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THE PRESIDENT’S NEW VISION OF SPACE 

FIELD HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, 

AND SPACE 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, 

SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

FEBRUARY 18, 2004 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

( 

(II) 

SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION 

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona, Chairman 

TED STEVENS, Alaska 

CONRAD BURNS, Montana 

TRENT LOTT, Mississippi 

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas 

OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine 

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas 

GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon 

PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois 

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada 

GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia 

JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire 

ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina, 

Ranking 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii 

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia 

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts 

JOHN B. BREAUX, Louisiana 

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota 

RON WYDEN, Oregon 

BARBARA BOXER, California 

BILL NELSON, Florida 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey 

JEANNE BUMPUS, Republican Staff Director and General Counsel 

ROBERT W. CHAMBERLIN, Republican Chief Counsel 

KEVIN D. KAYES, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

GREGG ELIAS, Democratic General Counsel 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SPACE 

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas, Chairman 

TED STEVENS, Alaska 

CONRAD BURNS, Montana 

TRENT LOTT, Mississippi 

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas 

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada 

GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia 

JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire 

JOHN B. BREAUX, Louisiana, Ranking 

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia 

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts 

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota 

RON WYDEN, Oregon 

BILL NELSON, Florida 

FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on February 18, 2004 ....................................................................... 1 

Statement of Senator Brownback ........................................................................... 1 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 2 

WITNESSES

Chafer, Charles M., President, Team Encounter, LLC ........................................ 34 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 37 

Cornyn, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from Texas ....................................................... 3 

DeLay, Hon. Tom, Congressman from Texas ........................................................ 4 

Lorsch, Robert H., President, The RHL Group, Inc. ............................................. 39 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 42 

Mitchell, William F., President, Altair Development Corporation and Chief 

Executive Officer, NEO Safety International .................................................... 79 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 81 

Readdy, William, Associate Administrator for Space Flight, National Aeronautics and Space Administration; accompanied by Dr. Mary Kicza, Associate Administrator for Biological and Physical Research; Retired U.S. Navy 

Rear Admiral Craig Steidle, Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems; and General Jeff Howell, Administrator of the Johnson Space Flight 

Center .................................................................................................................... 8 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 

Stadd, Courtney A., President, Capitol Solutions ................................................. 86 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 89 

(1) 

THE PRESIDENT’S NEW VISION OF SPACE 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 

U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SPACE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Nassau Bay, TX. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m. in Council 

Chambers, Nassau Bay City Hall, Hon. Sam Brownback, Chairman 

of the Committee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SAM BROWNBACK, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM KANSAS: 

Senator BROWNBACK. I call the hearing to order; I thank you all 

for being out this morning. My name is Sam Brownback and I 

chair the Senate Subcommittee for Science, Space, and Technology. 

This is a field hearing of the U.S. Senate and the Subcommittee 

regarding space exploration and going to the Moon and beyond. I 

particularly wanted to have this hearing in Houston, given its connection, its guidance and the work that’s going to be involved to get 

this exciting mission going. 

I’m delighted to be joined by two Texans, both of whom will be 

giving an opening statement, who are enormously supportive of the 

space program and guiding it. Their vision has helped to get us to 

this point and is going to carry it on forward. We’ll be having witnesses, and I understand both of them have further schedules as 

well. So, they may have to depart sometime before the full hearing 

is over. 

On January 14, President Bush gave one of the most important 

speeches a president can give. He set our Nation once again on a 

course to the future. This future will see American men and women 

return to the Moon for extended periods of time and journey to the 

planet of Mars. This initiative is definitely a big boost to NASA, 

and its dedicated men and women, but it’s much more than that. 

It is for the next generation of Americans. President Bush wants 

a new generation of Americans to have an unlimited future, a future in which space exploration will play a key role. 

My generation was inspired by Americans walking on the Moon 

and flying in space. We were inspired to study science and engineering and we put those talents to great use in building America’s 

economy to the envy of the world. The new generation of young 

Americans watches countless movies and television shows featuring 

humans working and living on other worlds, President Bush has 

challenged them to make these visions real, and they will. 

2 

President Bush’s space initiative will involve new NASA programs that will be much more than just government work. It will 

unite our vast private sector’s talents and resources to lead the 

way to space, generating great new wealth and capability. In the 

next few months, the private sector will be flying ordinary Americans to space for the first time. 

In a few months, completely privately-financed rockets will blast 

new, low-cost satellites into orbit. These satellites will contribute a 

new dimension to our pressing national security problems and we’ll 

hear some of their ideas today. America is not alone in understanding the promise of space exploration; the first in a series of 

European missions to the Moon is currently underway (more will 

soon follow from India, Japan and China). These nations have all 

announced their intent to place humans on other worlds, beginning 

with the Moon. Some of these nations are allies but they are all 

our economic competitors. They know that their space exploration 

will stimulate their new generations to develop both technical and 

ultimately economically powerful new capacities. 

It has been almost 30 years since Americans last walked on another world, 30 years. Much has changed; new technologies and 

ideas have emerged. Some have criticized the exploration effort as 

unaffordable and extravagant, but this is manifestly untrue. Most 

of the Government resources needed for human exploration of the 

Moon and Mars will come from reorienting our priorities within 

NASA. More significantly, though, other resources will come from 

American entrepreneurs who will reap the rewards of their space 

investments. 

I’m proud to chair the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space and I’m proud to be here in Houston today 

where America’s past journeys to other worlds were led and where 

our future journeys will be led as well. 

Your work will continue to inspire new generations. It’s America’s destiny to lead the world in science, technology, space, and 

economic development, as well as to lead humanity to other worlds. 

It’s an exciting and bold mission. 

I’m delighted to be joined by my colleague in the Senate, John 

Cornyn and I have to say, ‘‘Thank you, Texas,’’ for sending us such 

a great Senator. I have already gotten to know him well in the period of time he’s been in the Senate and although he’s new, he is 

not operating as somebody new. He is doing a fabulous job. You 

should be very pleased with your new Senator. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Brownback follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. SAM BROWNBACK, U.S. SENATOR FROM KANSAS

On January 14, President Bush gave one of the most important speeches a President can give. He set our Nation once again on a course to the future. This future 

will see American men and women return to the moon for extended periods and 

journey to the planet Mars. 

This initiative is a big boost to NASA and its dedicated men and women to be 

sure. But it is much more than that. It is for our next generation of Americans. 

President Bush wants a new generation of Americans to have an unlimited future— 

a future in which space exploration will play a key role. My engineering. And we 

put those talents to great use in building America’s economy to the envy of the 

world. Our new generation of young Americans watches countless movies and television shows featuring humans working and living on other worlds. Now President 

Bush has challenged them to make these visions real. And they will! 

3 

President Bush’s space initiative will involve new NASA programs. But it will be 

much more than just Government work. It will ignite our vast private sector’s talent 

and resources to lead the way in space—generating great new wealth and capability. In a few months this private sector will fly ordinary Americans in space for 

the first time. In a few months wholly privately-financed rockets will blast new low 

cost satellites into orbit. These satellites will contribute a new dimension to our 

pressing national security problems. We will hear some of these ideas today. 

America is not alone in understanding the promise of space exploration. Even now 

the first in a series of European missions to the moon is underway. More will soon 

follow from India, Japan and China. These nations have all announced their intent 

to place humans on other worlds beginning with the moon. Some of these nations 

are allies. But they are all our economic competitors. They know that their space 

exploration will stimulate their new generations to develop technical and ultimately 

economically powerful new capabilities. 

It has been almost 30 years since Americans last walked on another world. Much 

has changed. New technologies abound. New ideas have emerged. Some have criticized the exploration effort as unaffordable and extravagant. This is manifestly untrue. Most of the Government resources needed for human exploration of the Moon 

and Mars will come from re-orienting our priorities within NASA. More significantly 

though, other resources will come from the American entrepreneurs who will reap 

the rewards of their space investments. 

I am proud to chair the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space. 

I’m proud to be here today in Houston—where America’s past journeys to other 

worlds were led and where our future journeys will begin. Your work will continue 

to inspire our new generations. It is America’s destiny to lead—to lead the world 

in science, technology and space, to lead in economic development and to lead humanity to other worlds. 

Senator BROWNBACK. John, thank you for joining me this morning. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN CORNYN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM TEXAS 

Senator CORNYN. Good, I’m glad to have you here. 

And Senator Brownback, I’d like to welcome you and NASA Associate Administrator Readdy, on behalf of myself and Senator Kay 

Bailey Hutchison, who I know regrets she’s not able to be here 

today, and I thank you for the opportunity to say a few words this 

morning. 

Of course, it’s always an honor to be with my friend and the 

Johnson Space Center’s best friend in the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives Tom 

DeLay. Tom, always good to be with you. 

As a Senator representing Texas, I’m immensely proud of the 

dedicated men and women working at the Johnson Space Center, 

which has been the home of America’s manned space flight for 

more than 40 years. In Houston working at NASA is more than a 

job, it’s a way of life dedicated to expanding our body of knowledge 

and the way of life through human space exploration. 

On January 14, as Senator Brownback has already noted, the 

President unveiled a vision for our space program that is worthy 

of our great Nation, daring, innovative and revolutionary. The 

United States was settled by pioneers who were determined and 

undaunted by any obstacle—NASA and the private companies supporting our space program are the modern manifestation of this 

pioneering spirit. NASA, and especially the men and women who 

work at the Johnson Space Center, face new and exciting challenges. 

In the near term we must return the space shuttle to flight, consistent with updated safety precautions, since the shuttle is a critVerDate Nov 24 2008 08:49 Nov 02, 2016 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\22360.TXT JACKIE
4 

ical link in the President’s plans for the future. The shuttle will 

transport the remaining components to complete the international 

space station. The space station will serve as a research center to 

increase our understanding of long-term exposure to space and as 

a springboard to the Moon and eventually to Mars. The President 

clearly recognized what many in this room know to be true—the 

country, NASA and the Johnson Space Center need a new vision. 

His new vision will reinvigorate the space program and capture 

the public’s imagination. There has been much discussion recently 

about the economy, other countries competing for jobs in this country, whether it’s manufacturing, computer programming and business support functions. Some advocate trade barriers and other 

protectionist measures. Instead, I believe we must continue to 

strive for excellence to make sure the United States will always be 

the world’s technological leader. 

As a re-energized NASA and contract community can play a critical role in the larger American economy to maintain our position 

as technological leaders, a daring and challenging space program 

will attract the best and brightest by encouraging more American 

students to study engineering, computer programming and the 

sciences. NASA can serve as the intellectual catalyst for development of a new generation of technology, much like previous NASA 

innovations have led to the development of things that we take for 

granted today like global positioning systems and CAT scan equipment. 

Mr. Chairman, I want to express my appreciation for the opportunity to be with you here today and, again, welcome you. In addition, I can assure you that Senator Hutchison and I, on behalf of 

the Senate and Congressman DeLay, Majority Leader DeLay, will 

do everything we can to work with you to accomplish this important vision. Thanks again for being here. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Thank you, Senator Cornyn. I appreciate 

that, and I talked with Senator Hutchison when we were setting 

this hearing up and she wanted to be here, but could not because 

of other commitments. She’s on the Commerce Committee and is a 

strong supporter of the space program and NASA. 

You have no better supporter in all of Washington than Tom 

DeLay. I remember Tom talking about a permanent mission, permanent establishment and colonies on the Moon when most people 

kind of thought of that as a pretty wild idea, Tom. At the time I 

remember myself thinking twice or more about that, yet, knowing 

your ability. You’ve been right on a lot of these things early on and 

you’re right on this one, too. 

And so, I’m delighted to have Tom DeLay here as the House Majority Leader, but also, and more importantly, as a key and strong 

supporter of the NASA program and space exploration. 

STATEMENT OF HON. TOM DELAY, 

CONGRESSMAN FROM TEXAS 

Mr. DELAY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I am really thrilled that you’re here. Your timing is absolutely 

perfect. This is the right time to be here to discuss the future of 

space and I’m glad to be here with my colleague and my Senator 

John Cornyn and I’m glad to—and I know Kay Bailey Hutchison 

5 

is paying attention to this issue as well as to this hearing. John 

Cornyn has done an incredible job already in a very short period 

of time, as if he was a veteran. He hit the ground running when 

he—when he entered the Senate and has distinguished himself in 

a very short period of time. So, it’s great to be with you, Senator. 

I am really honored to be here today to speak to this body and 

the Subcommittee on the President’s bold vision for NASA. Not 

only for the privilege of testifying before the upper body but also 

the privilege of welcoming the Subcommittee to my own backyard 

and because, Senators, the men and women you will meet during 

your stay here, the space community of the Bay Area-Houston, 

many of whom are my own constituents, are among the finest 

minds, the finest public servants and the finest people I have ever 

known. These are the people who won the space race, who put a 

man on the Moon, who designed and operate the International 

Space Station and who fly the only reusable launch vehicle, the 

space shuttle. They’re the people who took mankind into space and, 

Mr. Chairman, they’re the people who will take us there again. 

The success of NASA’s Mars rovers, the Spirit and Opportunity, 

has captured the imagination of our Nation and of our world. Since 

the Spirit rover landed on the surface of Mars earlier this year, 

NASA’s website has received almost 6 billion hits. In less than 2 

months, NASA has experienced more Internet traffic than any Federal Government website has ever had in a whole year. So, lest we 

have doubts, mankind’s fascination with space and the red planet, 

in particular, is alive and is well. 

And as such, the timing is perfect. After more than two decades 

of brilliant ingenuity on the space station and the space shuttle, for 

the President’s plan to reinvigorate human space flight program, 

first to return us to the Moon and, ultimately, to send a manned 

mission to Mars. Having lived in this area most of my life and having represented many in the Johnson Space Center community for 

years, the President’s speech last month is exactly what I believe 

NASA has needed for a long time and that’s a new vision. 

The vision is bold and dramatic, thrilling, really, when you think 

about the risks and the rewards involved, but it’s also realistic and 

it’s practical. The pivot toward the Moon and Mars can’t be made 

overnight and the President’s vision accounts for the necessary 

transfer of time, energy and resources into the new project. The 

new vision lays out a multi-track program to focus research, planning and exploration on new goals. 

The first step, returning the space shuttle to flight as soon as 

possible, with eye toward completing assembly on the International 

Space Station can begin soon. The shuttle and the station are vital 

components of NASA and vital components of the President’s vision. They represent the springboard that will vault us into this 

new era of exploration. 

And as the space station is completed, NASA will focus its station research on bioastronautics, the impact of space travel on the 

human body. Questions about prolonged human exposure to radiation and microgravity are pivotal to human survival on the Moon 

and during the long trip to Mars. And these questions can’t be answered without the laboratories of the space station and when they 

6 

are answered, the benefits will be reaped here on Earth as much 

as they are in outer space. 

The Senator from Texas has already talked about all the benefits 

that we reap from the space program and the shuttle, like the programmable pacemaker, the MRI, the portable X-ray machine and 

the automatic insulin pump before them. Solutions to problems of 

prolonged space travel will answer medical questions that face doctors and patients back here on terra firma. Exploration, by its very 

nature, deals in new territory. 

Just as seafarers long ago developed sextants and astrolabes, 

which, ultimately, served humanity for centuries, so, too, has 

NASA developed technologies that seem limited in scope but which 

now are integral parts of modern life. In addition to medical breakthroughs, NASA’s work over the years has introduced the world to 

touchtone telephony, cellular phones and the unquantifiable communications and national security benefits of satellite technology. 

