Buzz Aldrin Among Those Testifying Before The Panel Tuesday

The Senate Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, held a hearing Tuesday focusing on “U.S. Human Exploration Goals and Commercial Space Competitiveness.” Among those to testify before the panel were former NASA astronauts including Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, the pilot of Apollo 11, and leaders in the commercial space industry.

“We will look to ensure that NASA and commercial space have clear and consistent mission objectives and can continue to work alongside our international partners, but not be dependent on them," said subcommittee chair Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) (pictured) in calling the hearing. "America should once again lead the way for the world in space exploration.”

Now, Cruz said, the Unites States is at a critical crossroads for its space program. "My first priority for the space component of the subcommittee will be to refocus NASA's energies on its core priorities of exploring space. We need to get back to the hard sciences; to manned space exploration; and to the innovation that has been integral to the mission of NASA."

Aldrin, who has long been a proponent of a return to manned spaceflight, agreed with the committee chair.

"Over the next few years we must choose whether we are to go forward as a nation and lead the extension of global civilization to a permanent presence beyond Low Earth Orbit, or to allow American leadership in space to erode over the next decades," Aldrin said in his prepared remarks.

"America must be the world leader in human spaceflight. There is no other policy area which so clearly demonstrates American values of innovation and enterprise than human spaceflight. I have dedicated the last 50 years of my life to this proposition and I do not intend to stop any time soon. I think there is broad agreement in the space community and the panelists you are hearing from today on this point.

"There is decidedly less agreement on how we should do this. We do not have long to decide, and this Subcommittee will play a critical role in setting the agenda for this decision," Aldrin (pictured) said.

Commercial Spaceflight Federation President Eric W. Stallmer said in his remarks that the private sector has a major role to play moving the space program forward

“Since the dawn of the space program, cooperation between government and the private sector has been critical to our tremendous accomplishments in space,” stated Stallmer in his opening statement to the Subcommittee. “But the relationship has evolved over time. The relationships that once defined the United States’ nascent space program have given way to more modern and innovative approaches to procure a wide variety of necessary capabilities and services.”

Stallmer encouraged the Congress to codify a number of productive policies that will promote growth and innovation in the industry, and maintain the United States' space sector's competitive leadership.

FMI: Archived Hearing Video