conduct innovative data science research.\3\ These grants represent a
positive step towards improving STEM engagement among underrepresented
students, but there is more work to do.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-millions-to-
historically-black-colleges-universities
Question 5. What additional steps is NASA taking to improve STEM
engagement among underrepresented students and how have the agency's
efforts improved upon previous initiatives?
Answer. NASA makes vital investments toward building a diverse
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce. Our
STEM engagement programs endeavor to attract, engage, and educate
students and to support educators and educational institutions. Given
the Nation's need for a skilled STEM workforce and projected demand,
NASA clearly has a vested interest in attracting, engaging, and
preparing its future STEM professionals. The national STEM ecosystem
will benefit from NASA contributions to attract and retain students on
STEM pathways, with increased attention on underserved and
underrepresented students.
NASA implements strategies to broaden student participation to
increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in STEM
through NASA opportunities and activities. While the number of women
and underrepresented minorities earning STEM degrees has grown in broad
science and engineering occupations over the last decade, significant
underrepresentation remains in areas critical to NASA such as
engineering and computer and mathematical sciences. NASA is committed
to building a diverse, skilled future STEM workforce--our next
generation of explorers with the technical skills needed to carry
forward our Nation's vital mission and work in aeronautics and space
into the future.
Additional steps to improve STEM engagement among underrepresented
students include the recent funding of more than $5 million to seven
Women's Colleges and Universities (WCUs) to research and develop
strategies that increase retention of women in STEM degree programs and
careers. The agency's Minority University Research and Education
Project (MUREP) created the Women's Colleges and Universities
opportunity to help women overcome obstacles and barriers to working in
the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. This award
seeks to address the significant national gender gap and disparate
experiences of women in STEM in the United States, both in higher
education and the workforce. This funding opportunity asked Women's
Colleges and Universities to take advantage of their expertise by
developing programs that encompass academics, research, student
support, college prep, career prep, mentoring, and more. NASA explores
the unknown for all, and values diversity, equity, inclusion, and
accessibility for the future STEM and agency workforce.
Question 6. What percentage of NASA's research expenditures are
going to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and how have
these funding levels changed in recent years?
Answer. NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project
(MUREP) is expanding NASA's reach in communities historically
underrepresented in STEM by offering opportunities for college students
at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to contribute to the agency's
exploration goals and boosting these schools' research capacity and
infrastructure. Through MUREP's competitive awards, research
opportunities, and engagements at career fairs and conferences
throughout the year, NASA is investing in the Artemis Generation and a
diverse future workforce. MUREP's array of opportunities are available
to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Hispanic-
Serving Institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific
Islander-Serving Institutions, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-
Serving Institutions, American Indian Tribal Colleges and Universities,
Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions, and other MSIs.
MUREP is one of four Congressionally appropriated projects in
NASA's Office of STEM Engagement. In FY 2018, MUREP received $32M,
which was 32 percent of NASA's OSTEM budget of $100M. In FY 2023, MUREP
received $45.5M, which was 31.7 percent of NASA's OSTEM budget of
$143.5M. Therefore, over the last five years, MUREP's funding levels,
as a percentage, have remained steady. NASA MUREP funding to HBCUs has
seen a significant increase from FY 2019 to FY 2022. In FY 2019, NASA
provided $6.8M to HBCUs, and this amount increased to $13.9 M in FY
2022.
Stakeholder Engagement in NASA Exploration
NASA works with many educational institutions, companies, and
government agencies in its space exploration efforts. Institutions of
higher education in Georgia, like the Georgia Institute of Technology
and the University of Georgia, have established strong relationships
with NASA to expand our understanding of space and build the pipeline
of future NASA employees. Georgia also has a robust and growing
aviation and aerospace engineering and manufacturing sector that has
worked with NASA in many of its missions.
Question 7. How does NASA envision integrating institutions such as
universities, companies, and other government agencies into an overall
cislunar exploration program?
Answer. As NASA embarks on a new era of lunar exploration through
the Artemis missions, it is more important than ever that today's
students--the Artemis Generation--have opportunities to flex their STEM
skills and tackle some of the most critical technological challenges
ahead. NASA is committed to inspiring the students of the Artemis
Generation and supporting the educators and caregivers who guide them
to discover their own unique skills, interests, and capabilities. By
investing in today's students, we are building the highly capable,
diverse STEM workforce our Nation will need to accomplish our long-term
goals in aeronautics and space exploration. A couple examples of
connecting the Artemis Generation to NASA include:
NASA's Next Gen STEM project produced a variety of resources to
help educators excite the Artemis Generation about humanity's return to
the Moon. The Artemis Camp Experience Guide, a set of hands-on
activities telling the story of the Artemis missions, reached more than
100K people. Through the Artemis Generation Spacesuits and Build,
Launch, Recover educator guides, students will learn all about the
development of spacesuits and find out how NASA prepares for launch and
recovers the spacecraft when its mission successfully ends.
Authentic, hands-on learning experiences give students a chance to
test out their ideas and gain a whole new perspective on their own
abilities. These student challenges and competitions are designed to
spark the curiosity and determination of the Artemis Generation as they
take on the challenges of space exploration. Challenges are available
for students in middle school all the way through graduate school.
NASA recognizes the critical importance of integrating a wide
variety of institutions in its goal of bridging technology gaps and
delivering innovative solutions to our cis-lunar missions.
