Hearing Of The Subcommittee On Commerce, Justice, Science, And Related Agencies Of The House Committee On Appropriations - NASA (National Aeronautics And Space Administration) FY2011 Budget Overview

Statement

Good afternoon; the hearing is called to order.
Welcome to this hearing of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and
Science for fiscal year 2011. Today, we will cover the budget, status and future
direction of the US space program. Our witness is retired Major General Charles F.
Bolden, Jr., NASA Administrator. Welcome General Bolden.
In 1957, the Soviet Union shocked the world by launching Sputnik and
challenged the US with its superior launch capability. President Eisenhower
responded by forming NASA and, by 1960, the US had launched the first weather
satellite, the first data relay satellite, and the first navigation satellite. The first
commercial communications satellite, Telstar, was launched in July 1962.
Confronting the Cold War challenge of the Soviet Union, President Kennedy
said:
"I believe this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal,
before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning
him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more
impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range
exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to
accomplish."
In 1969, NASA delivered on his vision, and US superiority in technology --
especially missile technology -- was on clear display for all to see. The cost
in today's dollars was almost $100 billion.
This amazing era of accomplishment continues to dominate the vision of
NASA, both within and without, but hard realities should be recognized. NASA
employment peaked in 1967, and NASA pioneered reduction in force -- RIF --
procedures for the federal government. Over 10,000 people who had worked their
hearts out getting us to the moon were out of a job. NASA's budget peaked in 1966
at over 24 billion in today's dollars. Using Apollo program capabilities, Skylab and
Apollo-Soyus flew, but from the summer of 1975 until the spring of 1981, the
United States did not, could not, fly an astronaut.
In answer to the question of what to do next, President Nixon supported the
start of the Space Shuttle program. By the time it flew, the first US space station
had fallen to earth due to lack of funding and the resulting lack of capability to
boost Skylab's orbit. The money was not made available to build a new orbiting
lab as proposed. So, the Shuttle had no orbiting lab to shuttle to except for the
Russian Mir, which it visited multiple times.
In January 1984, President Reagan challenged NASA to achieve a
permanent manned presence in space and the International Space Station program
began. The initial cost estimate was $8 billion, and no one expected it to be 25
years and over $40 billion before construction was complete. In 1984, the Shuttles
were new; no investment was begun to replace them until 2004, too late to prevent
a gap in US astronaut launch capability.
Today is not the early 1960's. Then, a trip to the moon was a science fiction
dream; today Star Wars and Star Trek are based on a dream of interstellar travel
and galaxy-spanning federations or empires. In Kennedy's time rocketry was a
major hallmark of national technological achievement; today, US achievement is
evident in creation of the Internet, invention of the iPhone, production of the fastest
supercomputers, and sequencing the human genome. The Soviet Union is no more.
Our shooting wars are with those who oppose modernity, not those who challenge
us in a rush to the future. Competition with China is more a matter of innovation,
intellectual property, manufacturing and resources.
In this contemporary context, faced with the need to set the future direction
of the human spaceflight program, the President has formulated a program that
shifts from plowing ahead with development programs driven by a return to the
moon to a focus on government development of new enabling technologies, with
the eventual goal of landing astronauts on Mars. Exploration beyond low Earth
orbit will be vigorous, but for a time it will be achieved through the use of robots.
Commercial provision of astronaut transport to the Space Station is proposed, and
the life of the Space Station is extended until at least 2020. At the same time,
NASA's programs in Earth and space science and aeronautics are strengthened,
education programs are continued and the Kennedy launch complex is slated for
modernization.
So today, we find ourselves at another pivot point for the space program.
Like Presidents Nixon and Reagan, President Obama is committing the nation to
human spaceflight as a continuing endeavor, but this commitment is part of a
balanced effort within a constrained budget. Frankly, many of us yearn for the
Apollo-like vision of the 1960's, but is that the approach that best serves our
national interest? Mr. Administrator, there is much we need to learn about this
major change in the direction of our space program.
Following the opening statement of Ranking Member Wolf, we will ask you
to provide a summary of your written testimony, which will be included in the
hearing record, and then we will go to questions from Subcommittee members.

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