WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, March 10 at 10:00 a.m., the Science Committee will hold a hearing with non-governmental witnesses regarding the President’s recently announced space exploration initiative.  The Committee will focus on the following overarching questions: Are the cost estimates and timetables of the initiative realistic?  Is using the moon and the International Space Station as stepping-stones to a Mars mission the best approach?  How difficult will it be to develop ways to minimize the impact on human health of long stays in space?  Would NASA’s budget have the proper balance among NASA’s programs under the initiative?    

Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Full Committee – Hearing
Perspectives on the President’s Vision for Space Exploration
10:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.
2318 Rayburn House Office Building (WEBCAST)

Witness List:

  • Mr. Norman Augustine, chair of the Advisory Committee on the Future of the U.S. Space Program and former Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin
  • Dr. Donna Shirley, director of the Science Fiction Museum and former manager of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Mars Program
  • Dr. Michael Griffin, President of In-Q-Tel and former NASA Chief Engineer and Associate Administrator
  • Dr. Lennard Fisk, chairman, Space Studies Board, National Academy of Sciences
  • Dr. Larry Young, Apollo Program Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Founding Director of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) in Houston, TX