HSS&T Set To Discuss NASA's Exploration Program Next Week

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics has announced that a hearing on NASA’s exploration program will be held next week.

“A Review of NASA’s Exploration Program In Transition: Issues for Congress and Industry” will hear testimony from Doug Cooke, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Exploration, who has announced plans to retire; Scott Pace, Director of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute and NASA Associate Administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation during the George W. Bush Administration while Mike Griffin headed the agency; and James Maser, head of the Corporate Membership Committee of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and President of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, which builds the J-2X engine that was to be used with the Ares-1 launch vehicle. Ares-1 is part of the Constellation program, which is being terminated.

The hearing is scheduled for March 30, 2011 at 10:00 in 2318 Rayburn House Office Building. Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS) is the new chairman of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. He represents the 4th district of Mississippi that includes NASA’s Stennis Space Center where rocket engines are tested. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is the ranking member of the subcommittee, but Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL) is serving as acting ranking member while Rep. Giffords continues her recovery from being shot in the head during an assassination attempt on January 8.