House Hearing on Deep Space Habitats with Andy Weir, May 2016
On May 18, 2016, the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee held a hearing on “Next Steps to Mars: Deep Space Habitats.” Among the witnesses was Andy Weir, author of the best-selling book and movie The Martian. While stressing that he is not a space expert, just an enthusiast, he offered his viewpoint that NASA should focus on developing artificial gravity instead of trying to ameliorate the effects of weightlessness on the human body. Representatives of NASA, Boeing and Orbital ATK explained their efforts at developing habitats for cis-lunar space, which they consider the next step on the journey to Mars. Lockheed Martin’s representative described the company’s new Mars Base Camp concept to place six astronauts in Mars orbit by 2028. SpacePolicyOnline.com published a summary of the hearing on May 18. Witnesses were:
- Jason Crusan, Director, Advanced Exploration Systems, NASA HQ
- John Elbon, VP and General Manager, Space Exploration, Boeing
- Wanda Sigur, VP and General Manager, Civil Space, Lockheed Martin
- Frank Culbertson, President, Space Systems Group, Orbital ATK
- Andy Weir, Author, The Martian