The list goes on and on. 

And I’m not insensitive to the concerns many have about this 

ambitious new vision in light of the current fiscal situation, but I 

believe money spent responsibly on focused, goal-oriented space exploration like the President has outlined is an investment of inestimable value. 

Technological innovations, like those we can expect to reap from 

such exploration, will lead to greater economic strength and military security here at home; and to my mind, space exploration, like 

nautical exploration centuries ago, is inseparable from economic 

strength and military security. NASA has the experience and the 

expertise to do this, Mr. Chairman. And if you ask them, I’d bet 

most of the folks here at the Johnson Space Center have been waiting for a long time to take on the challenge that President Bush 

has issued. 

I firmly hope those of us in Congress will give them the support 

they need to get the job done. It will be tough convincing our colleagues how vitally important this mission is. In addition to its direct benefits to our collective knowledge, advances in security, 

healthcare and communication technology, America’s mission to 

Mars will inspire a generation of children to become scientists and 

engineers and, more fundamentally, to dare to dream. 

Thanks to the President we have an opportunity to do great 

things, Mr. Chairman; and I look forward to working with you and 

the Senate to educate and convince our colleagues both in the 

House and the Senate of our need to seize this opportunity. Thank 

you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for being in the Bay Area/Houston 

area. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Thank you, Tom. I appreciate it and your 

testimony. 

Mr. Readdy, we want to bring you up to be the first panel. Mr. 

William Readdy, Associate Administrator for Space Flight National 

Aeronautics Space Administration out of Washington. As I noted to 

you earlier, both Senator Cornyn and Majority Leader DeLay may 

have to leave at some time during the hearing with other commitments, but I’m very appreciative to both the gentlemen for being 

here for the hearing. 

7 

Mr. DELAY. I appreciate that, Mr. Chairman. I might say I’ve already heard Mr. Readdy. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Thanks for joining us. I appreciate it. 

And I understand the Johnson Space Center director is here, 

General Howell. 

General HOWELL. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Sir, thank you very much for allowing us 

to hold this hearing here. 

General HOWELL. We’re delighted you’re here, sir. On behalf of 

our 10,000 employees and the wonderful people here who support 

us, we just want to welcome you, say we’re delighted you’re here 

and we’re very excited about carrying out the President’s vision in 

the days ahead. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Thank you. I’ve been looking forward to 

this hearing for a while because I wanted to find out from the people here what they were viewing and looking at. Just one additional comment as we’re getting y’all settled—and Tom DeLay 

mentioned this—regarding the inspiration for the next generation. 

To me, this is the incredible and tangible value of what this mission’s about and I mean both terms, incredible and intangible 

value. 

One short vignette. I was a White House fellow about 12 years 

ago and one of the guys I was a fellow with went through the naval 

academy. The reason he went through the Naval Academy was because he saw these astronauts flying and going to the Moon when 

he was a much younger man, and said to his dad: ‘‘I want to be 

an astronaut.’’ 

His dad said ‘‘Well, if you want to be an astronaut, you’ve got to 

go to the Naval Academy. Most of these guys are Naval Academy.’’ 

Now, General Howell, I recognize that probably doesn’t apply to 

you. Which academy did you go to? 

General HOWELL. I’m a graduate of the University of Texas, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Oh, OK. 

General HOWELL. I did not qualify to be an astronaut. 

Senator BROWNBACK. That would be the ‘‘Longhorn Academy.’’ 

The reason I say this is because he went to the Naval Academy 

to be an astronaut. He ended up being the captain of an aircraft 

carrier for us, which is the largest asset that we have in the U.S. 

military and he’s in charge of it. He wouldn’t have been there but 

for the dream of space. And how many millions of children around 

the world are inspired because we’re going there? To me, that’s the 

thing that I so want us to do—to inspire that 12-year-old boy in 

Minneapolis, Kansas, that’s looking at this and saying ‘‘I want to 

go there, I’m going to study science and engineering and I’m going 

to go to the academy. I’m going to push myself because we’re going 

there.’’ This is an incredible value. 

So, I’m delighted that you’re all here. Mr. Readdy, I just had you 

down as testifying. I’m happy to have the whole group or you may 

want to introduce your team and then divvy it up any way you’d 

like. 

But thank you for coming here and the floor is yours. 

8 

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM READDY, ASSOCIATE 

ADMINISTRATOR FOR SPACE FLIGHT, NATIONAL 

AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION; ACCOMPANIED 

BY DR. MARY KICZA, ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR 

BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL RESEARCH; RETIRED U.S. NAVY 

REAR ADMIRAL CRAIG STEIDLE, ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR 

FOR EXPLORATION SYSTEMS; AND GENERAL JEFF HOWELL, 

ADMINISTRATOR OF THE JOHNSON SPACE FLIGHT CENTER 

Mr. READDY. Mr. Chairman, thank you. 

I think if you were to conduct your straw poll here today, the excitement in this room and certainly here at the Johnson Space 

Flight Center and all of NASA is palpable. I had a chance to do 

my own straw poll at home with my kids, Sean, Peter and Maureen 

and they are that next generation of explorers. I think there are 

stories like that throughout this room. This is an exciting and bold 

new vision for space exploration that is guaranteed to excite the 

next generation. 

With me today, I have Mary Kicza. She’s in charge of biological 

and physical research, Associate Administrator at NASA; General 

Howell, the director of the Johnson Space Flight Center; and Admiral Craig Steidle, who is newly on board to head up our exploration 

initiative. 

Senator BROWNBACK. OK. Head up this exploration initiative? 

Mr. READDY. Correct. 

Admiral STEIDLE. Certainly. Thank you. 

Mr. READDY. I have a written statement for the record; and in 

the interest of time, I’ll just go ahead and summarize it. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Your written statement will be placed in 

the record. 

Mr. READDY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The President has presented a bold, new, forward-thinking, practical vision, and a responsible vision in his renewed spirit of discovery. Pursuing that vision on behalf of the American public, 

NASA will explore answers to fundamental questions of importance 

to science and society, develop revolutionary technologies and capabilities for the future while maintaining good stewardship of the 

taxpayer’s dollars. 

The President’s commission on the implementation of U.S. space 

exploration policy, led by former secretary of defense and secretary 

of the Air Force Peter Aldridge, began its deliberations last week 

and will report on the implementation strategies for the vision in 

the coming months; this policy’s a product of months of extensive 

and careful deliberations. The importance of these deliberations increased with the findings of the Columbia Accident Investigation 

board released last August. 

These deliberations also form the basis for formulating the President’s Fiscal Year 2005 budget request for NASA of $16.2 billion, 

representing an increase of 5.6 percent over the previous year. The 

new U.S. space exploration policy’s fundamental goal is to advance 

scientific, national security, and economic interest through a robust 

space program. In support of this goal NASA will implement a sustained, achievable and affordable human space flight program that 

calls for the return of the space shuttle to flight as soon as safely 

feasible, in order to complete the assembly of International Space 

9 

Station, a return to the Moon by the year 2020 in preparation for 

human exploration of Mars and other destinations. 

We think this will promote international and commercial participation in these interests and further U.S. scientific, security and 

economic benefits. NASA will plan and implement an integrated, 

long-term robotic and human exploration program measured by 

milestones and executed on the basis of available resources, using 

our accumulated experience and technology as they become ready. 

Space shuttle, our return to flight as soon as practicable. I was 

down at Galveston the last 2 days for the shuttle summit, where 

we’re refocusing what was formerly the service life extension program with nearer term objectives of return to flight and assembly 

of International Space Station—to fulfill our international commitments and build a premier research platform in the space that will 

allow us to pursue our exploration objectives. We will determine in 

the next year how best to optimize the use of the space shuttle fleet 

to do that assembly and assure for the remainder of its life that 

that investment is sound and focused on safety, reliability and 

maintainability during this period. 

International Space Station’s goals will be refocused on the 

human condition and understanding the fundamental biological 

challenges to enable astronauts to survive for long-duration missions in space. The budget includes $1.9 billion for ISS assembly; 

and while we must work diligently to return safely to flight, we 

must not forget that orbiting the Earth right this minute on board 

that International Space Station are Mike Foale and Alexander 

Kaleri. 

Tomorrow they’ll be conducting the tests on board with their 

Arlon space suits to facilitate a space walk next week to inspect the 

space station and ready it for the autonomous transfer vehicle’s arrival sometime next year. 

Achieving a full-time human presence on board International 

Space Station offers us a tremendous opportunity to study human 

survival in a hostile environment in space and to assess how to 

overcome the technological hurdles of increased duration space 

flight. The Space Station plays a key role in preparing us for a 

human journey into the solar system, first to the Moon and then 

to Mars. 

New Space transportation capabilities, Project Constellation is a 

new crew exploration vehicle and Admiral Craig Steidle will be in 

charge of that effort; to provide crew transportation for exploration 

missions beyond lower orbit. $428 million is budgeted for this 

project with an initial unpiloted test flight planned as early as 

2008. 

Also, we intend to undertake lunar exploration and demonstrate 

abilities that enable to sustain human and robotic exploration of 

the Moon, Mars, and other destinations within the solar system. 

The budget provides $70 million for robotic lunar test beds and increases to $420 in Fiscal Year 2009. 

Exploration to Mars has, I think, over 6 billion web hits thus far 

of which over 50 million are individual web addresses that include 

the likes of AOL, which counts as a single address where there are 

millions of subscribers. The interest in this, as we’ve looked at the 

demographics, includes, obviously, the academic, scientific commuVerDate Nov 24 2008 08:49 Nov 02, 2016 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\22360.TXT JACKIE
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nity; but, more importantly, fully half are concerned citizens, interested citizens and children that are being inspired by the robotic 

exploration that’s ongoing right now. 

Enabling technologies, Project Prometheus—that’s a nuclear propulsion power generation—budget provides $438 million for that 

and investments in advanced human and robotic technology systems. We also have included incentives for private enterprise. 

There’s $10 million in this year’s budget to purchase launch services from emerging launch vehicle providers. 

There’s a commitment to obtain commercial services in the order 

of $140 million to support International Space Station, as we 

phaseout the space shuttle. That, plus we intend to honor our commitments elsewhere within NASA and our other important missions and institutional goals. To successfully execute our exploration vision, NASA will refocus its organization, create new offices—Admiral Steidle is doing that as we speak—and realign ongoing programs to further support our exploration agenda. 

Craig Steidle is with me today, as is Mary Kicza. I’d like to sum 

up by stating as the President stated in his speech, we’re embarking on a journey not a race. We begin this journey of exploration 

and discovery knowing that many years of hard work and sustained effort will be required so that we can look forward to achieving concrete results in the near term. The vision makes the needed 

decisions for long-term U.S. space leadership, provides an exciting 

step of major milestones for human and robotic missions and invites new ideas and innovations for accomplishing this bold new vision. 

It will provide an opportunity for new generations of Americans 

to explore, innovate, discover and reach our Nation in ways that 

today are unimaginable. Fortune favors the bold. Thank you, Mr. 

Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Readdy follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF WILLIAM READDY, ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR SPACE

FLIGHT, NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Mr. Chairman, thank you for this opportunity to join you in the beautiful state 

of Texas to discuss the President’s vision for U.S. Space Exploration and NASA’s 

plans for implementing this vision. I am accompanied today by two of my NASA colleagues, Dr. Mary Kicza, Associate Administrator for Biological and Physical Research, and Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Craig Steidle, Associate Administrator 

for Exploration Systems. 

On January 14, the President visited NASA Headquarters and announced his Vision for U.S. Space Exploration. In his address, the President presented a vision 

that is bold and forward-thinking, yet practical and responsible—one that explores 

answers to longstanding questions of importance to science and society and will develop revolutionary technologies and capabilities for the future, while maintaining 

good stewardship of taxpayer dollars. 

The vision forms the basis of the new U.S. space exploration policy, ‘‘A Renewed 

Spirit of Discovery,’’ a copy of which is appended to this testimony as Enclosure 1. 

This policy is the product of months of extensive and careful deliberation. The importance of these deliberations increased with the findings of the Columbia Accident 

Investigation Board, which emphasized the importance of setting clear, long-term 

goals for the Nation’s human space flight program. Inputs from Members of this 

Committee and other Members of Congress informed the Administration’s deliberations. Many others contributed ideas for the future of the space program. These deliberations were also the basis for formulating the President’s FY 2005 Budget request for NASA. A commission will advise NASA on specific issues for implementation of the policy’s goals within four months. 

11 

Today, I will summarize the President’s FY 2005 budget request for NASA, discuss the goals set forth in the new U.S. space exploration policy, walk you through 

the major implementation elements and their associated budget details, explain the 

implications of this directive for NASA’s organization, and describe what the Nation’s future in exploration and discovery will look like in the coming years. 

FY 2005 Budget Summary 

The President’s FY 2005 Budget request for NASA is $16.244 billion, a 5.6 percent 

increase over FY 2004, as reflected in Enclosure 2. The NASA budget request is designed with four key goals in mind: 

Compelling—The budget fully supports the U.S. Vision for Space Exploration, 

and provides for ongoing NASA mission priorities such as Aeronautics and 

Earth Science. 

Affordable—The budget is fiscally responsible and consistent with the Administration’s goal of cutting the Federal deficit in half within the next 5 years. 

NASA’s FY 2005 budget will increase by $1 billion over 5 years, when compared 

with the President’s FY 2004 plan; that is an increase of approximately 5 percent per year over each of the next 3 years and approximately 1 percent for 

each of the following 2 years. 

Achievable—The budget strategy supporting the vision will not require large 

balloon payments by future Congresses and Administrations. Unlike previous 

major civil space initiatives, this approach is intentionally flexible, with investments in sustainable exploration approaches to maintain affordability. After FY 

2009, the budget projects that the exploration vision can be implemented within 

a NASA budget that keeps pace with inflation. 

Focused—The budget begins the alignment of NASA’s program structure with 

the exploration vision. We now have the needed compass from which to evaluate 

our programs and make the needed tough decisions. 

Vision Goals 

The fundamental goal of this new policy is to advance U.S. scientific, security, and 

economic interests through a robust space exploration program. In support of this 

goal, NASA will: 

• Implement a sustained and affordable human and robotic program to explore 

the Solar System and beyond; 

• Extend human presence across the Solar System, starting with a human return 

to the Moon by the year 2020, in preparation for human exploration of Mars 

and other destinations; 

• Develop the innovative technologies, knowledge, and infrastructures both to explore and to support decisions about destinations for future human exploration; 

and 

• Promote international and commercial participation in exploration to further 

U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests. 

Implementation Elements and Budget Highlights 

To achieve these goals, NASA will plan and implement an integrated, long-term 

robotic and human exploration program, structured with measurable milestones and 

executed on the basis of available resources, accumulated experience, and technology readiness. The policy envisions the following major implementation elements: 

Space Shuttle—NASA will return the Space Shuttle to flight as soon as practical, 

based on the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. The 

budget includes $4.3 billion for the Space Shuttle, a 9 percent increase above FY 

2004. Included in this total is an estimated $238 million for Return to Flight (RTF) 

activities in FY 2005. The RTF activities are under evaluation to confirm the estimated cost and associated out year phasing. The focus of the Space Shuttle will be 

finishing assembly of the International Space Station (ISS). With its job done, the 

Space Shuttle will be phased out when assembly of the ISS is complete, planned 

for the end of the decade. NASA will determine over the next year how best to address the issues associated with the safe retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet. 

International Space Station—NASA plans to complete assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of the decade, including those U.S. components that will ensure our capability to conduct research in support of the new U.S. 

space exploration goals and those planned and provided by foreign partners. The 

budget provides $1.9 billion for ISS assembly and operations, a 24 percent increase 

above FY 2004. This increase forward funds $100 million in reserves to partially restore planned near-term reserve levels following the $200 million Congressional cut 

12 

to Space Station in FY 2004 and provides $140 million in new funding for transportation services to the Space Station. We will separate, to the maximum extent practical, crew and cargo transportation for both ISS and exploration missions. NASA 

will acquire ISS crew transport as required and cargo transportation as soon as 

practical and affordable. NASA envisions that commercial and/or foreign capabilities 

will provide these services. 

NASA anticipates that any adjustments in existing ISS Partner responsibilities as 

a result of the new U.S. space exploration policy can be accommodated within the 

existing ISS agreements. The ISS Multilateral Coordination Board is scheduled to 

meet today to begin the process of coordination within the Partnership on implications to the ISS resulting from the new policy. The Administration is also prepared 

to address issues associated with obtaining foreign transportation services to the 

Space Station, including provisions of the Iran Nonproliferation Act, but until the 

ISS Partnership adopts a specific implementation strategy, it is premature to identify specific issues. 

U.S. research activities aboard the ISS will be focused to support the new exploration goals, with an emphasis on understanding how the space environment affects 

astronaut health and capabilities, and on developing appropriate countermeasures 

to mitigate health concerns. ISS will also be vital to develop and demonstrate improved life support systems and medical care. Consistent with this focus, the budget 

provides $343 million, a 61 percent increase above FY 2004, for bioastronautics research to understand and mitigate risks to humans on exploration missions. Over 

the next year, the Biological and Physical Research Enterprise will conduct a thorough review of all research activities to ensure that they are fully aligned with and 

supportive of the new exploration vision. 

New Space Transportation Capabilities—The budget provides $428 million to 

begin a new Crew Exploration Vehicle, named Project Constellation, that will provide crew transport for exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit. The current 

budget planning is based on formulation concept studies to be conducted in FY 2004, 

preliminary design activities conducted in FY 2005 and FY 2006, a System Design 

Review in FY 2005, and a Preliminary Design Review in FY 2006. NASA plans to 

develop Project Constellation in a step-by-step approach, with an initial unpiloted 

test flight as early as 2008, followed by tests of progressively more capable designs 

that provide an operational human-rated capability no later than 2014. Project Constellation may also provide transportation to the Space Station, but its design will 

be driven by exploration requirements. 

NASA does not plan to pursue new Earth-to-orbit transportation capabilities, except where necessary to support unique exploration needs, such as a heavy lift vehicle. The budget discontinues the Space Launch Initiative, although knowledge 

gained on the Orbital Space Plane will be transferred to Project Constellation. 

Lunar Exploration—NASA will undertake lunar exploration and demonstration 

activities to enable sustained human and robotic exploration of Mars and other destinations in the Solar System. Beginning no later than 2008, NASA plans to launch 

the first in a series of robotic missions to the Moon to prepare for and support 

human exploration activities. The budget provides $70 million for these robotic 

lunar test beds, increasing to $420 million by FY 2009. The policy envisions the first 

human expedition to the lunar surface as early as 2015, but no later than 2020. 

These robotic and human missions will further science and demonstrate new approaches, technologies, and systems—including the use of space resources—to support sustained human exploration to Mars and other destinations. 

Exploration of Mars—The stunning images we have received from Mars are just 

the beginning of future Mars exploration. NASA will enhance the ongoing search 

for water and evidence of life on Mars by pursuing technologies in this decade for 

advanced science missions to Mars in the next decade. Also starting in the next decade, NASA will launch a dedicated series of robotic missions to Mars that will demonstrate greatly enhanced robotic capabilities and enable future human exploration 

of the Red Planet. The budget provides $691 million for Mars Exploration, a 16 percent increase over FY 2004, and will double Mars Exploration funding by FY 2009. 

NASA will conduct human expeditions to Mars and other destinations beyond Earth 

orbit on the basis of available resources, accumulated experience, and technology 

readiness. 

Other Solar System Exploration—Over the next two decades, NASA will conduct 

an increasingly capable campaign of robotic exploration across the Solar System. 

The budget provides $1.2 billion for Solar System Exploration missions to Jupiter’s 

icy moons, to Saturn and its moon Titan, to asteroids and comets, and to other Solar 

System bodies. These missions will search for evidence of life, help us to understand 

the history of the Solar System, and search for resources. 

13 

Extrasolar Planets—NASA will launch advanced space telescopes that will search 

for Earth-like planets and habitable environments around other stars. The budget 

includes $1.1 billion for the Astronomical Search for Origins, a 19 percent increase 

over FY 2004, to support Hubble Space Telescope operations, the recently launched 

Spitzer Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope development, as well as three 

future observatories. This funding also supports investments to extend the lifetime 

of the Hubble Space Telescope to the maximum extent possible without a servicing 

mission. 

Enabling Capabilities—NASA will pursue a number of key capabilities to enable 

sustainable human and robotic exploration across the Solar System. Among the 

most important of these capabilities is advanced power and propulsion, and the 

budget provides $438 million for Project Prometheus to develop these technologies 

for future robotic and human exploration missions. The budget also includes $636 

million in other Human and Robotic Technology funding to pursue sustainable approaches to Solar System exploration, such as reusable and modular systems, prepositioned propellants, space resource utilization, automated systems and robotic 

networks, and in-space assembly. These technologies will be demonstrated on the 

ground, in orbit, and on the Moon beginning in this decade and extending into the 

next to help inform future exploration decisions. The budget projects that funding 

for these Human and Robotic Technology investments will grow to $1 billion by FY 

2009. 

The budget also includes innovative opportunities for U.S. industry, academia, 

and members of the public to help meet the technical challenges inherent in the new 

space exploration vision. The budget includes $20 million for the new Centennial 

Challenges program, which will establish competitions to stimulate innovation in 

space and aeronautical technologies that can advance the exploration vision and 

other NASA missions. The budget also provides $10 million for NASA to purchase 

launch services for its payloads from emerging launch vehicle providers. And as previously mentioned, the budget includes $140 million for Space Station transportation services. 

Ongoing Priorities—The budget supports the vision for space exploration, while 

maintaining NASA commitments in other important roles and missions. 

NASA continues its commitment to helping understand our changing global climate. The budget makes NASA the largest contributor to the interagency Climate 

Change Science Program with $100 million for the Climate Change Research Initiative. The budget includes $560 million for Earth Science research, a 7 percent increase above FY 2004, to support research on data from 80 sensors on 18 satellites 

currently in operation. Work also continues on Earth observation missions in development or formulation, including $141 million (a 36 percent increase from FY 2004) 

for the National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project, 

$42 million for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, and $240 million (a 37 percent 

increase from FY 2004) for missions in formulation, such as the Orbiting Carbon 

Observatory, Aquarius and Hydros. 

NASA maintains planned Aeronautics Technology investments to improve our Nation’s air system. The budget includes: $188 million, a 4 percent increase above FY 

2004, for technology to reduce aircraft accidents and improve the security of our Nation’s aviation system against terrorist threats; $72 million, an 11 percent increase 

above FY 2004, for technology to reduce aircraft noise and improve the quality of 

life for residents living near airports; $209 million for technology to reduce aircraft 

emissions and improve environmental quality; and $154 million for technologies to 

increase air system capacity and reduce delays in the Nation’s airports. 

NASA will continue to make fundamental advances in our knowledge of the Sun 

and the Universe. The budget provides $746 million for Sun-Earth Connection missions, including the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Solar-Terrestrial Relations 

Observatory. The budget also provides $378 million for Structure and Evolution of 

the Universe missions, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory and three major 

missions currently under development. 

NASA also maintains its role in science, engineering and math education. The 

budget includes $10 million for the newly authorized Science and Technology Scholarship program, which will help attract the Nation’s best college students to NASA 

science and engineering careers. The budget also provides $14 million for the NASA 

Explorer Schools, which seeks to attract students to mathematics and science during 

the critical middle school years. The Explorer Schools program is entering its third 

phase and will be selecting 50 new schools for a total of 150 participating schools. 

Management of Human Capital, Facilities and Institution—NASA has earned the 

distinction of being the only Federal agency to earn top grades for the Human Capital and Budget and Performance Integration initiatives under the President’s Management Agenda. Congress recently passed the NASA Workforce Flexibility Act. 

14 

NASA is grateful for the hard work of this Committee in shaping this legislation 

to provide necessary flexibilities to better manage the NASA workforce. These flexibilities will be critical to implementing the exploration vision. The budget includes 

$25 million in FY 2005 to begin to address critical workforce skill and aging issues. 

NASA ratings have also improved in the Competitive Sourcing and E-Government 

initiatives, resulting in more total improvements than any other agency. Although 

we received a disclaimed opinion on our recent audit statement, we are determined 

in pursuing the right path in Financial Management in bringing on a new financial 

system that will standardize accounting across the Agency and provide the necessary tools for improved program management. NASA remains committed to management excellence and believes it is essential to implementing the new exploration 

vision. 

The budget includes funding for critical institutional capabilities, including $77 million for the NASA Engineering Safety Center and $27 million for Independent 

Verification and Validation. The budget also provides $307 million, a $41 million increase versus FY 2004, for facilities maintenance. 

Organizing for Exploration 

To successfully execute the exploration vision, NASA will re-focus its organization, 

create new offices, align ongoing programs, experiment with new ways of doing business, and tap the great innovative and creative talents of our Nation. 

The President has issued an Executive Order creating a commission of private 

and public sector experts to advise on these issues. Former Undersecretary of Defense and Secretary of the Air Force, Pete Aldridge, is Chair of the Commission. The 

President has named eight other commissioners to join Mr. Aldridge. The commission will issue its report within four months of its first meeting, which is scheduled 

for February 11, 2004. 

Immediately following the President’s speech, we established an Exploration Systems Enterprise, which will have responsibility for developing the Crew Exploration 

Vehicle and other exploration systems and technologies. Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Craig Steidle, former manager of the Defense Department’s Joint Strike 

Fighter Program, is heading this new organization. Relevant programs of the Aerospace Technology, Space Science, and Space Flight enterprises are being transferred 

to the Exploration Systems Enterprise. The Aerospace Technology Enterprise has 

been renamed the Aeronautics Enterprise to reflect its new focus. 

As human explorers prepare to join their robotic counterparts, coordination and 

integration will increase. The Exploration Systems Enterprise will work closely with 

the Space Science Enterprise to use the Moon to demonstrate new approaches, technologies, and systems to support sustained human exploration. NASA’s Space 

Science Enterprise will have responsibility for implementing early robotic testbeds 

on the Moon and Mars and will also demonstrate other key exploration technologies—such as advanced power, propulsion, and communications—in missions to 

Mars and Jupiter’s moons. NASA’s Space Science Enterprise will eventually integrate human capabilities into exploration planning for Mars and other destinations. 

Many other elements of the NASA organization will be focused to support this 

new direction. NASA’s Biological and Physical Research Enterprise will put much 

greater emphasis on bioastronautics research to enable the human exploration of 

other worlds. NASA’s Office of the Space Architect will be responsible for integrating the exploration activities of NASA’s different Enterprises and for maintaining exploration roadmaps and coordinating high-level requirements. 

As we move outward into the Solar System, NASA will look for innovative ideas 

from the private sector and academia to support activities in Earth orbit and future 

exploration activities beyond. Many of the technical challenges that NASA will face 

in the coming years will require innovative solutions. In addition to tapping creative 

thinking within the NASA organization, we will leverage the ideas and expertise 

resident in the Nation’s universities and industry. 

In his speech, the President directed NASA to invite other nations to share in the 

challenges and opportunities of this new era of exploration and discovery, and he 

directed us to fulfill our standing international commitments. We are discussing the 

impact of our vision implementation plans on the ISS with our partners, and as I 

have already indicated we will complete the assembly of the ISS. The President 

called our future course of exploration ‘‘a journey, not a race,’’ and other nations 

have reacted positively to the President’s guidance. Several have already contacted 

us about joining in this journey. Building on NASA’s long history and extensive and 

close ties with the space and research agencies of other nations, we will actively 

seek international partners in executing future exploration activities. 

NASA will also invigorate its workforce, focus its facilities, and revitalize its field 

centers. As exploration activities get underway, NASA anticipates planning, reVerDate Nov 24 2008 08:49 Nov 02, 2016 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\22360.TXT JACKIE
15 

views, and changes to align and improve its infrastructure. In order to achieve the 

exploration vision, we will be making decisions on how to best implement new programs. While some of these necessary actions will not be easy, they are essential 

to achieving the goals of the overall effort before us. We urge you to consider the 

full context of what we will be proposing rather than any isolated, specific action. 

Such a perspective will allow us to move forward in implementing the vision. 

FY 2003 Accomplishments 

Much of the NASA’s future ability to achieve the new space exploration vision is 

predicated on NASA’s many previous accomplishments. The most visible NASA successes over the past year are the Spirit and Opportunity rovers currently on Mars. 

Already, the landscapes imaged by these twin rovers and their initial science returns are hinting at fundamental advances in our understanding of early environmental conditions on Mars and whether Mars was once capable of sustaining water 

and the development of life. 

However, Spirit and Opportunity are not the only recent NASA mission successes. 

NASA successfully launched four new Space Science missions (including the two 

Mars rovers), three new Earth Science missions, one new NASA communications 

relay satellite, and completed two Space Station deployment missions. Missions in 

operation have also achieved a number of notable successes, including the Stardust 

mission’s successful flight through the tail of Comet Wild-2, initial images from the 

recently launched Spitzer Space Telescope, a ten-to 100-fold improvement in Earth’s 

gravity map from the GRACE satellite, the most accurate maps of Earth temperatures to date from the Aqua satellite, and new insights into space weather and solar 

activity from Sun-Earth Connection missions. 

NASA exceeded or met 83 percent of its annual performance goals for FY 2003. 

Among these accomplishments were demonstrations of new systems to improve air 

traffic control and to combat aircraft icing, improvements in battery, telescope sensor, and life support technologies, fundamental advances in understanding states of 

matter from Space Station research, and the implementation of new remote sensing 

tools for tracking diseases and wild fires. 

The Nation’s Future in Exploration and Discovery 

As the President stated in his speech, we are embarking on a journey, not a race. 

We begin this journey of exploration and discovery knowing that many years of hard 

work and sustained effort will be required, yet we can look forward to achieving concrete results in the near term. The vision makes the needed decisions to secure longterm U.S. space leadership. It provides an exciting set of major milestones with 

human and robotic missions. It pursues compelling science and cutting-edge technologies. It invites new ideas and innovations for accomplishing this bold, new vision. And it will provide the opportunity for new generations of Americans to explore, innovate, discover and enrich our Nation in ways unimaginable today. The 

President’s challenging vision provides unique opportunities for engaging students 

across the country, ‘‘as only NASA can,’’ to enter careers in science, engineering, 

technology and math. 

We sincerely appreciate the forum the Subcommittee has provided today, and Dr. 

Kicza, Adm. Steidle and I look forward to responding to your questions. 

16 

A RENEWED SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY

The President’s Vision for U.S. Space Exploration 


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Senator BROWNBACK. Thank you very much and I agree with 

that. 

