be time living -- running up to the civil war. there are a lot of senators who cleared on that congress member. of -- a is a broadway broadway musical of the shooting of alexander hamilton. that is pretty dramatic. we have had terrible times. >> there was one brawl in 1858 before the civil war that had 80 members rolling around on the floor, fighting one another. >> one of the members had a wig. one of the members for the -- pulled his wig off during the fight, and a member yelled, "he scalped him!" that was enough levity to stop the fight. congressional historians, sunday night at 8:00 east on -- eastern on c-span's q&a.

>> good afternoon. this hearing is called to order. since the dawn of time, man has often looked up into the night sky and wondered what is out there. are we alone? in 300 bc, the greek philosopher epicurus assumed that "other worlds with plants and other living things, some of them similar and some of them different than ours, must exist." the basic question of wondering

what is out there has driven civilizations to risk life and limb, to explore not only this planet but venture into the solar system. in 1977, nasa began an effort to try to better answer this question by launching voyager one and voyager 2, originally intended to primarily explore jupiter and saturn. each spacecraft carries a small american flag and a golden record packed with pictures and sounds that are intended to be mementos of our home planet. 40 years after they were launched, voyager 1 has reached interstellar space, and voyager 2 is in the outermost layer of the helio sphere where the solar wind is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas. as each spacecraft continues its voyage and transmits scientific information to earth, we are

left to wonder if the great steve martin may still be proven right. that one day we may receive a forward response from intelligent life somewhere in the universe who received the golden record and simply request, send more chuck berry. the search for life is not just a question of casual interest. it is an integral part of nasa's core mission. the nasa transition authorization act of 2017, signed into law by president trump, this committee authored and added a short phrase to nasa's mission. "the search for life's origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe." the atlantic has described the addition of that short but

momentous phrase as "a visionary one, setting the stage for a far-reaching effort that could have as profound an impact on the 21st century as the apollo program had on the 20th." since the enactment of the nasa transmission authorization act of 2017, we have more reason to be encouraged that we are on the right path. before our last hearing, the journal science published a report on radar evidence of subglacial liquid water on mars. using radar profiles collected from a satellite between may 2012 and december 2015. scientists have found evidence of a 12 mile wide reservoir of briny water beneath the south polar layer deposits. and just one month prior to the announcement of this discovery,

nasa reported that the curiosity rover found new evidence, preserved in rocks on mars, suggesting the planet could have supported ancient life. we are making progress as we search for life's origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe. as we look to draft a new nasa authorization act this year, hopefully, it is imperative we not only make progress answering this question, but we equip nasa with the capabilities it needs to support science missions and priorities that will lead to discoveries across our solar system. this is a momentous time to be involved in space exploration, and i look forward to the testimony of our esteemed witnesses. now recognized senator markey, the ranking member. >> thank you for having this extremely important hearing

today with this incredible panel. last week, we gained great insight from our witnesses on how americans will venture out of earth's orbit beyond the moon and on to the surface of mars. today, we welcome another distinguished panel of experts that will point us in the right direction as we launch science missions into the void of space, with the hopes of making groundbreaking discoveries about our solar system, universe, and our very own home, planet earth. currently, nasa's science mission directorate funds space mission directorate funds space science missions and research in a number of crucial areas, including astrophysics, planetary science, and helio physics. one of the portfolios that is often overlooked, but is

absolutely vital, is earth science. with deadly fires gripping california and greece, extreme hurricanes in the atlantic, and searing heat waves and droughts around the world, our investment in nasa's earth science and climate research programs, and missions, must both be abundant and unwavering. nasa's essential earth observation missions, including the carbon monitoring system, the orbiting carbon observatory 2, and the gravity recovery and climate experiment, or grace, give us evidence that the climate is changing. this information could help us prepare for a more dangerous future. we must be sure that nasa's earth science program has the resources necessary to provide scientists with the latest data

so that congress and agencies across the government can combat this problem head on so that our planet earth may be home to many future generations to come. finally, we are fortunate to have the professor of physics and planetary science at m.i.t., a coinvestigator on nasa's test mission. nasa announced only a few days ago that tests has been turned on and has begun its search for distant worlds. carl sagan once said, the nature of life on earth and the quest for life elsewhere are two sides of the same question, the search for who we are. it is one of the nasa scientific missions that will help us find who we are. my colleagues and i have great

confidence in the space community, including nasa's community of exceptional scientists and collaborators. we thank you all for helping us understand better what our mission here in congress should be, to help you accomplish this goal. >> i would now recognized the ranking member, senator nelson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i would point out that the science mission directorate is an incredible amount that they do. 30% of the nasa budget is here. and they are operating 60 missions on 80 spacecraft. it is a vast. they want to unlock the secrets of the universe.

you all of talked about the search for life, improving life here on earth. so, legislation we are putting together is to add the search for life's origin, evolution, distribution, and the future of the universe. that is about everything, rolled into one. so, this is one of the gee whiz parts of nasa. and it is complimentary with the human missions of nasa, because one complements the other. we can't do one without the other. it is going to be a real challenge for us to protect human life going all the way to mars. we've got to get there faster than now, and we've got to

protect them from being fried in the process by radiation. what we will learn in that mission, and that development of technology to sustain human life, we will also complement, and vice versa, the science mission directorate. it's going to be an exciting time for nasa. >> thank you. here to talk about the danger of being fried in space, just yesterday, i mentioned to my staff, the old tv ads, this is your brain on drugs, this is your brain with a side of bacon. they were too young to have any idea what i was talking about. pleased to welcome each of the witnesses today, we will start with dr. thomas zuburchen, the associate administrator for

nasa's science mission directorate. rigorously, he was a professor -- previously, he was a professor of space science and aerospace engineering. his experience includes research in solar, space systems, innovation and entrepreneurship. he has been involved in several nasa science missions, including the ulysses space probe, the messenger spacecraft to mercury, and the advanced composition, explorer. he received his phd in physics from the university of byrne in switzerland. our next witness is dr. ellen -- director of the smithsonian national air and space museum. i think it may be a federal law that every child who comes to washington must go to the smithsonian air and space museum. she's the seventh person to lead

the museum since apollo 11 astronaut michael collins oversaw its founding in 1976, and is the first woman appointed to the position. she previously served as an nasa's chief scientist for three years from 2013 to 2016. that role, she guided the development of a long-range plan to send humans to mars, worked on strategies to expand commercial activity in earth orbit, and supported nasa's science programs in the allele -- helio physics, science, planetary science, and astrophysics. she served as the chief scientist for the new millennial program at the jet propulsion laboratory in california. she received her phd in geological sciences from brown university. dr. david is the charles a young

professor of astronomy and astrophysical sciences at princeton university, my alma mater. for two decades, he has worked on interpretation and analysis of microwave background data to better understand the basic properties of the universe. he is the cochair of the science team for the wide field infrared survey telescope, more commonly w-first. he has been involved in many aspects of the mission and contributed countless hours of work on a telescope that will ultimately lead humanity see further into the universe then ever before. he received his phd in astronomy from harvard. finally, dr. seger, professor of physics and planetary science at the massachusetts and stick to -- institute of technology. a native of toronto, her research has made unprecedented discoveries, gone leaps and bounds to expand humanity's

knowledge in the field of astronomy. dr. seger's research has introduced new ideas on the for the study of exoplanets. she was part of the team to detect the first emission of light froman exoplanet. -- from and exoplanet. she has committed swabs of research on all kinds of exoplanets. she received her phd in astronomy from harvard university. i would know, with all of these phd's, i think the senators here are all badly undereducated. we will have our first witness, dr. zuburchen. >> thank you. chairman cruise, ranking members and members of the subcommittee, the work of nasa scientists at the forefront of scientific discovery and innovation. the questions we seek to answer

affect humanity on a global scale and focus on our place in the universe. where did we come from? are we alone? questions that are well aligned with the topic of this hearing. later this month, nasa will launch our next daring mission, which will touch the sun, by flying deep through its atmosphere. the first spacecraft designed to do so, and will revolutionize our understanding of the sun's corona, and the solar wind. this mission will also make critical contributions to our ability to forecast changes in space weather that affect life and society's essential technological infrastructure on the near earth. it will will join numerous other missions launched in just a few months past. test, launched in mid-april, and

-- tess launched in mid-april, and nasa's next planet-hunting mission, searching for planets orbiting nearby stars. on july 25 we started conducting the first-ever and transit survey that is expected to candid -- to catalog exoplanet candidates. it will identify targets for more detailed characterization, with the james webb space telescope and other missions. also launched in may, nasa's newest mars lander, insight, is now on route for a november touchdown. it will join a compliment of nasa rovers and orbiters on the red planet. inside, the advanced payload will provide unique information on the interior structure of mars, and other planets. collaborating closely with the human exploration program at nasa, we continue to use the

international space station as a valuable platform for great science. ecostress was carried to the space station by commercial resupply mission. it categorizes agricultural water use and plant stress around the globe, and identify drought warning conditions. in fact, there's no program in nasa science that has more direct impact to everyday life than our earth science program, as mentioned. whether developing the tools to predict severe weather or drought, or understanding the complex interactions of the earth's systems, this affects our lives. in the midst of the 2017 hurricane season, data reduced by nasa's satellites were used -- produced by nasa's satellites were used to support real-time decision-making and response efforts by fema and others. nasa also integrates science and future human exploration goals

with regard to the return of humans to the moon and to mars, establishing a new agencywide lunar discovery exploration program at leveraging nasa's -- and leveraging nasa's extensive lunar science and ada, data. nasa is jumpstarting commercial partnerships, innovative approaches for launching next generation sophisticated science instruments, and the development of small rovers that will reach the moon's surfaced via rover lenders. with regard to some of the hearing -- with regard to the hearing topic, planetary science provides some of the most exciting views of the unexplored worlds in our solar system. progress continues on the mars 2020 rover which will carry a small helicopter to mars, a first for humanity. nasa is planning a potential mars sample return mission, identified by the scientific community in a most recent talk. during 2019, nasa will continue

development of the mission to fly by jupiter's ocean moon, one of the most promising targets for life in our solar system. in many ways, nasa astrophysics and planetary science programs are working more closely than ever. examining how habitable environment develop and contribute to the search for life, as will be discussed later. nasa is committed to discussing the big questions, but commitment to new and challenging missions. in 2021, nasa observatories will be joined by the wep space -- the james webb space telescope, capable of -- viewing the atmospheres of nearby planets outside the solar system. once the telescope and instruments are fully integrated and perform superbly, the spacecraft element can strive of -- comprised of a tennis court sized sunshield, completely assembled and undergoing

testing. in march 2018, nasa recognized it would take longer and cost more than previously estimated, due to issues involving integration and testing of the elements. i established the results to an to an independent review board, for complete development. the irb provided valuable recommendations which we are all implementing. as we look forward to the future, nasa's science program will continue to contribute to the scientific and technological advancement of the united states and inspire future scientists and engineers to reach for the stars. i will be happy to answer any questions. >> thank you. >> chairman cruz, ranking members and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the

search for life beyond earth. my colleagues will discuss the search beyond our solar system, and i will focus on the solar system. as former chief scientist of nasa and the current mars director of the smithsonian national air and space museum, there is no other topic i find as exciting or fundamental to future discoveries that will one day be highlighted in my museum, as this one. all planetary science begins on earth. based on our understanding of how life arose here, it requires long-standing bodies of liquid water. chemical signatures indicate -- -- life evolved rapidly once conditions stabilized, which chemical signatures indicate -- 3.8 billion years ago. we know that life is tenacious, diverse, and highly adaptable. astro biologists have found life in extreme environments, like volcanic lakes, sulfur springs, the top of the stratosphere very high levels of radiation or

consuming toxic chemicals. we find life on earth nearly everywhere we look. given the commonality of conditions here and elsewhere in the solar system, it is highly unlikely that life is unique to our planet. we know the building blocks, amino acids, are ubiquitous in the solar system, found in comets, asteroids, clouds. the next step is to identify environments potential -- potentially habitable to microbial life, with liquid water, a source of nutrients and energy. within the icy moons of the outer solar system, jupiter's moon, europa, and saturn's moon both have liquid water oceans that likely been stable for over one billion years, likely enriched by volcanic eruptions from the moon's inner cores, a positive source for both -- a possible source for both nutrients and energy. both moons vent into space and

could easily be sampled by spacecraft without landing. a craft sampled the water on a flyby and found water to contain salts, silica, and organic molecules, all pointing towards a habitable environment. the sample may have contained signs of microbial life, but the instruments were not designed to detect them. we need to go back to europa with better instruments. how will we know life when we see it? through years of peer-reviewed research, we have developed something called the letter of life. -- the ladder of life. it lays out what to measure and how. it begins with a habitable environment with rungs for biomolecules, metabolism, and ultimately, darwinian evolution. thanks to decades of nasa spacecraft missions, we know how to take the next steps in the search for life. on those two moons.

on mars. eventually even on titan. 3.8 billion years ago, around the same time life arose on earth, a significant portion of mars was covered in water. it remained wet for about 500 million years, before conditions became similar to what we see today, a cold, dusty, dry surface bombarded by solar and cosmic radiation. if life evolved on mars during the wet time, microorganisms should be present in surface rocks. that is why it is astronauts, not just the orbiters, landers, and rovers that have got us to this point. biologists, geologists, and on -- chemists on the ground could do more than identify evidence, they could study its variation, complexity, relationship to life on earth, much more effectively than our robotic emissaries. nasa could put humans in orbit around mars by 2033, and down to the surface later in the decade,

completely feasibly and affordably if the agency focuses on the technologies required. putting humans on mars by 2038, 20 years from now, is not nearly as audacious as landing on the moon in eight years, which the united states accomplished years ago. nasa has the commercial partnerships and scientific expertise, as we demonstrate each day with research groups. the problem is extremely well scoped and studied. we need only accept the challenge. putting aside the amazing scientific and technology group -- and technological dividends of a mars shot, think of the consider the political, cultural and historic benefits that came from the moon shots of the apollo program. this is another exciting moment in human history. we know where to look and how. we have the technology to

determine if life has evolved elsewhere in the solar system, and could easily do so in the next two decades. >> thank you. >> thank you. dr. spergel. >> i thank you for the opportunity to testify. i am a professor of astronomy at princeton university and managing director of the -- institute in new york. my spoken remarks will focus on nasa astrophysics. my written remarks discuss the broader program, and with the chairman's permission, i request my written remarks be made part of the record. a multi generational program of exploring and studying space is the modern version of the construction of the great cathedrals of europe. many of nasa's important activities, from sending humans to mars to the study of extrasolar planets and understanding the cosmos, are fundamentally centuries long

projects. in cosmology, we've learned our universe is both remarkably simple and remarkably strange. nearly one century ago, dr. hubble began our program of measuring the size and shape of the universe. today, the hubble space telescope continues the program. over the past two decades, we've learned a simple model with only five parameters, the age of the universe, density of adams, s, density of matter, and properties of the initial fluctuations, described all the basic properties in the universe. while successful, this model implies that atoms make up only 5% of the universe. most of the universe is made of dark matter and dark energy. we don't know what makes up most of the universe. understanding the nature of dark energy is one of the most

compelling problems in physics. both europe and china are leading missions to study dark energy. when i was in beijing last year, i was impressed by china's plans to launch a large space telescope with a primary focus on studying dark energy. this telescope will have the world's largest space camera and use chinese military technology to construct a large, off axis telescope. fortunately, nasa is moving forward with the premier dark energy emission, w first. it will measure the expansion rate of the universe and growth of structure to unprecedented precision. it is meeting all of its technological requirements, is on schedule for a 2025 launch. astronomers have learned the solar system is far from unique. using observations from the kepler spacecraft and ground-based observatories, they discovered thousands of extra

planets -- of exoplanets. shakespeare's line, that there are more things on heaven and earth than dreamt up in your philosophy, is perhaps our best guide. just as the exploration of the cosmos has driven telescope design, the study of exoplanets and the search for life beyond our solar system will likely shape telescopes in the coming century. -- should view many nearby planets. when launched, the james webb space telescope will be able to characterize the atmospheres of some of these planets. w first corona-graph is to be the first step in extra planetary characterization. -- will not only be able to image planets around nearby

stars, but will be the stepping for developing technologies for the next generation of great observatories. understanding planet information requires a wide range of informational approaches. comets, asteroids, radio and infrared observations revealing extra information, and w first will complete the sentence begun by kepler and test. these should reveal thousands of planets and the outer regions of our solar systems. these large projects are challenging and will require perseverance. jwst's delays are frustrating to all of us. while the report by therfe was hard to read at times, i believe jwst will be a flagship of all of nasa and the eventual success of this complex engineering project, a source of national pride and symbol of u.s. technological prowess.

these new costs should be spread across the agency, borne entirely by the astrophysics directed. it will have a devastating effect on future missions in the scientific program. despite these challenges, this is an incredibly exciting time in astrophysics. nasa satellites have discovered thousands of exoplanets. -- gravitational waves traveling billions of light-years, tracing large-scale distribution of dark matter and dark energy. each of these discoveries raises new questions that future satellite missions will address in the years to come. the upcoming national academy scientists survey will provide an opportunity to outline a new vision for the coming decade. >> thank you. dr. seger. >> chairman cruz, ranking members and committee members,

thank you for the opportunity to appear today. i open with a quote from one of our founding fathers, john adams. astronomers tell us, with good reason, that not only all the planets and satellites and our solar system, but all the unnumbered worlds, are inhabited. it is amazing day believe there is life everywhere. although we don't have evidence for life beyond earth, we are the first generation with the capability to find it. we know of thousands of planets orbiting other stars, and as we've heard of -- solar system bodies with evidence of subsystem liquid water. and because water is required for all life as we know it, these bodies may be able to support life. we've heard from other witnesses that nasa's new planet hunting mission that launched on august

18, test, started operations on july 21. in august, it will be delivering the first data to earth. my team is ready to go, and i thought you might be -- might appreciate knowing that finding exoplanets today is actual standard operating procedure. test aims to discover the best planets for follow-up with a web telescope, and to -- make it suitable to observe atmospheres. i want you to know that despite the delays and cost growth, the community is tremendously enthusiastic because webb will provide our first ability to study xoplanets. -- looking at atmospheres for gases that might be attributed to life. on earth, oxygen is the best example. without plants or bacteria, our planet would have no oxygen. it is not like earth for our

son, it is limited to planets orbiting red dwarf stars, because it is easier to find planets around small stars rather than relatively large ones. these planets being red dwarf stars may be different from earth, because they give off giant burst of energy, flares, ultraviolet radiation that would frequently bathed the planet's surface. in the 1950's, we had an event like that. on these planets, it would be happening daily. we humans could not tolerate it because it would ruin electronics. it would disable the power grid and even destroy our biological cells, but we are hoping that life that evolve their would be adapted to those conditions. the goal is to find a true earth when -- earth twin. whose environment we can understand in the context of the search for life. next way a massive, bright star

like the sun. the difference in brightness is one part in 10 billion, so we need to wait to block out the sunlight to see the planet directly. the w first chronograph instrument is the first high contrast space-based chronograph, blocking out starlight to study exoplanets. it won't be able to reach down to find other planets like earth. it can study about a dozen giant exoplanets already known to exist. it is critical to the demonstration to abide down risk to the future, for more ambitious missions already under study. we have a technique to find earth with a modest sized telescope, tens of meters in diameter with its own spacecraft. it would fly its own information tens of thousands of kilometers away. the starship does all the hard

work of blocking the light, and the technical reasons behind that are why the starship -- star shade can already find earth analogs, building upon large radio employable's, space-based radio deployable antennas. nasa has a directed effort to mature such technologies by 2023, though it could happen soon with more funding. the star shade with w first -- ability to discover dozens of new exoplanets and the first chance we have to find planets like earth. -- to rendezvous with it on orbit, and nasa has directed the w first project to be operational with star shade. and later by the project, pending a recommendation. there's more details there, but short on time, i'll move on to tell you that in 2010, i became

a citizen of the united states of america. the reason i came to m.i.t. to be here is because we are the world leader in space technology. we have some tough priority choices ahead if our nation is the first to discover signs of life beyond earth, whether in our solar system or on a distant planet. mr. chairman and committee, this concludes my remarks. thank you for your attention and continued support. >> thank you very much, to each of the witnesses. let us start with a question to all four of you. why should we be engaged in the search for life? why does it matter, and why should that be a priority for our space mission? >> i believe it is one of the big questions of humanity. this is how great nations make a

mark, what they do for their citizens and how they move history forward. this will be one of those questions answered that will be remembered forever, because it will be a lead in not only understanding more of our nature, but in understanding ourselves on a level we haven't in the past. >> since thomas gave the underlying philosophical answer which i 100% agree with, i'd like to focus on, when we try to do things that are really hard, like in the time of apollo. when you push to answer the tough questions is when you push technology forward. when you push technology forward, you push society and the economy forward. trying to answer these big questions, building these big telescopes and sending humans to mars, these are an investment in the future of our country and i

think it is incredibly important. >> let me just add another element which i see as a professor, working with students. this is a question that i think this is a question that i think engages everyone. this is a question that kids in elementary school ask about. certainly something that college students are engaged with. and by asking this question, we draw people into science and help bring this next generation who will be part of our stand education -- stem education community. i think this is one of the side benefits. many of us do this because we want to know the answer. but we have these benefits that come from exploring these questions. >> i will add to that. most senior engineers today, either in civilian national defense or security, were inspired by the moon landings. today, the equivalent to that is the search for life.

we will inspire the next generation to go into technology. and for the record, it takes a ton of pure science research to come up with anything practical. acceleration of the universe? how did our galaxy and its neighbors form and evolve? what determines the architecture of exoplanets? the u.s. should be leading the world in addressing these big questions. is the united states currently leading the world in addressing these big questions, and what do we need to do better to ensure that we are and remain a global

leader? >> i think we are leading the world in addressing these questions at the moment, but looking around the world, i see both excellence coming out of our european colleagues. the european space agency is launching a number of space science missions that are pushing the edge forward. the gaia mission is giving us new insight into galactic dynamics, certainly at the cutting edge in areas like astrometry. they are often partnered with us on many projects. looking east, i've been impressed by the investments the chinese have been making in space science. they were not significant players 10 years ago. looking to where they might be one decade from now, if we stopped investing, they will be the leaders.

>> i want to add to that, about china. >> unfortunately, the technology is finicky. >> we used to say that china could copy perfectly not innovate, but that has changed. they are pouring money into solar panel technology, nuclear power, space. it sounds trite, what we want to maintain our healthy budget for innovative science. >> this committee is working on a new nasa authorization bill. we passed one last year, the first in seven years. we are working on another one that i hope we will pass this year. let me ask the witnesses, what do you see as the science-related priorities that are most important to be reflected in the bill? >> for me, and i'll put on my

hat as former chair of the space studies board, what we try to do at the surveys is identify what i think are the top scientific priorities in each of the areas that nasa science mission directorate works. so, in planetary science, it has certainly been the top priority to go to mars, return a sample from mars. followed by exploring europa. helio physics, understanding the processes of the sun, space weather. in astrophysics, completing jwst, and w first would be the current top priorities. we are about to engage in the astrophysics community in our process of looking at the proposed missions of identifying the next set of priorities. i think we'll begin by thinking about the key driving questions.

the search for life will certainly be one, others will include understanding the processes of galaxy formation, star formation, and universal destruction. and in earth science and space, as ranking member markie mentioned earlier, using the vantage point of space to watch the changing environment is another key part of nasa's mission. >> the remarks started with the greeks and the planets, and i think a priority should be finding the true birth twin -- true earth twin. it is a huge problem, but something that america is leading the way. the star shade is not being developed in any other country. >> we want to look -- to search for faraway planets, but we also

want to make sure we do our work here on earth correctly. nasa has been a leader in climate science, understanding -- helping us understand where we live. and giving us the most up-to-date data and projections, with missions such as oco2 and grace. associate administrator zuburchen, is it important to understanding threats like climate science? >> the earth science program is an important one for the nation. the earth science program we had a strong. we have an increasing number of spacecrafts in orbit. last i counted was 17. missions in orbit and several in development. and i do believe that this very important and unique program,

complementary to other efforts in the government and beyond, is very important for nasa and the nation. >> will you make a commitment to this committee that earth science will remain a priority in the years ahead for nasa? >> earth science has a key element of nasa. it has been with nasa from the beginning and i will make a commitment that we will implement everything -- the program being appropriated here, which includes a stronger science program. in that sense, absolutely yes. >> let's have each one of you give us an example of how deep space exploration relates to, or helps us, back here on earth. can you give us an example? we have gps given to us earlier as an example.

so, how would it relate in the 21st century, to each of us in terms of the breakthroughs that are possible? >> one of my favorite examples has always been active the issue of climate, understanding this planet's climate. when you put it in the context of looking at guinness, mars, saturn's moon, titan, planets have varying amounts of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases. understanding the climates of not just earth, but comparing it to other planets, it has helped us to really understand what is happening here. i first identified the ozone hole on earth after a scientist who had been looking at guinness came back and looked at earth-- looking at venus. >> that is how mario did that? interesting.

>> another example that comes to mind is studying ice planets and then looking at glaciers. you are looking at the physics, the remote-sensing technologies. -- is launching in september. we used many of the same remote-sensing technologies when we go visit planets in our own solar system as we do looking back on earth. one of the things we often see in science, if you look at one example, you don't fully understand what is going on. we've understood the earth much better, and we've understood processes on the earth by first observing things happening on venus, on mars, elsewhere. now, when we look at extrasolar planetary systems, understanding our solar system better, we now see our solar system as but one example of many, and stepping

back and getting this acre picture, understanding those physical processes makes us read think about the. >> medical imaging is something we are familiar with. he will get m.r.i.'s and other scans. in astronomy, we do the same thing. medical imaging can thank astronomy. my team at jet propulsion lab built a small telescope in space to find planets. what it does that is new is that it can point more precisely, 100 times more precisely than anything in its mass category. will it likely find eggs of planets? probably not, -- packing more information than radio waves. >> one of the things i've been personally involved in in my past before i took this job is

that in some of the spinoffs from space technology, including electronics developed to study environmental conditions on mars that are routinely used in manufacturing environment to prevent discharges from happening and many others. there's so many, we could talk to you for hours. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman and ranking member for holding this hearing. thank you to all of our witnesses today. it is a real pleasure to see you all. i would like to offer and especially warm welcome to -- also a brown alumnus. it is very important for girls and young women to see women lead in science, so for both -- having a 50-50 panel is a nice visual.

i'd like to start by touching on space weather. dr. holland -- institute of earth, oceans, and space at the university of new hampshire, a renowned expert on space weather. he leads a research group that studies the physics of cosmic plasmas from the sun's corona to earth's upper atmosphere using experimental modeling techniques. this research will ultimately help our understanding of the potential threat space weather can present to earth. that is why investing in space weather research is so critical. dr., is nasa providing the resources to implement the action plan and strategy? >> we have started with the last two or three years of investments that followed the

plan. we have started to implement some of these recommendations. not all are fully funded at the level initially foreseen. there is a number of discussions happening across agencies on how we best do that. coming up with innovative ideas to get space weather data. a unique collaboration between nasa and noaa. it is that level of discussion we are having going forward and really coming up with a full implementation of this action plan. yes, we are on the way. could we go faster? probably. >> that is helpful. as i understand it, nasa funds science missions based on priorities set by the national academies of science. that makes sense, but there are obviously other, we might refer to them as more applied, reasons the font the research. how does nasa balance pure

science priorities on the one hand and national needs on the other when determining what research to fund? >> i think that is an important question and what i think of in the context of both earth science and planetary science. these objects hurtling through space could potentially affect human life on earth. and also space weather. what is interesting is the entire community is deeply embracing space weather. the reason i'm saying that is if you go back to the last guiding document, an important part of the entire program. it actually has a specific set of recommendations we are following at the same level as the others.

what we are trying to do in this case is, whenever we get such guidance, implementing with such constraints and overarching policy guides from here or elsewhere. >> would anyone else like to comment on striking that balance? >> we probably don't have a good answer. we are down by these surveys, and it is a science priority, not a national needs-based priority. >> though i think there will be another helio physics -- coming up reasonably soon. having been involved in the process, if nasa instructs the academy to wait those priorities, that becomes part of the process. >> nasa has a whole earth science and applied science area where they are doing critical work to support farmers with drought information and crop information. i think that balance is critical. in the earth sciences, i know this is top of mind. >> thank you. i wanted to touch briefly on --

maybe we can follow up in writing, but i've seen your remarks on the importance of diverse and find the work forces that make these critical scientific achievements possible. can you comment on how important it is that we invest in our nation's children through their early education and through collegiate and postgraduate studies to ensure we have a pipeline of people like the four of you who can carry on this important research and make great strides for space exploration? >> if we don't focus on increasing diversity in science, technology, engineering, and math, we are doing a disservice by not tapping into our entire population. to me it's not just something nice to do it is something that we have to do and we focus on the smithsonian. that's when things i hope to do, focus on telling those stories to inspire that next generation

to be the innovators and explorers. >> thank you very much. >> senator peter's. want to thank you for bringing up the space weather issue. university of michigan folks are in will -- involved in that. we passed the bill that i worked on with senator gardner, it has passed the senate twice. i think it was weakened as it came out of the house, we are hoping to strengthen that. we want everyone on the same age when it comes to forecasting these weather events. dr., i will ask you to talk about that. our weather forecasting abilities are similar to forecast hurricanes in the 1930's. we have gotten a whole lot

better. if we see an event like you mentioned in your testimony, that is well in nexis of a truthful -- trillion dollars in our economy. i don't think there has been enough coordination. this is homeland security and defense, would you tell us why it is important that we get going on making sure that we have space weather capabilities #? event like the earthquake in san francisco or los angeles, how will we protector satellites and power grid? >> anyone else? space weather is one of those elements of our research program. down -- esteemed

itulty members would say -- was not as prevalent as we are thinking about it today and. becoming much more important. we have made strides toward this. we are seeking to do the best or if you look at the 2019 budget .ou see accelerate to respond to this.

think of new york city with out power for one year. this is an investment that we need to be making. this may be our best example of space exploration. mentioned life on mars and the possibility for that. you were looking at watcher-a's life. -- walter-based life. what are you confident that is enough time that we might be --e to climb condition as stabilized we are fairly confident that the first

microbial life evolved on earth. he remained in the ocean for a billion years and it took well over a billion years for life to gain any complex city. that life existed on mars. we are talking about funding fossil microbes. blue-green algae. that's why i do think it will take humans on the planet breaking open a lot of rocks to find multiple samples. up finite and complex life, the idea that there may be civilizations that can communicate with us. there are some that argue that we should have probably found that if it existed and the fact that the earth is 4.5 billion , so you could

conceivably have civilizations that would be very advanced. you think about how much advancement we have had now. are we searching in the right way for civilizations that may be so far advanced and may not be communicating the way we do. how do we know that? this is the most intriguing question. >> i think we are heading down the right path. we are looking for xo planets. can -- once we start realizing how common life is in this solar system, this is a better basis and while -- once we can start collecting data, we will think how likely is complex life and where should we go to find it?

i think we need more data and the way we are approaching the problem is correct. >> thank you. thank you, senator peter's. we want to of humor russians. -- we will take a few more questions. the successor to hubble paris scope. it's meant to revolutionize the world's understanding of formations. the telescope was initially expected to launch in 2007 and cost $500 million. that skyrocketed to $5 billion by 2011 and now it's too late until 2021 with cost expected to exceed 9.6 billion dollars. what explains the incredible and deployment? that is the question i asked

myself and my team on a regular basis. it is more than one issue that affects that. , innovators need to be optimistic.ystic -- excessive optimism can be trapping you into a path that you will regret later. what that means for me as a manager, i want to build in ,echanism that look at this subject to independent reviews -- to get our own -- arms around it. the second one is the confluence of the development of 10 new technology. ,very new technology by itself

10 together is much harder. harder, it mayes be 50 or 100 times harder because these technologies interact with one another. are hard toogies understand whether we can develop these before we lock in costs. the third one i think we are learning now, the increased in cost that you are referring to, an independent review board has two close off the work -- defining challenges related to the doing the work and impact of human errors and embedded problems with lead to increase in cost. it is how we manage and our

we alsos, and understand the culture of the workforce and in many places where this happens. in the contractor community also. those are the three reasons we learn from. costse these massive overruns caused nasa to reassess the effectiveness of cost-plus contracting for projects like this? >> yes we are talking about a different type of contracting, and new innovative projects of the type that nobody has ever done. it would be very hard to get a fixed price contract from a company. i happen to be a board member at some of these companies. people don't understand why the ceo wants to do that.

it is a matter of trying to understand what the right balance is between fixed price contracts, frankly we have some of these fixed-price contracts and they in some cases the company may regret that in some cases. cost-plus contract is to manage as we go forward, as we learn new things. atinteract with that company a more optimized path. we constantly look at the vehicles we have an understand there are new ones, such as services contracts which are totally different than anything else. may be that some of these companies may not be ready, but yes, we are looking at those. >> your written testimony states

that needs -- nasa maintains a vigorous planetary defense program which includes the near earth observations project. as you know, earlier the sheer on april 15 an asteroid name 3 is estimatedge to be 50 feet in diameter was spotted from earth a distant closer to the moon and the earth is. what do you see is the greatest challenge that our nation faces as it pertains to planetary defense from asteroids and what steps do we need to be taking so -- one don't have to rely bruce willis in space. we have done in 2019 proposal, we proposed that we created an integrated program that takes all the data sources anduding from the past

other spacecraft that are out there to go look for these bodies. we want to integrate that, and get a real inventory of what is , 140 meters and above. there are certain parts that are always going to be weaker if we are observing from earth. cannot observe things coming out of the sun because it's bright. us, we will have to have an asset that we currently do not have, a way from the earth i can look back. once we have an inventory of us, we will mitigate these threats. it is understanding the threats and mitigating them. the mitigation tools are different. we have one mission that we are

currently working on which is that type of mitigation. we ran a spacecraft into a body like this to give it a bump. a target would bring it out of the collisions. those two challenges were focused on a proposed on the integrated program. massesddition to leadership -- nasa's leadership, we have seen cooperation and collaboration with the private sector. can and should nasa be doing more to utilize commercial partners and utilize private capital as it pertains to the agencies --? we are continually assessing this and because of the way we are doing it are around

experiments. closing -- close to --ishing commercial data by that would provide a new way of getting data into the science community and we don't even build the spacecraft. companies may be cheaper at building these spacecrafts. services contracts of the type , we aresing with lunar running a variety of experiments like that to see what is there eyeing our commitment is to continually do that to make sure , it is not our intent to compete with the private sector.

our goal is to benefit from positive partnerships. on other things. >> you may be checking about planet labs and space x. it is definitely the way forward. the echo system of potential partners has gotten bigger. are areas like robotics. 20 years ago, nasa represented a snippet of robotics. with is a tiny fraction money going to self driving car's. nasa,s an opportunity for to partner not only with the boeings and the spacex, and other companies that are growing

with factors like robotics, computer science and machine learning and so on. >> is important for nasa to stay like building the next giant telescope, making sure we understand this lannett and getting humans to mars. >> senator markey? doctor, i want to talk about missions.ts -- nasa's are you satisfied with the prioritization process that they had? >> we had the dick kaegel surveys. >> i thought i would start with you. i do want to hear from each of the rest of the witnesses as well. about how the

witnesses go back to the survey. that kind of a structure that we are forced to abide by. i want to say that any foritution, that is around more than half a century i think it should be reviewed to see if it is still effective. and room many areas for improvement. give us one example of improvement. webb spacethe james telescope, w first and other missions. believes ifmmission they don't have one mission that we will never get selected by the dashed survey. it had 10 new technologies. the question is, are we at a place where we should have more

focused missions but not everything at my place. we can't do that in the current formulation of the survey. in the comment about the younger people not knowing about -- sometimes the younger people know more. also the way that the hierarchy , people who don't necessarily vote the way the new generation would. in hiskid who come out -- doctor? instagram this process has been processe and it is a that is being improved. the academy responded to a nasa request looked at the process as a whole.

one advantage of doing things many times astrophysics, euro or planetary science, you can look across the different communities and see when did the process worked the best and when were stakes made? -- mistakes made? is we dide mistakes and costrly study something before recommendations were made. i we were to go back, with think we would have preferred to build james webb telescope that would have been less money and do other things. one of the lessons learned is missions going into the survey don't go in with fake ideas on powerpoint. they are studied extensively before hand. one of the investments nasa is 2020 iseading up to

that potential missions are studied. when they are prioritize, we know what we are looking at. ultimately, this is a cost-benefit analysis and we need to have a preliminary understanding of the cost. >> i was involved in the last surveys, iry science saw the process being reviewed and given a lot of thought on how to improve it. i think it is an important and strong process because it allows the best science to come forward. it's not the person who shouts the loudest or has the most connections. it is the best science. to me that allows the u.s. to retain the position >>.

i think in the planetary science i thought it happened well where you have brought him put -- input from the community. it was argued out in many panels and argued out in larger panels. i am happy with the priority. >> i have to tell you that i am ofd that i am not in charge science prioritization. i would not know how to do it, and the absence of the activity that involves many voices in different ways. verye, it has been a successful activity but like every human endeavor, it should always be questioned and improved as we go forward. it is really important that in these panels and diverse set of opinions are being listened to.

people from different types of backgrounds with different priorities, some that have been in the private sector and understand. it is helpful. so that is real important. we should as a community continually question whether we are doing it the right way. i don't know how i could do the job without it. >> thank you all for your service to the country and to the planet. i want to thank each of the witnesses for being here for your testimony at this hearing. it was helpful and productive and your expertise is what made it so. the hearing record will remain open for the next two weeks. during that time, senators are asked to submit any questions for the record and for the witnesses upon receipt, i would ask a response to the written

answers as soon as possible. with that, this hearing is adjourned.

this afternoon in bethesda, maryland, larry hogan is .peaking with david rubenstein governor hogan running for reelection will discuss education, health care, trade and taxes and israel election bid. we expect this to start in just a moment.

maryland governor larry hogan is being greeted by some of the attendees of this mansion.

hisxpect him to talk about reelection bid and health care and education. it should get going and a moment. president trump will be holding a rally in pennsylvania. president won 12 of 14 northeastern pennsylvania counties in 2016. live coverage of that event starts at 7 p.m. on c-span two or watch it online at seized and work or listen with the free c-span radio app.

>> thank you all. we are very honored today to have the 67th governor of the state of maryland my home state and the state in which i live. governor hogan. wellackground is probably known to most of you but for those who might be watching let me give you his breath ground -