Through robust partnerships with universities, private companies,
and other government agencies, we strive to ensure American leadership
in aerospace while developing, demonstrating, and transferring new
space technologies that benefit NASA, commercial, and other government
missions.
NASA utilizes various mechanisms to engage external institutions,
including but not limited to: Space Technology Research Grants
(STRG's), Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business
Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) awards, NASA Innovative Advanced
Concepts (NIAC), Center Innovation Funds (CIF), Tipping Point (TP) and
Announcement of Collaboration (AOC) opportunities, the Flight
Opportunities program (TechFlights), and the Game Changing Development
(GCD) program. Information about these and other funding/partnership
opportunities can be found at https://techport.nasa.gov/opportunities.
In the state of Georgia, NASA has a strong partnership with the
Georgia Institute of Technology as a lead Space Technology Research
Institute (STRI) in the area of high-power electric propulsion systems.
In addition to Georgia Tech, NASA works with the University of Georgia,
and Clark Atlanta University on various technologies that will advance
NASA's capabilities in cislunar space such as habitat optimization;
terrain relative navigation, additive manufacturing, and in-space
manufacturing. Through the SBIR program, STMD is working with the
Global Technology Connection, Inc. of Atlanta, GA on data acquisition
systems.
Question 8. How can Congress support NASA in working with
stakeholders to grow student engagement in space exploration and build
the agency's workforce pipeline to include more individuals from
underrepresented communities?
Answer. Congressional support for the FY 2024 President's budget
request would enable NASA to grow student engagement and make vital
investments toward building a diverse Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics (STEM) workforce. NASA's STEM engagement programs
endeavor to attract, engage, and educate students and to support
educators and educational institutions. Given the Nation's need for a
skilled STEM workforce and projected demand, NASA clearly has a vested
interest in attracting, engaging, and preparing its future STEM
professionals. The national STEM ecosystem will benefit from NASA
contributions to attract and retain students on STEM pathways, with
increased attention on underserved and underrepresented students.
Recent national and international tests show that in the last decade,
U.S. students have demonstrated little or no growth in mathematics and
remain ranked in the middle of advanced economies on international
science and mathematics assessments.
NASA implements strategies to broaden student participation to
increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in STEM
through NASA opportunities and activities. While the number of women
and underrepresented minorities earning STEM degrees has grown in broad
science and engineering occupations over the last decade, significant
underrepresentation remains in areas critical to NASA such as
engineering and computer and mathematical sciences. NASA is committed
to building a diverse, skilled future STEM workforce--our next
generation of explorers with the technical skills needed to carry
forward our Nation's vital mission and work in aeronautics and space
into the future.
NASA is committed to inspiring the students of the Artemis
Generation and supporting the educators and caregivers who guide them
to discover their own unique skills, interests, and capabilities. By
investing in today's students, we're building the highly capable,
diverse STEM workforce our Nation will need to accomplish our long-term
goals in aeronautics and space exploration.
Artemis Program
The Artemis program represents NASA's strong exploration goals of
establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions
to Mars. The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-167) provides
tremendous support for NASA to continue making progress on Artemis and
further human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. The success of the
Artemis I mission and the start of training for the Artemis II crew
mark positive steps in pursuit of this goal. Despite strong progress by
NASA, potential challenges to future success of the Artemis program
have been raised. In its 2022 annual report, the NASA Aerospace Safety
Advisory Panel raised NASA's safety culture as an area in need of
improvement.\4\ The Panel used Artemis I as a case to represent NASA's
need to facilitate better safety culture and encourage safety
engagement from all levels of the agency. The Panel also noted that
there is the potential for a significant reduction in the size and
experience level of the NASA workforce following the completion of the
Artemis I mission.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ https://oiir.hq.nasa.gov/asap/reports.html
Question 9. What are the biggest challenges to sustaining the
Artemis moon missions going forward?
Answer. Anything less than the FY 2024 requested funding for
Exploration Systems Development will pose significant, adverse impacts
to Artemis Missions. Significant content is currently in work to build
upon the success of Artemis I with the Artemis II, III, and IV missions
all planned to occur within the next four years. A topline reduction
for exploration could force NASA to terminate, or significantly
restructure, major development work such as Gateway, development of SLS
Block 1B Exploration Upper Stage, EGS's Mobile Launcher-2, and HLS
Option B contract. These actions could involve significant layoffs
throughout the ESDMD contract structure. This could potentially
endanger NASA's ability to achieve Artemis IV goals, the overall
ability to deliver heavy lift capability, and could stop lunar
exploration beyond Artemis IV.
Question 10. How does NASA plan on facilitating a more proactive
safety culture among all levels of the agency?
Answer. The NASA has a proactive and robust Safety Culture Program,
whose key elements include assessment, education, and engagement of the
NASA workforce.
NASA's Safety Culture is driven from the top down, from policy to
practice. Our most recent survey responses from over 26,000 government
and contractor employees show strong positive perceptions of safety
culture with an average score of over 5 on a 6 points scale on all
items.
Survey debriefs, led by the NASA Administrator, were held with
major head of organizations and discussed with all NASA executives.
Safety Culture educational course, available to all employees and
contractors, has been taken by more than 33,000 government and
contractor employees, covering topics such as how to report and respond
to safety concerns. NASA hosts an annual safety event alongside the
Agency's Day of Remembrance. All new NASA executives are required to
participate in the Executive Safety Leadership Panel, a multi-day,
immersive experience to truly deepen every leader's appreciation for
safety culture.
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