Let me first, before we go on to any questions, congratulate you 

on the two rovers on Mars. What a fascinating treat. They’re just 

great pictures and information, working. It makes me feel safer in 

my car knowing it landed in airbags so that, you know, I trust my 

airbag a lot more in that car. It’s just really a beautiful vision and 

very encouraging to a number of people that that’s occurring. 

Second, I want to congratulate you and the people in the administration as well on a new vision. I’ve been after the administration 

for some period of time that we’ve been less and less stuck in lower 

space orbit. You are doing good work, but it doesn’t keep us on the 

balls of our feet leaning forward all the time and this one does and 

this one’s going to be a real challenge. It seems to me we’ve got a 

number of challenges in getting there, not the least of which is political, really, getting this on through. And those are some of the 

issues that I want to address and ask you about as well. 

We’ll start with the Admiral that’s going to run the new space 

launch vehicle—or the new—— 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK.—vehicle design of it. 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Give me 2 minutes of where your thinking 

is regarding the design of this project and how it’s going to build 

on the past projects that we’ve had of designing new space vehicles. 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. The reason I was asked to come to 

NASA was, originally, to discuss large integrations of systems that 

could be tied together to produce a product. I was the director of 

the Joint Strike Fighter Program and we pulled that program together, harmonized the requirements for that particular program 

and got it started and kicked off. So, in those original discussions, 

I found a tremendous amount of enthusiasm that was infectious. 

Then, I came in one day before Thanksgiving and I haven’t left yet. 

I am going to apply the lessons learned from the Joint Strike 

Fighter Program and that is to look at the trade studies and the 

pieces that have already been done. There’s a lot of work on OSP 

and some other technical maturation programs that are applicable 

to where we’re going in the future. I designed an office in which 

I have technologists and operators together who will sort through 

the trade studies and define the requirements. With discipline we’ll 

hold those requirements through the process. I’ve got an office of 

technologists who will bring those technologies to fruition through 

risk mitigation and make sure they integrate in this particular 

product. I’ve got a team down here today looking at the work that 

has already been done on OSP and other particular programs to 

reap those lessons learned and apply them to this particular vehicle. 

The program itself is Prometheus, which is the nuclear propulsion piece, in space propulsion; it’s the CEV system. 

Senator BROWNBACK. CEV system? 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. That is the crew exploration vehicle 

itself. 

And then all these technology pieces that come together. So, it’s 

a system of all these pieces being integrated together to perform 

27 

this exploration vision that the Nation has. We’re also going to 

apply some new ways of doing acquisitions. Things that we have 

used over in DOD are very applicable and that’s the discipline 

that’s going to be applied in the program. Then we’re off and running. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Do you have any initial thoughts on a cost 

of being able to pull together and get this new vehicle? What’s your 

budget for doing that? 

Admiral STEIDLE. Certainly. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Do you have any ideas on that? 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. I’ve looked at what’s in the budget right now that goes out to 2009 and there’s approximately $1.5 billion per year. We have a flight in 2008 for a performance demonstration, which is a risk mitigation plan. There’s funding to be 

able to support that and we also have a flight in the year 2011. 

So, there’s $4.5 billion after that. I’ve looked at the assumptions in 

putting that budget together, from my background in other major 

programs, and it fits. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Let me stop you on that point. 

Admiral STEIDLE. Sure. 

Senator BROWNBACK. You say it fits. A number of people have 

been challenging the budget number—— 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK.—on doing this for $11 billion reprogrammed internally and 1 billion additional—— 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK.—on the vehicle itself. Are you comfortable 

and confident of that budget number given your past experience 

with Joint Strike and looking at what you’re putting together here? 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir, I am. And that was one of the first 

questions I had coming in here. What are the underlying assumptions? Where do these figures come from? Has there been an independent assessment of those figures? What do you have in mind? 

The Nation’s vision articulated by the President as, essentially, the 

initial requirements for what we need to do. I can match that with 

the assumptions that put that budget together and I felt very confident we can achieve that and that’s why I signed on to execute 

this. 

Senator BROWNBACK. The administrator has talked a number of 

times about how going to the Moon and beyond with this vehicle 

doesn’t require any leaps of faith, in that we don’t have this technology, or breaking any laws of physics. 

In developing the new vehicle it seems to me that the major 

issue of new development is going to be the power generating unit, 

Project Prometheus. 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Is that correct in your estimation? And I 

want you to talk a little bit about Prometheus, if that is a correct 

assumption, that that is the major technological issue to press forward with. 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, it is a major technological achievement. 

The reactor is doable. The engines on the back ends are doable and 

are actually flying at JPL facilities there right now. It’s the transfer of the power between the two. We have that capability and with 

28 

the time lines that we have, the year 2015 and beyond to demonstrate that capability in flight, we’ll achieve that. 

The other part of your question is the need for not having any 

significant technological breakthroughs and what we are going to 

apply in the technical maturation program is the application of 

new technologies, increased manufacturing capabilities, subsystems, upgrading the integration of those particular systems and 

software into this particular vehicle. So, we think we can apply 

technologies that are there for manufacturing these particular vehicles differently than it has been done in the past and will not require any inventions. 

Senator BROWNBACK. That last statement, expand that. 

Admiral STEIDLE. What we did, and I can only go backward and 

tell you what we did in Joint Strike Fighter, which I think is applicable here. As we went forward with the actual design of the vehicle, we also went forward to industry, what we plan on doing here, 

asking for new, innovative technologies in areas such as manufacturing, integration of subsystems, lowering the cost of doing business and we got a lot of tech maturation proposals. We initiated 

quite a few of them that found their way into those particular vehicles; we intend to do that here as well. 

We plan to define the requirements of the vehicle and then look 

across the board at technologies that can reduce the cost, increase 

the manufacturing capability of it, integrate the subsystems into 

those particular vehicles and we have several of those technology 

maturations programs under review already. They were simple 

things that have already been done in manufacturing, in life support, habitation, integrated subsystems, that have been done and 

started. We just need to refocus those and that’s a big part of this 

program as well. 

There’s quite a bit of technology programs that have been 

brought into our enterprise as well. We’re refocusing those and 

doing program assessment to make sure they steer toward this particular vehicle and the system, in general. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Mr. Readdy, that’s one of the things that’s 

been striking to me and I’m going to talk about the tough questions 

because those are the ones that people are raising. We have a 

budget deficit of $500 billion. The Congress and the President’s getting serious about wanting to get back to a balanced budget. So, 

then people say ‘‘Well, then you can’t do these big, new, expensive 

programs like this going to the Moon and Mars.’’ 

You know, and my comment is, A, most of it’s reprogrammed 

money and, B, we ought to be able to show people—we’ve got 

enough total money. We just don’t have it spent in the right places 

and we’re going to reallocate the funds. 

Then other people raise up say ‘‘Well, you can’t do it for this 

number in the budget.’’ And they’ll cite to prior proposals to go to 

Mars and enormous budget figures. What is so different about this 

project than those prior assessments of cost of going to Mars? 

Admiral STEIDLE. I think there are several different facets. One 

is NASA’s committed to fulfilling this new exploration vision and 

we’ve been willing to make the really tough trades internally to do 

that. I think in your opening statement you mentioned that NASA 

is going to receive $1 billion in the next five-year budget run out, 

29 

but $11 billion will be for reprogramming and reprioritizing among 

NASA’s ongoing missions. 

A major portion of that is phasing out the space shuttle. It frees 

up dollars in later years to go ahead and accelerate our space exploration vision. Also, when you look at the vision that the President spelled out, it puts space shuttle and space station into more 

context in that it fulfills, I think, the analog of what Gemini did 

during the lunar program initially in the Sixties. When the President committed us to going to the Moon in this decade, we had 15 

minutes of suborbital space flight in this country, Alan Shepherd. 

We didn’t know among the three different competing options for 

how to get to the Moon; we didn’t have a rocket booster that could 

get us there. The technologies required were not going to be demonstrated during the Mercury era. 

What was on the drawing board for Project Apollo were large 

booster rockets, spacecraft that potentially could go from the surface of the Earth to the surface of the Moon or rendezvous in Earth 

or lunar orbit. All that was really not defined when the President 

committed us to do that. 

The Gemini program is where we did the technological development and demonstrated the capabilities necessary to actually go to 

the Moon, land successfully and bring the crews back. It demonstrated rendezvous, space walks, the ability to change orbits and 

do space navigation, and some maturity and reliability in the life 

support systems and the power generation systems we would need 

to go to the Moon. It also demonstrated human endurance and if 

you go back to that era, the notion that people could survive in 

space for 2 weeks was still an open question. 

So, what this new vision does is it puts space shuttle and space 

station in a new context where we’re using that as kind of the 

Gemini analog to inform our exploration agenda, to be able to go 

on the Moon and then further on to Mars at some point. 

The other thing is that without a date certain to land within this 

decade to do the following, it also frees us to be able to work on 

the technologies that will enable us to do this more capably. And 

I think it also causes that engine of ingenuity here within the private sector industry, academia and NASA to focus on the problems 

that we have at hand. So, I think all of those, plus our willingness 

to reprogram within our own budget, should give people the confidence that we have capability to go off and do it. 

Senator BROWNBACK. And one thing I want to throw out here, 

and I know the Chairman is very interested in this, is you have 

within NASA a number of add-ons that have been put into your 

budget from various Members of Congress for good and worthwhile 

projects. I hope all of them are good and worthwhile projects, but 

they’re not ones that NASA has asked for nor has placed in there. 

And if we can take those non-essential monies and put them into 

a very targeted program to the Moon and beyond, we’re talking in 

the hundreds of millions of dollars, I believe, in looking at your 

budget to be able to do that and that’s going to be one of my pushes 

on the Appropriation Committee. Now, we know where we want to 

go here. Let’s get the money that’s non-essential to that mission 

and make it essential to that mission, so that you take those. 

30 

The other thing that’s available that we didn’t have before is 

there’s on-the-shelf technology that you can use that we aren’t 

going to have to go out and invent. You can pull those things, a 

number of them; I used the airbag analogy on that. We didn’t have 

to invent that one, we had it developed. You got to get it up to your 

specifications and needs but we know how this thing works. Instead of discovering and inventing a way, we can pull some of these 

pieces together. 

And I guess, Admiral—— 

Admiral STEIDLE. Sure. 

Senator BROWNBACK.—that’s really your task—— 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK.—of doing those things. 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. We’re out there right now exploring 

what technologies are there, refocusing on ones that are necessary, 

finding the gaps and then looking for programs and projects that 

have already been done, and there’s quite a bit. Then look at those 

and do a program assessment for the applicability for this particular program. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Mr. Readdy, international cooperation on 

this exploration, what sort of communication have you had from 

other countries of interest in working with us on this project? 

Mr. READDY. Well, when the President came to NASA and presented his bold, new vision, the Administrator had been talking on 

the phone that very morning with the other heads of the international space agencies to tell them what it included and in the 

President’s remarks he said that this is not a race. It’s a journey 

and all will be included, and we solicit the international participation. 

I’d say thus far the reaction has been extremely positive. Last 

week we had representatives from all the partner countries come 

in. We went into more detail on what that involves and, in fact, it 

provides more opportunity for them to participate. As we refocus 

our efforts on human biology and some of the problems that we 

need to address directly for exploration, it allows the partners to 

participate in those and it allows our principal investigators to 

partner internationally on other disciplines, like materials research 

and other things. And so, this really provides more opportunity for 

them. 

Also, the notion that we would want to achieve our objectives 

and research sooner with more crew provides additional opportunities for our international partners. And where we go beyond International Space Station, time will tell; but there’s tremendous interest and excitement from our international partners. 

Senator BROWNBACK. There has been some challenges regarding 

the International Space Station, which has been an international 

project. But then I hear rumors—and I have not looked at these 

numbers—that other countries haven’t come through with the degree of funding that we wanted them to, or that they originally 

signed on to, in this project or they have not done the things that 

we had asked. 

Is that accurate or inaccurate? Would you answer that question 

concerning the space station, for us to be able to get that as a 

model for this project? 

31 

Mr. READDY. Well, be happy to get you the details. But I’d say 

in aggregate the partners have been there for us and have participated very actively. Their hardware has for the most part been delivered. They’re making progress on their commitments and certainly in the past year the Russians have demonstrated their integral—— 

Senator BROWNBACK. They really carried the load, haven’t they? 

Mr. READDY. They have, in fact. 

So, we expect that to continue; but we will need to include them 

in our discussions of how our participation will change because, 

clearly, as we phaseout the shuttle, there may be more reliance on 

commercial sector logistics or the European-provided ATV or Russian logistics. All of those are in the trade space. 

Senator BROWNBACK. If we phased out the shuttle faster and reprogrammed that money toward this project sooner and relied, 

then, on other partners or the commercial sector to take care of the 

International Space Station, can we move up the time-frame of this 

project? 

Mr. READDY. Senator, we looked at that very closely in formulating this vision and choosing the time-frame that we did, and it 

looks to us as though the completion of International Space Station 

around the end of the decade is an achievable set of milestones. 

We want to make sure that we do it very deliberately, but the 

shuttle is the only vehicle capable of taking those modules to the 

International Space Station, the only vehicle capable of conducting 

the assembly operations that are required. So, the shuttle is needed to complete the International Space Station, that role. And as 

soon as we’ve completed the International Partner Core Complete, 

we’ll phase the shuttle out. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Dr. Kicza? 

Dr. KICZA. Kicza. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Kicza, excuse me. 

There have been a lot of challenges to whether or not human endurance would survive a mission to Mars and back given the 

length of time that it will take. Project Prometheus, we’re hopeful, 

cutting the time-frame down, as I understand, I believe a third. 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK. To a third of the current. But you’re still 

talking about an extended stay. Can humans survive and do this 

with what we know and what we believe the timeframes will be to 

go to Mars and back? 

Dr. KICZA. Yes. Based on what we know today, we do think it’s 

achievable; but there are clearly some countermeasures that we’re 

going to have to put in place. Probably the most significant is 

radiational and shielding from radiation. A lot of our work on the 

ground is focused on this right now. In fact, just this last October 

in cooperation with the Department of Energy we opened a new radiation line at Brookhaven National Laboratory specifically dedicated to NASA’s needs to understand the impacts of radiation on 

biological systems and then to develop the materials to allow us to 

shield humans on those journeys to the Moon or to Mars or in transit. We do think it’s achievable. Yes, there’s some work to be done 

but we have the tools in place to do it. 

32 

Senator BROWNBACK. Is radiation the major issue or are there 

others? 

Dr. KICZA. Sure. Probably one of the tallest poles is clearly radiation. Other countermeasures that we need to put in place deal directly with the effects of the microgravity environment on our astronauts. We’ve seen from our research to date that astronauts 

clearly suffer from bone loss. They suffer from muscle atrophy in 

the space environment, problems with sleep, and circadian rhythms 

are upset as you go through sunrise and sunset many times a day. 

So, yes, there are issues that we have to face about the microgravity environment and that’s why the International Space Station is so central to our research. It allows us to conduct this research; it allows us to understand where the thresholds are taking 

place at which point these symptoms are manifesting themselves 

anywhere from 0G to even close to 1G. We have the capability to 

understand at what point these impacts are happening so that, 

then, we can perform the countermeasures. For example, artificial 

gravity, what are the systems we need to put in place to countereffect the weightless environment? 

And that’s what the space station is doing for us right now in 

a laboratory environment where we can conduct those experiments. 

Senator BROWNBACK. General Howell, any time you reprogram 

money, particularly $11 billion, you get a lot of people enquiring 

about where they are in this reprogrammed system. I’m guessing 

you’re getting a lot of questions like that here. I hope people are 

reacting positively to the phasing out of the space shuttle. It’s been 

a great vehicle. It has done a lot of work, but we have had tragedy 

and it’s time to move on. 

I hope people are reacting that way in the scientific community 

as well. Are there things that we should be communicating or what 

can you tell me about how people are handling the transition? 

General HOWELL. Senator, we’re very excited about the vision. Of 

course, first things first, as you know the Johnson Space Center 

has been a focal point for human space exploration for over 40 

years and right now we have literally thousands of our people involved in the return to flight effort as well as the support of the 

space station. So, you know, what is critical to this vision is our 

return to flight and assembly of the station. And that’s what we’re 

all about right now here as well as the medical and human, clinical 

research in space. We do all that here, too. 

So, our people are fully employed now and in the near future. 

At the same time we have been, you know, joined at the hip with 

the shuttle program. That’s so important to us, because people are 

concerned about what lies ahead in the future. However, I’m doing 

everything I can to assure them that the same people who were 

needed to develop, assemble and fly the shuttle are the same people who are going to be needed to do the crew exploration vehicle 

and all of that. These wonderful, talented, committed people are 

going to be needed for whatever NASA does in human space exploration. So, this should be a time of great excitement for all of our 

people and I’m trying to get that message across to them, because 

we’re going to be right in the middle of all of this. It’s just going 

to be a great time for this area, I believe. 

33 

Senator BROWNBACK. General, we get the question a lot and it’s 

raised often. I don’t know of anybody in a better position to answer 

it than you. Why humans? These rovers are doing great. We can 

do this for a lot less expense. The safety issue is a concern and 

each life is precious to us so that, I mean, the safety issue is a very 

real thing. Why not just do all of this by robots, to the Moon and 

Mars and on? 

General HOWELL. Sir, the President said it much better than I 

can. I think we are compelled, as a nation, to go beyond, to explore. 

I think as a human race we’ve always had to go to the other side 

of the hill, go across the ocean. Now it’s out in space. We have to 

take inherent risk in exploration, but I think it’s part of humanity, 

and as a great Nation, we must do great things and lead the way 

in this. It’s just something that we have to do. I guess that’s the 

best explanation I can give you, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK. I’ve argued with people if we don’t and others do, what does that do to the psyche of a nation? 

General HOWELL. I personally think that would be the beginning 

of the end for this Nation as a great nation. You know, as a leader 

of the world, it’s imperative that we lead the world in space exploration. That’s my personal opinion. 

Senator BROWNBACK. And if we fail to do it, I just feel it sends 

such a shutter through the system that we’re too fearful to risk 

that we won’t do it. And plus, to me, it’d be a disaster for those 

who have gone before them and put their lives on the line, some 

of which have been lost, to not carry on. 

Mr. READDY. Sir? 

Senator BROWNBACK. Mr. Readdy? 

Mr. READDY. If I can add, just like freedom isn’t free, often space 

exploration has expended a very awful toll, most recently last year, 

but the fact of the matter is the way we honor their legacy is not 

to quit; it’s to press on. It’s to fulfill the dreams that they had and 

the dreams of generations to come. 

Exploration is part of the human psyche. It’s the same thing that 

drives the curiosity of your 2-year-old to learn to explore. It’s what 

causes us to relate to the robots and their exploration, however 

slight. With 6 billion hits on the Internet, certainly people are excited about this, but what those rovers will be able to do in 90 to 

120 days a human in a space suit could accomplish in an afternoon, 

in a single space walk. 

And so, there’s a notion also of productivity. But we are explorers 

by nature. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Well, thank you very much. I look forward 

to working with you and the Chairman and we’re working on the 

authorization legislation language. One of the things that we’ll talk 

about with the next panel is the use of incentives to the private 

sector to get that capital involved and in some cases may be prize 

money, note that the X factor I mentioned in my opening testimony 

is attracting. I don’t know how many millions people are spending 

to get a $10 million prize but they’re spending a lot of money to 

do that. And I hope we can use that as well here to try to stimulate 

private sector activity and to get that capital motivated and moving 

forward. We may put more of that in the authorizing language as 

34 

well, Mr. Readdy, and I’ve talked to the administrator about that, 

too. 

Mr. READDY. And, in fact, I think we have a centennial prize already as part of a—— 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, you’ll see it. There’s a budget line called 

Centennial Challenge, which is exactly what you described, sir. It 

is prize money for innovative technologies to have application to 

what we want to do and it’s in there and it’s in my office, the point 

is to stimulate some innovative thinking on private sector to participate. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Just have such a fabulous private sector 

and I—to me in designing this one versus going to the Moon the 

first time around, which really had to be a government project 

when we went to the Moon the first time. I hope to really marry 

into these guys that have a lot of technology and capital. I want 

to marry into their capital and get this thing moving further and 

faster. 

Admiral STEIDLE. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK. With that, we will go to the next panel. I 

want to thank and congratulate you. I’ve held a number of hearings on space, most of which have been tough because, well, we’ve 

had a difficult time. But it’s now time to move on and look forward 

and this is an exciting moment. And I look forward to seeing that 

person on the Moon working and on Mars walking in the near future. 

God speed. Thank you very much. 

Mr. READDY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Our second panel, the private sector panel, 

engage in the private sector with this mission and they all consist 

of Charles Chafer, President of Human Encounter out of Houston; 

Mr. Bob Lorsch. He’s President of the RHL Group, which is an advertising group and has been interested in advertising and its resources and usefulness in space. Some very interesting prospects 

and proposals there; Mr. W. F. Mitchell, President of Altair Development Corporation of League City, Texas; and Mr. Courtney 

Stadd, President of Capital Solutions out of Bethesda, Maryland. I 

look forward to the presentations from these individuals regarding 

engagement of the private sector capital on the space exploration 

work. 

Let’s see. Mr.—is it Chafer or Schaeffer? 

Mr. CHAFER. Chafer. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Chafer. We’ve got you down first on the 

program. So, please feel free—I will include all of your written 

statements in the record. So, if you’d care to just summarize that 

would be wonderful. If you want to present it that would be good, 

too, and then we’ll have questions and answers afterwards. Thank 

you for joining us. 

STATEMENT OF CHARLES M. CHAFER, PRESIDENT, 

TEAM ENCOUNTER, LLC 

Mr. CHAFER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for your 

leadership in providing the private sector’s view here today. I will 

summarize my testimony. From my youth on a Kansas farm to my 

mid-youth launching rockets here in Houston, Texas or Matagorda 

35 

Island, I’ve spent a long time thinking that commercial activities 

in space are critical and that the President has recently committed 

us to move humanity throughout the solar system where I think 

that there’s an important critical role for the private sector in that. 

And I had four observations that I wanted to share with you today 

on that subject. I think it’s all good news. 

The first is that, as I said, I think the private capital is required 

in order to achieve the President’s goals; but, fortunately, I also 

think that it’s available. It’s required because if you listen to Chairman Aldridge at the first meeting of the President’s commission, 

there was a lot of discussion about sustainability and about, ‘‘Well, 

maybe we can’t do business as usual anymore,’’ in terms of how we 

go about meeting those goals. I think that’s true simply for the 

point that if we can achieve sustainability through private sector 

dollars, that means every dollar that comes in commercially to relevant space technology is a dollar the taxpayer doesn’t have to 

come up with. It’s not a hundred percent tradeoff by any means but 

there is a way to do it cooperatively. 

I think, also, second, the private capital is available for space 

projects. Certainly in my career we’ve spent and raised tens, tens 

and tens of millions of dollars toward commercial ventures. We’ve 

heard today about Elon Musk and Paul Allen. These are guys that 

have substantial capital that are currently funding commercial 

space transportation opportunities. And certainly with Team Encounter and our flight schedule for next year, we’ve been able to 

tap into money here in real estate and energy and software development. So, I think there’s money that’s required. Fortunately, 

there’s money that’s available. 

Second point I wanted to make is that I think today there are 

some encouraging signs that, perhaps, Federal space agencies are 

more open to private capital infusions than perhaps they’ve been 

in the past. I’ll cite two examples that I’m personally familiar with 

and try to draw analogies to the President’s program. I mentioned 

that we’ll be flying our Team Encounter flight one in the fourth 

quarter of next year for public participation, for corporate sponsors 

and for cutting-edge technology. We’ll be flying advanced solar sail 

propulsion technology that we’re teamed with the NASA Langley 

Research Center on. 

We were recently awarded a contract by NASA to fly one of their 

space instruments, that’s under test and development, on our commercial mission. It’s a little bit of a paradigm shift in that the private sector wasn’t looking to NASA to fly stuff, NASA was looking 

to us to fly stuff and that was really for a couple of reasons. One 

is I think it was best value for the government and certainly it was 

a valuable partner for us to have in the form of NASA. 

Secondly, I think it was important that we’re risk-sharing with 

NASA. If we don’t succeed, we don’t get paid; and I think that’s an 

important component of private sector risk capital can come in and 

take some of those risks, not all of them by any means, again. But 

it’s an important way to leverage the genius that I think our country has in private sector funding. 

The third point about working with NASA is we’re learning to 

work together; which hasn’t been easy. There’s a lot of flexibility 

that we have to show as a private company. There’s an enormous 

36 

amount of flexibility that NASA’s had to show in working with us 

to fly this instrument on our commercial mission. So, I think that’s 

good news at NASA. I think that can be drawn out to other missions as we look to going to the Moon and Mars. There are plenty 

of opportunities to work together with NASA. 

A second thing that I wanted to mention, though, was that we 

ought to look at all Federal agencies. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently released a request for information where they said: ‘‘We need to learn about solar storms, but 

we’re willing to do that with our next generation spacecraft by 

issuing a data purchase contract to a private company that goes 

out to L1, a long way out, and puts a spacecraft there and brings 

the data back to us.’’ 

Again, a bit of a paradigm shift and I think an important sign 

that maybe things are a little bit more friendly in terms of private 

sector and government cooperation. So, my second point is that 

we’re beginning to see some encouraging signs and we ought to 

really work on those. 

The third point that I wanted to make was how can we do this? 

And I think government policy should encourage private sector access, should encourage the certainty that the private sector will be 

there and third and most importantly, I guess from the government’s point of view, the government ought to be allowed to engage 

in certain risk management techniques that, perhaps, they don’t do 

now. 

On the first point in terms of access, I believe that all Federal 

agencies should seek co-investment opportunities in the development of space technologies and applications, as they say here in 

Texas, from the get go. Just don’t think of it as an afterthought but 

as you’re building Project Prometheus, as you’re looking at people 

on the Moon and on Mars, from the very beginning how can we encourage the private sector to co-invest with us? I think that would 

be an important sign about access. 

In terms of certainty, I think that private sector participation 

needs to be institutionalized within Federal agencies. I’m careful to 

say not bureaucratized within Federal agencies, but the ebb and 

flow of commercial ability to work with space agencies is one of the 

clearest ways that private sectors will not come in. They need some 

certainty. 

Ultimately all policy is people, I believe; and we were very fortunate to be able to work with Dr. Ed Weiler and a gentleman down 

here at the end of the table, named Courtney Stadd, who was the 

Chief of Staff at NASA when we approached them with our innovative private sector approach. They served as honest brokers on both 

sides of the table. Probably pulled all of their hair out in the process but we’re absolutely critical to the process of being able to 

marry my investors, who are skeptical about investing, and the 

government managers who are going: ‘‘Who are these guys from 

Texas and why should we talk to them?’’ 

So, I think it would be useful if we find a way to institutionalize. 

We can’t institutionalize Courtney because he’s left; but if we can 

create a position in the Federal space program world that says 

‘‘This is where you come to talk to us about commercial space activity,’’ I think that would be very important. 

37 

My final recommendation on government policy, I put my government hat on. Commercial ventures are by their nature viewed as 

perhaps a little bit more risky than the way the government does 

things. That, again, I think is the great genius of America; but 

there are risk management techniques available to the government. Simply ensuring government activities and payloads or requiring the private sector to do that is a way to give those managers who are thinking about working with the private sector a little more certainty. 

My final point, Mr. Chairman, is that I believe that if we accomplish these goals we’ll do a lot of things; we’ll be more competitive. 

There’ll be less Federal dollars required, but the most important 

thing is that we’ll inspire the folks that you were talking about. 

Certainly I’m an example of being inspired by the Apollo program. 

Also, I can tell you we get resumes every day of the week from 

kids. ‘‘How can I be a part of your exciting commercial space station? I want to sign up.’’ 

You know, I can’t hire them all but I believe that if we expanded 

the private sector commitment to space, you’d see an awful lot of 

people looking for jobs there and maybe not in other arenas that 

aren’t quite so productive toward the goals that we all share here 

today. 

Thank you very much. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Chafer follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHARLES M. CHAFER, PRESIDENT, TEAM ENCOUNTER, LLC 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for holding this important Senate hearing in Houston and for giving commercial space entrepreneurs the 

opportunity to offer their valuable perspective on how the private sector and NASA 

may cooperate most effectively to assist in the realization of the President’s new 

space policy. 

As a boy spending summers on my grandparents’ farm in Republic County, Kansas, during the Apollo era, I can recall looking at moonrise over their fields and 

wondering how I could make a contribution to what seemed to be that most important human endeavor—the exploration of space. 

Years later, as a young man, I was blessed with that very opportunity by being 

fortunate enough to land a position with David Hannah, Jr., and former Mercury 

and Apollo astronaut Deke Slayton at Houston, Texas-based Space Services, Inc. of 

America (SSI). In 1982, SSI became the first ever private company to conduct a 

launch into outer space—Conestoga 1. 

Today, I’ve devoted my career seeking to expand private-sector space activities— 

because success in this arena holds the key to humanity’s long-term prosperity. We 

simply must extend our presence throughout the solar system. 

May I make four observations that best describe the potential for further privatesector/NASA cooperation. 

First, private sector capital is essential and is available to fulfill the emerging opportunities of new space age. At the first meeting of the President’s Commission on 

Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, there was much discussion devoted to ‘‘sustainability’’ and to the notion that ‘‘business as usual’’ would not 

result in the early achievement of these bold new space initiatives. 

Simply put, significant private investment is a key element to help the President’s 

initiative achieve sustainability. In an era of tight Federal budgets, every private 

dollar invested in relevant space technology development is a dollar not required of 

the taxpayers. 

Fortunately, significant private investment capital is indeed available to support 

space technology development and application in areas of relevance to the new space 

initiative. The great genius of this country lies in the ability to mobilize capital 

quickly and efficiently in pursuit of real opportunities. For example, recently we 

have seen significant investments by successful Internet entrepreneurs, including 

Paul Allen of Microsoft and Elon Musk, founder of PayPal, Inc., in new modes of 

space transportation. Team Encounter, LLC, has been able to attract significant 

38 

capital from some of Houston’s leading energy, software, and real-estate developers. 

Generally speaking, I believe that investment capital can and will flow into space 

activities under the right set of circumstances. 

My second observation is that there are now encouraging signs within various 

Federal agencies that private investment may be welcome. Two examples illustrate 

vividly this emerging reality. 

Recently Team Encounter was awarded a contract from NASA’s New Millennium 

Program to fly its Inertial Stellar Compass aboard our Flight One Mission late next 

year. This contract is important to commercial investors for several reasons. NASA 

has chosen to fly one of its experiments, as a secondary payload, on a mission that 

is primarily commercial in nature. We represented a ‘‘best value’’ proposition for 

NASA, and NASA represented important additional revenue and enhanced stature 

for us. We are risk sharing with NASA in that only upon the success of the mission 

are we able to collect the second half of the contract value. Finally, both NASA and 

Team Encounter are learning how to work together in an ‘‘imperfect’’ environment. 

By that I mean that each side has had to exhibit flexibility and accommodation in 

order to reach an acceptable mission profile. 

A second recent example extends beyond NASA to another Federal agency with 

a significant space portfolio, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA). Last year NOAA published a Request for Information (RFI–NESDIS–OSD– 

002) seeking to understand the viability of a ‘‘data purchase’’ approach to providing 

next-generation solar-wind data from a commercially operated spacecraft. This request also contemplates a risk-and reward-sharing approach to the achievement of 

U.S. Government space needs and, as such, is further evidence that creative people 

in the government and the private sector might well be able to work together to 

achieve common goals. 

The above examples, and others, underline the potential for a paradigm shift to 

take place in government/private-sector interaction in the development and application of space technologies. This should be encouraged further as we embark upon 

great new space agendas. 

Third, governmental policy should focus on methods and systems that best can 

offer access and certainty to the private sector while offering new risk management 

tools to governmental managers. I have three suggestions. 

First, all Federal agencies –not just NASA—should examine their space efforts for 

co-investment opportunities. New space program initiatives should be designed from 

the outset to encourage private-sector co-investment whenever possible. 

Second, federal commitment to commercial co-investment in space should be institutionalized. not bureaucratized. Ebb-and-flow interest in space commerce does not 

create a positive investment climate. Each Federal agency with a space portfolio 

should have a commercial-space advocate. This is paramount. All policy is ultimately embodied in the people charged with its implementation. 

At NASA, Team Encounter was extremely fortunate to be able to work with Dr. 

Ed Weiler and his capable staff including Charles Gay and others and former Chief 

of Staff Courtney Stadd, whose long-term commitment to including the private sector in space is well known, as evidenced by his appearance on today’s panel. Without their commitment to overcome any barrier and willingness to honestly broker 

very real concerns on both the government’s and industry’s side of the table, I would 

not be able today to speak to NASA’s new interest in private-sector approaches. 

Third, risk management techniques—for example, insurance coverage for Federal 

payloads—should be permitted as a means to assist agencies to accept conventional 

commercial-risk parameters as they work with existing and emerging private-sector 

space companies. 

My final observation is that a continuous, strong national commitment to the inclusion of private investment in space applications and exploration will inspire a 

new generation of engineers and entrepreneurs; permit the U.S. to accomplish major 

new space goals in a budget-constrained environment; and help to maintain our 

leadership in an increasingly competitive global space industry. 

Please allow me to elaborate on the first point. Our own Team Encounter missions—involving a unique blend of cutting-edge technology development, corporate 

sponsorship and media participation, and direct public participation via the internet—continually attract a steady stream of resumes, inquiries, and ‘‘how can I 

help?’’ requests from young people from every state and across the planet. Space 

missions can be fun, exciting, and meaningful to young people as they contemplate 

their career choices. 

By embracing a new generation of entrepreneurial space companies, NASA can 

help to ensure its own future through the development of talented, enthusiastic engineers and managers. Perhaps this increased inspiration to a new generation will 

39 

be the most important legacy of increased government/private sector cooperation in 

space. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Thank you. 

The human soul is meant to be inspired and to yearn and it’s 

given an opportunity here. In fact, I have a young man from Topeka—I don’t know if Alex is still here. Alex, you still here? Stand 

up. 

This is a talented young Kansan who is interning down here 

with the NASA program who’s dreamed of doing this all his life 

and his mother has dedicated her life to getting him to his dream. 

And so, you have two people involved in that and done a great job. 

It’s a classic example. 

Thanks, Alex. 

ALEX. Thank you. 

Senator BROWNBACK. The gentleman who was the one that put 

the most meat on the bones about talking to me about advertising 

and the ability to raise funds through advertising with space programs is next to testify. Bob Lorsch, President of RHL Group, has 

done a brilliant advertising work terra firma. He wants to take this 

on a broader scale. 

Bob, welcome. 

STATEMENT OF ROBERT H. LORSCH, PRESIDENT, 

THE RHL GROUP, INC. 

Mr. LORSCH. Thank you, sir. And good morning, Mr. Chairman. 

I’m here today to discuss this opportunity, which I think is incredibly important and potentially very, very lucrative for our 

country’s space program. For more than 30 years, I have specialized in advertising and sales promotion for some of the biggest 

companies in the world, including Beatrice Foods, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Procter Gamble, all three major television networks 

and numerous other international and domestic corporations. I’ve 

been involved in private sector philanthropy and cause-related 

marketing for a variety of major charitable organizations, including 

the California Science Center, which is the second largest science 

institution next to the Smithsonian in the United States and the 

gateway of which is the Robert H. Lorsch Family Pavilion. Talking 

about a place for young minds to go and learn about what we’re 

here today to talk about. 

I’ve received a ‘‘C’’ flag from the White House during the Reagan 

Administration for private sector initiatives and I’ve raised more 

than ten, probably tens of millions of dollars through cause-related 

marketing programs for organizations that are both charitable and 

private sector educational organizations along the lines of the program I’m here to discuss today. 

In 1981, President Reagan challenged government to work with 

the private sector, to create programs designed to return a portion 

of the financial burden of government to business and industry. I 

contacted the White House through his press secretary, Jim Brady, 

at that time with an idea for NASA space advertising program of 

noncommercial, and I want to emphasize noncommercial and tasteful sponsorship, supportive messages, not billboards and logos, to 

fly inside the space shuttle to generate revenue for the space program. 

40 

The proposal suggested that for $1 million a sponsor could place 

this noncommercial message on the inside of the wall of the shuttle 

and at various points during the mission, when astronauts were either being interviewed on camera or there were camera pans of different experiments in the space shuttle, those plaques would be 

displayed worldwide. The sponsorship benefits would include lift-off 

and launch parties, pictures with donates and astronauts, perhaps 

a visit by an astronaut on a sponsored mission to a company’s corporate headquarters and the right to promote the company’s involvement in the space program; much like that of an Olympics advertiser could promote their involvement with their Olympic program in a responsible, supportive way. 

Secretary Brady referred my program to a gentleman by the 

name of Admiral Robert Garrick, who was Deputy Counselor to the 

President. Working with Admiral Garrick and another gentleman 

by the name of Fred Fielding, Counsel to the President, the program made its way to Ed Meese, Chief of Staff at that time and 

was, ultimately, forwarded on to NASA. 

The gentleman at NASA who received the program is a gentleman by the name of James Fanseen, who was Assistant Administrator of NASA. Mr. Fanseen greatly supported this program and 

worked over years to help me get it off the ground. However, it had 

no success. It was rejected primarily because there was no way for 

NASA to receive the money since monies raised for a government 

agency, such as NASA, would have to go into the treasury and 

there was no mechanism to get them back out to the agency, which 

is really an important aspect of what this committee should address, if you’re going to entertain private sector initiatives and 

commercialism of space. 

Additionally, there was a significant belief that the shuttle belonged to the American people and no organization of any kind, 

other than the American people, had any right to make it commercial. Officials in NASA, Congress and the senate encouraged me to 

continue to stay with this program. In fact, 20 years later, I was 

approached to participate in NASA’s Dream Time Venture, which 

I rejected, and despite all good intentions, did not materialize the 

way most would have liked it to go. 

In 1984, I presented a revised and updated approach to the 1981 

presentation. This presentation was made now with much more 

support from the administrator’s office of NASA and the White 

House and it was presented to Mr. Fanseen; Jesse Moore, who was 

at that time Acting Assistant Administrator for space flight, 

NASA’s general counsel and others. Among the aspect of this plan 

was an outline of how and when sponsorship plaques could be 

broadcasted. It included an example of noncommercial messages. 

Incentives were more detailed. Included VIP tours at major space 

centers and the most significant thing a replica plaque would fly 

with the sponsor plaque. So, one plaque could actually hang in a 

corporate office and, more importantly, the other plaque could hang 

in the Smithsonian Institute as a tribute to the space mission that 

paved the way for the future. 

However, despite all the encouragement, the program was, again, 

rejected for similar reasons in 1984 and then in 1989. 

41 

I was told, additionally, that retaining the services of any vendor 

in the private sector would need to be subject to open competition 

and the Armed Services Procurement Act, ignoring any of the intellectual property rights, common-law copyrights or registrations 

which I might have accrued over the years of submitting these various concepts. 

Since the first shuttle flight, there have been 113 missions. If 

this program had been implemented the space program could have 

earned more than $5 billion. That would have represented more 

than enough money to cover the entire budget in 1982 when I 

started or nearly 35 percent of last year’s NASA budget, a staggering number. 

Additionally, the message of support, which will now never be 

seen, would remind the public about the importance of the space 

program in our daily lives without taking away the public’s ownership in any manner whatsoever. In addition, I might say that 

NASA has gone out of their way with the NASA Public Affairs Television Network, the Dream Time Venture and a variety of other 

programs, most of which are available on the website, to spend 

hundreds of millions of dollars to get the message out that these 

advertising sponsors could have gotten out on a win-win-plus-revenue basis versus an expense. 

Last month President Bush announced a plan for this Nation to 

have manned missions to go back to the Moon and Mars. NASA estimates these programs will require expenditures of at least $170 

billion. Hundreds of millions of dollars more will be needed to convert NASA’s ground-based and space-based video facilities to 

HDTV standards over the next decade and with an underfunded 

NASA, stuck where it was in 1979 at eight-tenths of a percent of 

the Federal budget, the challenge seems insurmountable. 

My written submission includes copies of my 1981 and 1984 presentations along with a revised presentation in 2004. Working with 

NASA, this program can become a reality starting now. It can generate dollars, enough dollars for ground and space-based facility 

upgrades with billions more in the works from sponsors within the 

next 3 years. 

In fact, in 1999 NASA, despite all the contradiction of my program, posted its own commercial space transportation study, a portion of which is included in my written submission. In Section 

3.10.3.7 of NASA’s own document it says, and I quote: ‘‘the use of 

launch vehicles as an advertising medium is a newly evolving market with the potential to obtain substantial revenues.’’ However, 

nothing’s been done. Since that period of time, billions could have 

been generated to the space program with the support of plaque 

messages that I spoke about earlier. 

It discusses opportunities for advertising in space, including orbiting billboards. It discusses an agreement with Columbia Pictures on an ad for ‘‘The Last Action Hero,’’ which was placed on 

the side of the Conestoga comet launch vehicle for $500,000 while 

the Soviets are generating millions of dollars from American companies such as Pepsi. Why don’t those monies stay in our space 

program? 

This Subcommittee needs to create a mechanism to get money 

from the private sector into NASA. I’ve never given up on my 

42 

dream to get NASA space advertising off the ground. I’ve shared 

my proposals, ideas and presentations with congressional leaders, 

representatives of NASA, JPL and a lot of astronauts, including 

Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmidt, Buzz Aldrin, T.K. Mattingly, 

James Lovell, Bill Shepherd, former NASA administrator Dan 

Goldin, all of which over the years, I’m proud to say, have become 

friends. 

Last October, I presented my program to Representative Dana 

Rohrabacher from the Congressional Space and Aeronautics Committee Chairman, who told me he wholeheartedly supports efforts 

and encourages that the Congress will work with the senate in 

order to figure out ways to get these money through the treasury 

into NASA and initiate programs like this. 

I just hate to see NASA waste another 23 years and lose another 

$5 billion or more. We need to work as a team to get private sector 

sponsorships of the space program off the ground so we can deliver 

on Ronald Reagan’s challenge and fulfill President Bush’s mission 

to take our Nation back into space. 

And I might add just on the testimony of NASA this morning, 

which was very impressive in their comment that over 6 billion 

people have gone to the website. Now, if NASA, to illustrate how 

simple this is, would offer a photograph screen saver for $1 to those 

people and 10 percent of those people took advantage of that $1, 

the 5 percent that the Congress and the Senate negotiated for to 

get into next year’s NASA budget would have been handed to 

NASA at no incremental cost in the last 90 days and at no cost to 

taxpayers. 

There is a tremendous opportunity here and it’s almost irresponsible for this Committee and Congress to ignore at this time with 

the deficit situation, the way we’re trying to go toward balanced 

budget and the interest of getting back to Mars. 

Thank you for allowing me to speak here today. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Lorsch follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ROBERT H. LORSCH, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, 

THE RHL GROUP, INC. 

Good morning members of The Subcommittee. My name is Robert H. Lorsch and 

I am CEO of The RHL Group, Inc. I am pleased to be here today to discuss this 

very important opportunity. For more than 30 years I have specialized in marketing 

communications and my clients have included all three major television networks, 

Johnson & Johnson, Beatrice Foods, Sears, McDonald’s, Northrop Grumman, Procter & Gamble and Microsoft amongst others. 

I have also been involved as a philanthropist promoting science education as a 

Director and Trustee of the California Science Center, whose gateway is the Robert 

H. Lorsch Family Pavilion. I have received the ‘‘C’’ Flag Private Sector Initiative 

award from the White House for my work in Earthquake Preparedness. As a businessman and philanthropist I have raised in excess of ten million dollars for a variety of charitable organizations, through direct contributions and numerous national 

advertiser cause-related marketing programs, similar to the concepts contained 

herein. My biography is included as a part of my written submission. 

In 1981, then President Ronald Reagan challenged government to work with the 

private sector to create programs designed to return a portion of the financial burden of government to business and industry. 

I contacted his press secretary, Jim Brady, with an idea for a NASA space advertising program of non-commercial sponsorship messages to be placed inside the 

space shuttle. 

The 1981 proposal suggested that for one million dollars, sponsors or advertisers 

could place a message in a shuttle flight. The message carried on a ‘‘Plaque’’ would 

43 

be a non commercial supportive message of NASA missions to be placed on an inside wall of the space shuttle, which would be seen during broadcasts from the mission. As incentives, each individual, company, foundation, or other organization 

would receive benefits such as: 

—A launch and landing party and dinner with NASA officials and available 

members of Congress; 

—Pictures of donors with astronauts and other dignitaries; 

—Official letters of appreciation; 

—The right to promote the companies sponsorship of NASA much like a major 

Olympics sponsor; 

Secretary Brady referred my program to Admiral Robert Garrick then Deputy 

Counselor to the President at the White House. Working with Admiral Garrick’s office in conjunction with then Counsel to the President Fred Fielding, I refined my 

plan when Chief of Staff Ed Meese directed it be reviewed by NASA. 

At that point the program made its way to the desk of James Fanseen, then Assistant Administrator for NASA. 

Mr. Fanseen greatly supported this program and worked over years to help me 

‘‘get it off the ground’’ with no success. It was rejected primarily because there was 

no way for NASA to see any money, since monies raised for a government agency 

would first go to the United States Treasury and could not be directly allocated to 

the space agency. Additionally there was a belief that the shuttle belonged to the 

American people and no one had a right to commercialize it. 

Numerous officials in NASA, Congress and the Senate encouraged me then and 

now to stay with a space advertising program. I was approached 20 years later to 

participate in NASA’s Dreamtime venture, which I rejected and despite all good intentions did not meet its planned objectives for tapping the commercial potential of 

the space program. 

In 1984, I presented a revised and updated approach to the 1981 presentation. 

This presentation made with the support of the administrator’s office and the White 

House was formally presented to Mr. Fanseen, Jesse Moore, Acting Assistant Administrator for Space Flight, NASA’s General Counsel and others. 

Among the new aspects of this plan was an outline of how and when sponsorship 

plaques could be broadcast. It included an example of a non-commercial message. 

Incentives were more detailed. VIP tours at the major space centers were added. 

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was suggested as a place where sponsorship plaques might hang permanently. 

However despite all the encouragement, the program was again rejected for similar reasons in 1984 and again after going back again in 1989. Additionally I was 

told retaining the services of my agency would need to be subject to open competition & the Armed Services Procurement Act ignoring any intellectual property 

rights (common law or otherwise) which I had accrued over the years through my 

numerous writings & presentations. 

Since the first Shuttle flight there have been 113 missions. If my program had 

been implemented, the space program could have earned more than five billion dollars, not counting Space Station opportunities. This would have been enough money 

to have funded NASA’s entire budget in 1982 or nearly thirty five percent of it in 

2003. 

Additionally the messages of support (which now will never be seen) would have 

reminded the public about the importance of the space program in our daily lives 

without taking away the public’s ownership in any manner what so ever. 

Last month President Bush announced a plan for this Nation to have manned 

missions to go back to the Moon and Mars starting in 2014. NASA estimates these 

programs will require expenditures of at least $170 billion. Hundreds of millions of 

dollars more will be needed to convert all of NASA’s ground-based and space-based 

video facilities to the HDTV standard over the next decade. With an under funded 

NASA stuck where it was in 1979 at eight tenths of one percent of the Federal 

budget this financial challenge seems insurmountable. However, there is a way upwards. 

My written submission includes copies of my 1981 and 1984 presentations, along 

with a revised 2004 presentation. Working with NASA, this program can become a 

reality starting now. And by 2008 that reality can generate at least 100 million dollars for the ground and space based facility upgrades with billions more in the 

works from sponsors in support of NASA efforts to send America back to the Moon 

and then to Mars. 

In fact in 1999 NASA posted its own ‘‘Commercial Space Transportation Study’’ 

on the web. In section 3.10.3.7 of NASA’s own document it says ‘‘The use of launch 

44 

vehicles as an advertising medium is a newly evolving market with the potential to 

obtain substantial revenues’’. It discusses the opportunities for advertising in space 

including orbiting billboards. Excerpts of which are also included in my written submission. It is clear that times have changed and NASA now recognizes the value 

of the intellectual properties I presented through their own demonstrated efforts to 

find ways to initiate a space advertising program. 

NASA points to an agreement with Columbia Pictures to place an ad for ‘‘The 

Last Action Hero’’ on the side of the Conestoga Comet launch vehicle for five hundred thousand dollars while the Soviet space program has already been supported 

by advertising from American companies such as Pepsi. Why didn’t those monies 

stay here? 

I ask this Subcommittee to create a mechanism to get money from the private sector into NASA to enable the next generation of spacecraft to get off the ground. 

I have never given up on my dream to get Space Advertising off the ground. I 

have continued to share my proposals, ideas and presentations with congressional 

leaders, representatives of NASA, JPL, and astronauts including Eugene Cernan, 

Harrison Schmitt, Buzz Aldrin, T.K. Mattingly, James Lovell, Bill Shepherd, and 

former NASA Administrator Dan Goldin. 

Last October, I presented my program to Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Congressional Space & Aeronautics Chairman who recently told me, ‘‘I wholeheartedly 

support your efforts to help the U.S. space program and am pleased that the Senate 

committee is taking such a proactive interest in your ideas.’’ 

Let’s not waste another 23 years and lose another five billion dollars or more. 

Let’s work as a team to get private sector sponsorships of the space program off the 

ground so we can deliver on Ronald Reagan’s Challenge and fulfill President Bush’s 

mission to take our Nation back into space. 

I look forward to responding to any comments or questions you may have. 

BIOGRAPHY OF ROBERT H. LORSCH

Los Angeles businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist Robert H. ‘‘Bob’’ 

Lorsch’s professional career spans over 35 years, mainly in advertising and sales 

promotion. 

For more than 20 years, Bob Lorsch served as President of Lorsch Creative Network (LCN), a full-service advertising and sales promotion agency specializing in 

merchandising, point-of-sale, games, contests, sweepstakes and interactive marketing for corporate clients. LCN blended advertising, sales promotion, marketing 

campaigns and interactive telepromotions for ‘‘blue chip’’ national and international 

clients, including the ABC, CBS and NBC television networks, Marvel Entertainment, Caesars World, Inc., The Seven-Up Company, Campbell’s Soup, Procter & 

Gamble, Beatrice Foods, Johnson & Johnson, Taco Bell, American Isuzu Motors, 

Northrop Grumman, McDonald’s Corporation and MCA/Universal, among many others. Lorsch also partnered with Pacific Bell Information Services to build a voice 

mailbox system that is now part of the popular WinFax product offerings. In late 

1994, Lorsch co-founded a prepaid long distance calling card company SmarTalk 

TeleServices, Inc., which started in late 1994 with five thousand dollars in capital 

and five people in a room above his garage. After going public in 1996, the company 

became one of the largest providers of prepaid telecommunications products and 

services in the world. Lorsch served as CEO until February 1998, following which 

the company was ultimately sold to AT&T in 1999. 

Today, Lorsch continues to pursue entrepreneurial business opportunities in the 

private sector through his investment and development firm, The RHL Group, Inc. 

One of his companies, www.yourdiscountdepot.com is an E-commerce enterprise that 

operates an online store and auction site as well as markets offers from a network 

of strategic partners. 

Another of Lorsch’s projects is Natural Products for Pets, Inc., which launched in 

October 2001 and is the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of Dancing Paws, 

a popular pet nutrient system that promotes optimum health and longevity. Offered 

at major retail specialty stores and the Internet at www.dancingpaws.com, the 

Dancing Paws line is produced at human dietary supplement plants requiring FDA 

approval. In fall 2002, the company introduced its newest product, ‘‘Breath-ALicious,’’ a dental treat for dogs that has met with huge success. 

Additionally The RHL Group is proud to have been an early stage investor in the 

Series A, B and C rounds of CancerVax www.cancervax.com a Biotechnology Company that completed its public offering in October 2003 (NASDAQ CNVX). 

Whatever his role, Lorsch faces each endeavor with unparalleled enthusiastic energy. One of his personal mantras is: ‘‘To be average scares the hell out of me.’’ 

45 

These words are inscribed on a sign that has hung on his office door for more than 

20 years. In the book, Barbarians Led by Bill Gates, Lorsch is described as ‘‘a marketing mastermind’’ and ‘‘a magician who believed anything was possible and simply 

wouldn’t take no for an answer.’’ 

One of Lorsch’s marketing innovations involved his efforts in 1980 to sell advertising on the Space Shuttle to benefit NASA research programs. This caught the attention of White House and NASA officials, who encouraged him to get involved 

with the Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles as well as other science 

museums across the country. In February 1998, Vice President Albert Gore recognized Lorsch’s support of science and technology in his dedication of the new California Science Center, which features the Robert H. Lorsch Family Pavilion as the 

gateway to the Center. Lorsch also serves on the California Science Center Foundation’s Board of Trustees. 

Lorsch has received numerous awards and proclamations for his public spirit, including the prestigious ‘‘C’’ Flag Private Sector Initiative award from the White 

House during the Reagan administration for his work in raising millions for financing state and local earthquake preparedness education. His efforts for this cause, 

which include serving on numerous earthquake preparedness committees, have also 

earned him awards from the City and County of Los Angeles, the State of California 

and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 

On June 5, 2002, Lorsch was again recognized by the City of Los Angeles when 

the Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution commending the entrepreneur/ 

philanthropist for his outstanding charitable work and business acumen, and further honored him by creating ‘‘Bob Lorsch Day.’’ 

Further, on June 12, 2002, Lorsch was appointed by the California Gambling Control Commission to serve on its 10-member Gaming Policy Advisory Committee. And 

on September 11, 2002, he received a state appointment from Governor Gray Davis 

to serve on the nine-member California Science Center Board of Directors for a fouryear term. 

In contributing a tremendous amount of time and energy toward giving back to 

the community—a lesson he learned in his youth—Lorsch also encourages clients, 

business associates and friends to give a portion of their profits back to the community. His efforts have led to raising millions of dollars for a variety of charitable organizations, along which are numerous cause-related marketing programs he created for national advertisers that have helped raise millions for organizations such 

as the Special Olympics and others. 

Among his many current charitable endeavors, Lorsch is a major supporter of the 

John Wayne Cancer Institute, D.A.R.E. America, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric 

AIDS Foundation, the Thalians Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, The Los Angeles Police Historical Society, the Starlight Children’s Foundation, 

the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation, the VPI Skeeter Foundation, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, for which he serves as both a National Vice President and President of the Los Angeles Chapter. 

Over the last 18 months, Lorsch has been involved in helping the Wildlife 

WayStation. www.wildlifewaystation.org, The WayStation is an internationally acclaimed non-profit wildlife refuge in Southern California’s Angeles National Forest 

and the largest rescue facility of its kind in North America. Currently home to 600 

animal residents, The WayStation has saved over 76,000 animals over the past 28 

years from certain death, with funding for its operations provided from the private 

sector without taxpayer support. In his role as volunteer and ‘‘Best Friend,’’ Lorsch 

has committed his time and resources helping to bring The WayStation into compliance by resolving issues with County, State and Federal regulators. This year he 

led a series of legal and political actions—including filing a successful court motion 

on behalf of the chimp residents—while at the same time building The WayStation’s 

base of financial supporters. Lorsch has served the wildlife sanctuary as its ‘‘Best 

Friend’’ during the most difficult period in its history, and in November 2003, was 

named Chairman of its Board of Directors. 

Over the past five consecutive years, Lorsch has received six humanitarian 

awards from the following charitable organizations: the anti-drug, anti-violence organization D.A.R.E. America honored him in 1998 with its coveted Future of America Award at a dinner where he was named D.A.R.E.’s ‘‘Man of the Year.’’ Lorsch 

was instrumental in raising over $2 million for this organization at the dinner, 

which represents the most successful fund raising event held by D.A.R.E. and is 

among the most successful money-raising events honoring an individual in the Los 

Angeles area. The Muscular Dystrophy Association honored Lorsch in 1999 with its 

esteemed Humanitarian of the Year award; the Southern California Chapter of the 

Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America named him Humanitarian of the Year 

2000; A Family Celebration presented him with the Humanitarian of the Year 

46 

award at its 2001 gala, where he was joined onstage by fellow honorees President 

Bill Clinton, President Gerald and Mrs. Betty Ford, and Sylvester Stallone; and 

Starlight Children’s Foundation honored him in April 2002 with the Golden Wish 

Award at its 19th annual gala hosted by Jamie Lee Curtis. Most recently, in October 2003, Lorsch was honored by the Wildlife WayStation with its ‘‘Paws of Fame’’ 

Humanitarian Award in recognition of his philanthropy and unselfish dedication to 

the world-renowned animal sanctuary. The presentation was made at the Ninth Annual Safari Brunch held at the Playboy Mansion and was the organization’s most 

successful benefit in history. 

Lorsch has been an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and a 

member of the James Brady Presidential Foundation and, also, the Fulbright Commission. He has been highlighted in national and international newspapers, magazines and broadcast media, and has been a featured speaker on telecommunications 

at forums nationwide, including at MIT. Lorsch is 53 years old and is a resident 

of Los Angeles for more than 33 years. He has one son, Jordan, who is 19 years 

old. 

SOME SITES THAT YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

www.yourdiscountdepot.com 

www.dancingpaws.com 

www.lorschland.com 

www.wildlifewaystation.org 

47 

FEBRUARY 17, 2004 PRESENTATION TO SENATOR BROWNBACK


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1984 COPYRIGHTED PRESENTATION TO NASA 


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1981 COPYRIGHTED PRESENTATION TO NASA 


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Senator BROWNBACK. Thanks for that last example, too. I had 

not thought through that but if you’re going to get 6 billion hits on 

a website—— 

Mr. LORSCH. 600 million people at a dollar, two screen savers. I mean, that’s $1.2 billion. That’s nearly twice the amount of money 

that NASA just wrestled to get its budget increased in the next 12 

months. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Thank you very much. 

Mr. LORSCH. You’re welcome, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Look to act on that. 

Mr. W.F. Mitchell, President of Altair Development Corporation. 

Go ahead. 

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM F. MITCHELL, PRESIDENT, ALTAIR 

DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE 

OFFICER, NEO SAFETY INTERNATIONAL 

Mr. MITCHELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

At the end of this program, after everyone’s through testifying, 

our company will have a movie that you’re welcome to watch; it’s 

a public outreach movie. There are some important statements in 

the movie from Peter Diamandis, who’s one of our consultants. 

He’s, as you know, founded the X Prize and the Zero-G Corporation, which I’m a stockholder in. 

I was inspired to study space when I was flying for Auburn University as a college student back in the 1970s, when we were landing on the Moon, which I’ve been studying it ever since, and once 

proposed a private lunar development for NASA to consider. 

And much has been said here today about the future of our children and in the movie that you will see and what I’m going to talk 

about today, the future of our children is paramount in my presentation. And so that I won’t forget anything, Mr. Chairman, I’ll read 

it if you don’t mind. 

I applaud the new space policy. The new direction and vision for 

the Nation is long overdue. Having a clear picture of where to go 

and what to accomplish is the first step in any challenging new endeavor. I believe the President’s bold vision is a worthy and honorable undertaking that our great nation has the talent and the resources to make a reality. However, the critics abound. Even some 

staunch GOP supporters are having difficulty supporting the policy 

given the current large military budgets needed to fight a worldwide war on terror and the precarious status of many of our social 

programs due to large budget deficits. The bottom line, as critics 

say, is that we simply cannot afford this expensive vision solely to 

satisfy our need to explore and fulfill our scientific curiosity. 

But I believe that the critics can be quieted and a broad-based 

support gained by acknowledging a far more serious reason for our 

Nation to be in space. The Nation must develop space to mitigate 

the threats of impacts by asteroids and comets. Only now are we 

beginning to become fully aware of the true life-and-death danger 

posed by these impact threats. 

There is currently a large number of concerned scientists around 

the world, international experts, that are studying the danger of 

these impacts from near-earth objects. The attached space defense 

manifesto is a result of a logical analysis of that body of work. Most 

80 

experts agree that it is not a question of if but rather when the impact of an asteroid or comet will cause a serious global disaster. 

The worse case scenario even predicts the destruction of all life on 

earth. 

The when is statistically just as likely to be now as it is a thousand years from now. Therefore, we have an urgent and compelling 

reason to act to protect ourselves, our children, their children from 

this danger of neo impact. 

Neo Safety International is a privately funded corporation that 

was formed to facilitate and expedite the rapid development of a 

space-based defensive system to protect the planet from near-earth 

impacts. The business plan of the corporation is in the early feasibility stage. However, some of the preliminary aspects of the plan 

are: perform fast-track reconnaissance missions to several asteroids 

to learn their exact physical, chemical and mineral makeup; capture one or more relatively small asteroids and convert the raw elements into rocket fuel, structural materials and shielding devices 

needed to build a larger material processing space craft; use the asteroid to derive interceptor and material processing spacecraft to 

intercept progressing larger asteroids and convert them into incrementally larger interceptors and space bases; use this building 

block method to build a reasonable number of space bases and 

equip them with a fleet of neo interceptors; strategically locate 

these bases at positions within the inner solar system to reasonably assure ourselves that we are capable of intercepting any and 

all threats from comets and asteroids. 

