EXPLORING OUR SOLAR SYSTEM: THE ASTEROIDS ACT AS A KEY STEP HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION September 10, 2014 Serial No. 113–93 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 92–326PDF WASHINGTON : 2015 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 DANA ROHRABACHER, California EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas RALPH M. HALL, Texas ZOE LOFGREN, California F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois Wisconsin DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ERIC SWALWELL, California PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia DAN MAFFEI, New York STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi ALAN GRAYSON, Florida MO BROOKS, Alabama JOSEPH KENNEDY III, Massachusetts RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois SCOTT PETERS, California LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana DEREK KILMER, Washington STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California BILL POSEY, Florida ELIZABETH ESTY, Connecticut CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming MARC VEASEY, Texas DAVID SCHWEIKERT, Arizona JULIA BROWNLEY, California THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky ROBIN KELLY, Illinois KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota KATHERINE CLARK, Massachusetts JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma RANDY WEBER, Texas CHRIS COLLINS, New York BILL JOHNSON, Ohio SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE HON. STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi, Chair RALPH M. HALL, TEXAS DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland DANA ROHRABACHER, California SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma DAN MAFFEI, New York MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts MO BROOKS, ALABAMA DEREK KILMER, Washington LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana AMI BERA, California STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas MARC VEASEY, Texas BILL POSEY, Florida JULIA BROWNLEY, California DAVID SCHWEIKERT, Arizona FREDERICA WILSON, Florida JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas CHRIS COLLINS, New York LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas (II) C O N T E N T S September 10, 2014 Page Witness List ............................................................................................................. 2 Hearing Charter ...................................................................................................... 3 Opening Statements Statement by Representative Steven M. Palazzo, Chairman, Subcommittee on Space, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .................................................................................................... 12 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 13 Statement by Representative Bill Posey, Subcommittee on Space, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ................ 13 Statement by Representative Donna F. Edwards, Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Space, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................................................ 14 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 15 Statement by Representative Lamar S. Smith, Chairman, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ..................... 16 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 17 Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Member, Com- mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .... 18 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 18 Witnesses: Dr. Jim Green, Director, NASA Planetary Science Division Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 20 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 22 Dr. Philip Christensen, Co-Chair, NRC Committee on Astrobiology and Plan- etary Science (CAPS), Chair, Mars Panel, NRC Planetary Decadal Survey, Regents Professor, Arizona State University Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 29 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 31 Dr. Jim Bell, Professor of Earth and Space Science Exploration, Arizona State University, and President, Board of Directors, The Planetary Society Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 36 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 39 Dr. Mark Sykes, CEO and Director, Planetary Science Institute Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 51 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 53 Ms. Joanne Gabrynowicz, Professor Emerita, Director Emerita, Journal of Space Law Editor-in-Chief Emerita, University of Mississippi Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 67 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 69 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 81 Appendix I: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions Dr. Jim Green, Director, NASA Planetary Science Division ................................ 98 (III) IV Page Dr. Philip Christensen, Co-Chair, NRC Committee on Astrobiology and Plan- etary Science (CAPS), Chair, Mars Panel, NRC Planetary Decadal Survey, Regents Professor, Arizona State University ..................................................... 108 Dr. Jim Bell, Professor of Earth and Space Science Exploration, Arizona State University, and President, Board of Directors, The Planetary Society . 115 Dr. Mark Sykes, CEO and Director, Planetary Science Institute ....................... 130 Ms. Joanne Gabrynowicz, Professor Emerita, Director Emerita, Journal of Space Law Editor-in-Chief Emerita, University of Mississippi ....................... 136 Appendix II: Additional Material for the Record Letters submitted for the record by Steven M. Palazzo, Chairman, Sub- committee on Space, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .................................................................................... 148 EXPLORING OUR SOLAR SYSTEM: THE ASTEROIDS ACT AS A KEY STEP WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY, Washington, D.C. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:07 a.m., in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Steven Palazzo [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. (1) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Chairman PALAZZO. The Subcommittee on Space will come to order. Good morning. Welcome to today’s hearing titled ‘‘Exploring Our Solar System: The ASTEROIDS Act as a Key Step.’’ In front of you are packets containing the written testimony, biographies, and Truth in Testimony disclosures for today’s witness. I recognize my- self for five minutes for an opening statement. Good morning. I would like to thank our witnesses for being here today to testify about future scientific exploration of our solar sys- tem and the recently introduced ASTEROIDS Act. Planetary science has long inspired us to imagine what it would be like to visit another planet in our solar system. It has shown us that there are methane lakes on Saturn’s moon, Titan, icy plumes on Jupiter’s moon, Enceladus, and that humans can main- tain a robotic presence on Mars. However, over the last few years the Administration has consist- ently cut NASA’s Planetary Science Division budget. Meanwhile, NASA’s Earth Science program has grown by more than 40 per- cent. There are 13 other agencies throughout the Federal Govern- ment that currently fund over $2.5 billion in climate science re- search, but only one agency does space exploration and space science. Congress has long been a supporter of planetary science, particu- larly as it pertains to asteroids. After the air burst over Chelyabinsk, Russia, that caused tens of millions of dollars in dam- age and injured nearly 1,500 people, this Committee held two hear- ings on NASA’s near-Earth asteroid tracking program and its ef- forts to fulfill the requirements of the George E. Brown Near-Earth Object Survey Act. Support for the detection and characterization of asteroids is not to be confused with the President’s current proposed Asteroid Redi- rect Mission, or ARM. It is no secret that this Committee has ex- pressed significant skepticism with regards to ARM. NASA’s own experts have been critical of the plan. NASA’s own Small Bodies Assessment Group recently said ‘‘its benefits for advancing the knowledge of asteroids and furthering planetary defense strategies are limited and not compelling.’’ Additionally,