On June 25, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a full committee hearing on the future of space exploration and NASA’s goal of landing humans on Mars. Former Indiana Governor and President of Purdue University Mitch Daniels and Dr. Jonathan Lunine, Director of Cornell University’s Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, provided testimony based on the report they co-authored outlining approaches for a U.S. human space exploration program.

Committee members from both parties stated support for a new NASA space exploration program and the technological growth and inspiration it would generate. The members expressed concern over the viability of the Asteroid Retrieval Mission, since it does not yet have a budget or destination. The witnesses acknowledged that extended surface exploration of the Moon would provide more useful information for a manned mission to Mars than asteroid retrieval. They also addressed the committee’s doubts regarding international partnerships, including concerns over foreign policy differences and intellectual property rights. Both witnesses identified past successes in international collaboration, and cautioned that getting to Mars without international collaboration would be a daunting task.

The witnesses explained that lawmakers need to come to consensus on a single plan, and emphasized the importance of sustained increase in funding in order to make a long-term investment in scientific research. They also called on Congress to foster the cultural change essential to providing bipartisan support for the space exploration program over multiple administrations and congressional sessions. In closing, Gov. Daniels stated that “this could be one of those subjects … on which people who disagree strongly and sincerely about other things could agree.”

Source: House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology