House Science Committee to Evaulate NASA’s Plan to Reshape Aeronautics R&D

WASHINGTON – Tomorrow, the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) efforts to refocus and reshape its civil aeronautics research and development (R&D) program. The hearing will take testimony from witnesses representing industry, academia, and the National Academies.

The hearing will review the results of two reports recently released by the National Research Council (NRC) on NASA’s civil aeronautics R&D program. The first, Aeronautics Innovation: NASA’s Challenges and Opportunities, published in early May, provides recommendations on tools, techniques, and management practices to facilitate and accelerate innovation in NASA’s aeronautics programs. The second, Decadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics, published in early June, provides a specific set of priority projects to be undertaken in the next 10 years. Over the years, similar surveys in NASA’s science programs have been a significant factor in setting program and budget priorities. The aeronautics decadal survey is the first time such a comprehensive survey has been done on aeronautics.

The hearing will also help set the stage for the development of an overarching national aeronautics policy, due to be released at the end of this year. Congress directed the Administration, in last year’s NASA Authorization bill, to develop a national aeronautics policy to guide federal investments in aeronautics research because of concerns over the downward trend over the last decade in funding for NASA’s aeronautics program and the changing goals and priorities.

Specifically, the hearing will explore the following overarching questions:

1. What should the goals, strategies and activities be for NASA’s aeronautics R&D program?

2. What should NASA be doing to ensure that its research is relevant to the long-term needs of industry and is used by industry? What should NASA be doing to help keep the academic research enterprise healthy and to ensure an adequate supply of aeronautics engineers and researchers?

Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics – Hearing
The National Academy of Sciences’ Decadal Plan for Aeronautics: A Blueprint for NASA?
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
2318 Rayburn House Office Building (WEBCAST)

Witnesses

Dr. Paul Kaminski is Chairman of the National Research Council’s Steering Committee that produced the Decadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics (released in June 2006).

Dr. Steven Merrill is Executive Director of the National Research Council’s Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy. He managed the NRC Committee that produced Aeronautics Innovation: NASA’s Challenges and Opportunities (released in May 2006).

Dr. Michael Romanowski is Vice President for Civil Aviation, Aerospace Industries Association.

Dr. Parviz Moin is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University and director of the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, the Center for Turbulence Research, and the ASCI Center for Integrated Turbulence Simulations. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society.

The hearing charter, which provides detailed background information on the hearing, will soon be available on the Science Committee website. Member opening statements and witness testimony will also be posted to the website at the start of the hearing.