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Advances in the Search for Life Hearing Committee On ADVANCES IN THE SEARCH FOR LIFE HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION APRIL 26, 2017 Serial No. 115–11 Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 25–467PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas DANA ROHRABACHER, California ZOE LOFGREN, California MO BROOKS, Alabama DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon BILL POSEY, Florida ALAN GRAYSON, Florida THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky AMI BERA, California JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut RANDY K. WEBER, Texas MARC A. VEASEY, Texas STEPHEN KNIGHT, California DONALD S. BEYER, JR., Virginia BRIAN BABIN, Texas JACKY ROSEN, Nevada BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia JERRY MCNERNEY, California GARY PALMER, Alabama ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia PAUL TONKO, New York RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana BILL FOSTER, Illinois DRAIN LAHOOD, Illinois MARK TAKANO, California DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida COLLEEN HANABUSA, Hawaii JIM BANKS, Indiana CHARLIE CRIST, Florida ANDY BIGGS, Arizona ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas NEAL P. DUNN, Florida CLAY HIGGINS, Louisiana (II) C O N T E N T S April 26, 2017 Page Witness List ............................................................................................................. 2 Hearing Charter ...................................................................................................... 3 Opening Statements Statement by Representative Lamar S. Smith, Chairman, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ..................... 4 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 6 Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Member, Com- mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .... 8 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 10 Statement by Representative Brian Babin, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................... 12 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 13 Statement by Representative Ami Bera, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ....................................................... 14 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 16 Witnesses: Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 19 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 21 Dr. Adam Burgasser, Professor of Physics, University of California, San Diego and UCSD Center for Astrophysics and Space Science; Fulbright Scholar Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 26 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 29 Dr. James Kasting, Chair, Planning Committee, Workshop on the Search for Life Across Space and Time, National Academies of Science, Engineer- ing, and Medicine, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 43 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 45 Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 56 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 58 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 64 Appendix I: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ................................ 82 Dr. Adam Burgasser, Professor of Physics, University of California, San Diego and UCSD Center for Astrophysics and Space Science; Fulbright Scholar .... 88 Dr. James Kasting, Chair, Planning Committee, Workshop on the Search for Life Across Space and Time, National Academies of Science, Engineer- ing, and Medicine, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University ............................................................................................................. 89 (III) IV Page Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute ......................................... 92 ADVANCES IN THE SEARCH FOR LIFE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2017 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY, Washington, D.C. The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:08 a.m., in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Lamar Smith [Chairman of the Committee] presiding. (1) 2 LAMAR S SMITH, Tex~~ EOOIE 8£:ANIC!: JOHNSON, Texas CHAIRMAN RANKING MEMBER Q:ongrcss of the 1dnitcd ~tatcs i'lonsc of 'RQJrcscnmtiocs COMMITIEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY 2321 RAYBURN HoUSE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20515-6301 1202)225-6371 wwwscte!lcehous~gov Advances in the Search for Life Wednesday, April 26, 2017 !O:OOa.m. 2318 Rayburn House Office Building Witnesses Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dr. Adam Burgasser, Professor of Physics, University of California, San Diego and UCSD Center for Astrophysics and Space Science; Fulbright Scholar Dr. James Kasting, Chair, Planning Committee, Workshop on the Search for Life Across Space and Time, National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer, SET! Institute 3 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY Charter TO: Members, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology FROM: Majority Staff, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology DATE: April 26, 2017 SUBJECT: Full Committee Hearing: "Advances in the Search for Life" On Wednesday, April26, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will hold a hearing titled, "Advances in the Search for Life." Hearing Purpose The NASA Transition Authorization Act of2017 established "The search for life's origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe," as one of the national space program's objectives. The hearing will survey recent breakthroughs in a variety of fields that contribute to astrobiology, such as the continued discovery of exoplanets and research efforts to understand life's origin on Earth and in the lab. Witnesses • Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • Dr. Adam Burgasser, Professor of Physics, University of California, San Diego and UCSD Center for Astrophysics and Space Science; Fulbright Scholar • Dr. James Kasting, Chair, Planning Committee, Workshop on the Search for Life Across Space and Time, National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University • Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer, SET! Institute Staff Contact For questions related to the hearing, please contact Mr. Tom Hammond, Staff Director, Space Subcommittee, Dr. Michael Mineiro, Professional Staff Member, Space Subcommittee, or Ms. Sara Ratliff, Policy Assistant, Space Subcommittee, at 202-225-6371. 4 Chairman SMITH. The Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- nology will come to order, Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare recesses of the Committee at any time. Welcome to today’s hearing titled ‘‘Advances in the Search for Life.’’ Before I recognize myself and the Ranking Member for an open- ing statement, let me explain that both Republican and Democratic caucuses are now meeting. For reasons you can imagine, those meetings are going long, and there is much discussion, which means that everybody here left their caucuses early, so I hope you will consider that to be a form of compliment. But we do expect more Members to come in in the future few minutes. I’ll recognize myself for an opening statement. For centuries, humanity has wondered if life might exist else- where in the cosmos. Only in the last few decades have we been able to detect the existence of other worlds. Twenty-five years ago, we didn’t know that planets existed be- yond our solar system. Today, we have confirmed the existence of over 3,400 exoplanets that orbit other suns. And we continue to make new discoveries. Today we can observe
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