The first material processing base should be built at the Moon’s 

L1 Lagrange location and it should also facilitate the development 

of a lunar base. The base should also be used to stage the President’s proposed Mars mission. The development of this space defense system will be very difficult. Nevertheless, developing this 

system is doable and absolutely necessary. 

Some of the key ingredients needed to successfully create the 

new infrastructure are to use Apollo space shuttle era, off-the-shelf 

technology for the early missions and develop new technologies as 

they are needed; acquire a large percentage of the total mass needed to fuel and build these bases by mining the asteroids themselves. Only a relatively small mass will be launched from earth, 

i.e., food, computers, space suits, et cetera; finance the early missions by selling the science discovered on the asteroids to NASA 

and other interested parties. 

Command and control of all the interceptors will be by an international military coalition. Individual interceptors will be sold and/ 

or leased to U.S. military and the militaries of other nations working to protect the planet. The bases will be a traditional real estate-type development with sales and leases to various militaries, 

NASA, other space agencies and industrial companies, commercial 

entities, universities, research institutions, medical facilities and 

even individuals. 

Many of the President’s goals for NASA and the exploration of 

space can be enhanced and enabled by developing resources from 

asteroids. Byproducts of the defense system will be availability of 

almost limitless quantities of radiation shielding material, large 

supplies of low cost water and propellant available in near-earth 

81 

orbits, a vast array of metals, glasses and other building materials 

will be for sale. Other yet unknown finds will help service the new 

space industry. 

The project will be financed using techniques common to the real 

estate and defense industry. Ownership of private property, minerals and natural resources will be an essential ingredient for success. Neo Safety International will assume the development and financial risk. Our corporation will sell and lease facilities to the 

U.S. military, NASA and as anchor tenants. An international military and space agency coalition will be co-anchors. Other target 

customers are industrial enterprises and commercial entities. A few 

of the ways that Congress can help in starting this project are 

enact enabling legislation where needed, provide tax incentives to 

owners, investors and lenders, direct NASA and the DOD to 

prioritize and cooperate to create this defensive system, help create 

a mutually assured protection, MAP, philosophy with other nations, and ensure that private property rights and intellectual property right laws are extended into the solar system. 

Exploring space for exploration’s sake is no longer our primary 

motivation. We now have a moral imperative. We must develop 

space to ensure our survival and the survival of all those who will 

follow. I also believe that the act of developing this defensive system will spark a new space industrial revolution that will pay for 

itself in the creation of new wealth in sizes unimaginable in today’s 

terms. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Mitchell follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF WILLIAM F. MITCHELL, PRESIDENT, ALTAIR DEVELOPMENT

CORPORATION AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NEO SAFETY INTERNATIONAL

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee: 

Thank you for this invitation to share my views on the President’s new space policy and to introduce NEO Safety International’s efforts to help achieve the President’s space goals. 

I applaud the new space policy. This new direction and vision for the Nation is 

long overdue. Having a clear picture of where to go and what to accomplish is the 

first step in any challenging new endeavor. I believe the President’s bold vision is 

a worthy and honorable undertaking and that our great nation has the talent and 

the resources to make it a reality. 

However, critics of the space policy abound. Even some staunch GOP supporters 

are having difficulty supporting the policy given the current large military budgets 

needed to fight a world wide war on terror and the precarious status of many of 

the nations social programs caused by large budget deficits. The bottom line is critics say the Nation simply cannot afford this expensive vision solely to satisfy our 

need to explore and fulfill our scientific curiosity. 

I believe the critics can be quieted and broad based support gained by acknowledging a far more serious reason for our Nation to be in space. 

The nation must develop space to mitigate the threat of impacts by asteroids and 

comets. 

Only now are we becoming fully aware of the true life and death danger posed 

by these impact threats. There is currently a large number of concerned scientist 

and international experts studying the danger of impacts from Near Earth Objects 

(NEO’s). The attached Space Defense Manifesto is the result of a logical analysis 

of that body of work. 

Most experts agree that it is not a question of ‘‘If’’, but rather ‘‘When’’, the impact 

of an asteroid or comet will cause a serious global disaster. The worst case scenario 

even predicts destruction of all life on earth! 

82 

The ‘‘When’’ is statistically just as likely to be NOW as it is a thousand years from 

now. Therefore, we have an urgent and compelling reason to act to protect ourselves, 

our children and their children from this danger of NEO impacts. 

NEO SAFETY INTERNATIONAL is a privately funded corporation that was 

formed to facilitate and expedite the rapid development of a space based defensive 

system to protect the planet from NEO impacts. The business plan of the corporation is in the early feasibility phase. However, some of the preliminary aspects of 

the plan are; 

• Perform fast track reconnaissance missions to several asteroids to learn their 

exact physical, chemical and mineral makeup. 

• Capture one or more relatively small asteroids and convert the raw elements 

into rocket fuel, structural materials and shielding devices needed to build a 

larger material processing spacecraft. 

• Use the asteroid derived interceptor and material processing spacecraft to intercept progressively larger asteroids and convert them into incrementally larger 

interceptors and space bases. 

• Use this building block method to build a reasonable number of space bases 

equipped with a fleet of NEO interceptors. 

• Strategically locate these bases at positions within the inner solar system to 

reasonably assure ourselves that we are capable of intercepting any and all 

threats from comets and asteroids. 

• The first material processing base should be built at the Moon’s L1 Lagrange 

location and it should also facilitate the development of a lunar base. This base 

should also be used to stage the President’s proposed Mar’s missions. 

The development of the space defense system will be very difficult and challenging. Nevertheless, developing this system is doable and is absolutely necessary. 

Some of the key ingredients needed to successfully create the new infrastructure 

are; 

• Use Apollo/Space Shuttle era ‘‘off the shelf’’ technology for all initial missions. 

New technologies will be developed as needed. 

• Acquire a large percentage of the total mass needed for fuel and building materials from the mining and processing of the asteroids themselves. Only a relatively small mass will come from the Earth, i.e., food, computers, spacesuits 

etc. 

• Finance the early missions by selling the science discovered on the asteroids to 

NASA and other interested parties. 

• Command and control of all the interceptors will be by an international military 

coalition. 

• Individual interceptors will be sold and or leased to the U.S. Military and the 

militaries of other nations working to protect the planet. 

• The bases will be a traditional real estate type development with sales and 

leases to the various militaries, NASA, other space agencies, industrial companies, commercial entities, universities, research institutions, medical facilities 

and individuals. 

Many of the President’s goals for NASA and the exploration of space can be enhanced by developing resources from asteroids. Byproducts of the defense system 

will be: 

• Availability of affordable and limitless quantities of radiation shielding materials 

• Large supplies of low cost water and propellants available in near earth orbits 

• A vast array of metals, glasses and other building materials will be ‘‘for sale’’ 

• Other yet unknown ‘‘finds’’ will help service the new space industry 

The project will be financed as a traditional real estate development. Ownership 

of private property, minerals and natural resources will be an essential ingredient 

for success. NEO Safety International will assume the development and financial 

risk. Our corporation will sell and lease facilities to the U.S. Military and NASA 

as anchor customers and tenants. An International Military and Space Agencies Coalition will be co-anchors. Other target customers are industrial enterprises, commercial entities, universities, research institutions, medical facilities, financial/service companies and individuals. 

A few ways that Congress can help in starting this project are: 

83 

• Enact enabling legislation where needed 

• Provide Tax incentives to owners, investors and lenders 

• Direct NASA and the DOD to prioritize and cooperate to create this defensive 

system 

• Help create a Mutually Assured Protection (MAP) philosophy with other nations 

• Insure that private property rights and intellectual property rights laws are extended into the solar system 

Our motivation to master space needs to no longer be based on exploration for 

exploration’s sake. We now have a moral imperative. We must develop space to insure our survival and the lives of all who will follow. I also believe that the act of 

developing this defensive system will also spark a new space industrial revolution 

that will pay for itself in the creation of new wealth in sizes unimaginable it today’s 

terms. 

Thank you Mr. Chairman and member of the Committee. 

84 

ATTACHMENT


218SPACE1.eps
85 


218SPACE2.eps
86 

Senator BROWNBACK. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. I appreciate that. 

It was a very exact thought. 

Mr. Courtney Stadd, President of Capital Solutions. Thanks for 

joining us this morning. 

STATEMENT OF COURTNEY A. STADD, PRESIDENT, 

CAPITOL SOLUTIONS 

Mr. STADD. Yes, sir. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. 

And I also want to thank you for the leadership that you’ve 

brought in terms of supporting the President’s vision for NASA, 

particularly the leadership you’ve shown supporting the role of the 

private sector. It means an awful lot to us in the industry and also 

I want to express appreciation for the fact that you’re holding a 

field hearing. I think, personally, it’s so important for leaders such 

as yourself, with very busy schedules. And I know it’s disruptive 

and I know sometimes the transaction costs can be high. But actually leave Washington to come down to meet with people, such as 

the people here at Johnson Space Center, who are the people who 

actually make things happen, along with the contractors. And I 

must add—although I’m going to concentrate mostly on the entrepreneurs, the new starts in my testimony—there’s no shortage of 

innovators and big contractors as well that populate the neighborhood here who work hand in hand with the agency as well. 

And I’m looking over at General Warden. He and I worked in the 

White House many years ago and it’s also a tribute to you, sir, that 

you’ve brought on my old colleague to this terrific staff that supports the Committee. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Thank you. I’ve got to answer regarding 

that, because I’m glad to have General Warden on the staff and he 

had been around when we tried this once before and didn’t get it 

done; he was brought on to get this done. So, we’ve got experience 

and I’m delighted to have the expertise of the General and Baker, 

too. 

Mr. STADD. You’ve chosen well. 

In interest of time, I’ll make six points, Mr. Chairman. First, the 

fledgling but very determined commercial sector is eager to provide 

innovative solutions for space station transportation for logistics 

and transportation support. Accordingly, I’m very pleased to see 

the $140 million that NASA has set aside for the space station 

crew and cargo services to purchase space station transportation 

services. And NASA should be strongly supported in its efforts to 

direct the bulk of these funds to U.S. commercial suppliers. 

The alternative to commercial competition is that NASA and its 

space station partners will devote critical resources to providing 

unmanned logistics support that could be done by the private sector and that would be a loss for everyone. 

The American entrepreneur firms are also eager to respond to 

the small payload demonstration program that is intending to use 

emerging launch suppliers to fly unflown NASA instruments to 

other small payloads. These are very, very important new initiatives. 

Another exciting initiative that was referred to me by former colleagues at NASA on the first panel is the Centennial Challenges 

Program. That is requesting, I believe, 20 million annual prizes. It 

87 

is my understanding that in order for this program to be established, it will require this committee to provide the same type of 

authorization to NASA that the defense advanced research projects 

agency has as well and, in fact, is using for its own more modest 

prize efforts as we meet here today. 

So, I would ask the Committee and the staff to, please, focus specifically on how the agency executes this program because done 

right it could represent no less than a paradigm shift in how the 

agency deals with the private sector. 

Third point, it is a purely nonscientific observation, but I would 

say that the current cycle of entrepreneurs and like my colleague, 

Charlie Chafer, I’ve lived through several cycles over the past 30 

years although very much in the startup stage that’s been driven 

by, frankly, more sophisticated players and capital that have 

learned from the trials and tribulations of their predecessors. A 

case in point, quite frankly, is Charlie Chafer’s Team Encounter 

engineering team that worked with some unsung heroes in bureaucratic trenches at NASA to make his effort and his company’s effort 

come to fruition. 

Another case in point is an entrepreneur that I’m working closely 

with and that is Robert Bigelow, who’s founder of Bigelow Aerospace, a 5-year-old Nevada-based space company, developing expandable or better known as inflatable space module technology 

that is based from the Trancept Project, which was started right 

down this street at the Johnson Space Center several years ago. 

We had to, frankly, terminate that program based on budget, not 

technical merit, a few years back. 

But the idea behind these modules is to build radically low-cost 

modules that could be placed in one with orbit and ultimately, perhaps, even be habitates in other planetary surfaces in years to 

come. 

Mr. Bigelow has never taken one dollar of Federal contract 

money. He’s spent 30 years in the construction/real estate business 

and any of you who have worked in that business know it’s a very, 

very competitive field; but he’s a gentleman, also, who was inspired 

in his teen years to invest in space and now that he’s in a position 

to invest a good part of his personal wealth, he’s doing just that. 

And it’s his hope that he’ll actually have these commercial modules 

initially in place by the end of the decade. 

I do know that he would want me to put on the record the support that he’s received from the Johnson Space Center, particularly 

the director General Howell, who personally went out to visit 

Bigelow Aerospace facilities. We have a Space Act agreement with 

the agency and there has been a sharing of technical expertise with 

the center that has just been going tremendously. In addition, I believe this reflects the presumption now at NASA headquarters to 

support more and more of these commercial type of efforts. 

Potential uses of these modules could range from biotechnology 

to Earth observation and space tourism. By the way, in pursuing 

this capability in low-Earth orbit, it is imperative that the United 

States Government/private sector develop vehicles capable of bringing people and cargo to lower orbit. I’ll get back to that in a second. 

Elon Musk, quite familiar to this agency, is another gentleman 

who came from a different sector, in his case the Internet, who’s 

88 

bringing considerable wealth investing his Space X Corporation to 

develop a very low-cost vehicle; and it is a credit to the Department 

of Defense that they’re willing to put a payload on the very first 

Falcon rocket scheduled to launch this spring. And it is precisely 

these types of rockets that, I think, NASA should be supportive in 

its efforts to put experimental payloads and help these new companies achieve credibility. 

These two entrepreneurs are just two examples of an increasingly diverse community of space entrepreneurship but I also want 

to express my excitement for other companies, such as Zero-G Corporation, and the space adventurers that are seeking to expose the 

marketplace to the experience of weightlessness. And, although, 

the growth of space tourism, Mr. Chairman, merely is now part of 

NASA’s new mission, it will be of immense benefit, frankly, to the 

agency, to the government in the sense of strengthening and diversifying the aerospace industrial space by bringing the excitement 

of space travel to the wider public, including those young people 

you referred to in the hearing. 

And I’d like to comment to the Committee, if I may, that a review of HR3752 introduced by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher 

and recently passed on the House Science Committee that calls for 

a balanced regulatory framework for space tourism. 

Fourth point is that I wish I was in a position to tell the Committee how it and the agency could support and encourage each of 

these entrepreneurs, but each entrepreneurial project, in many 

ways, has its own unique needs; and, therefore, must be dealt with 

on a case-by-case basis. The critical issue is that NASA officials 

who are responsible for dealing with these entities must be given 

the freedom and the support to deal with new, sometimes risky 

companies in a flexible and creative fashion. And, again, I emphasize it is so important for the Committee, with your leadership, sir, 

the other members of the staff, to remain actively engaged in this 

process over the long term and provide the even moral support for 

officials who, when you’re dealing with the risky world of entrepreneurship, occasionally we will experience problems and failures; 

but to provide the support that allows them to continue to go on. 

And, Mr. Chairman, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the burdensome role of the export control laws. I know I’d probably fill the 

hearing room with studies and commission reports on how outdated many of the export control laws are. So, I would urge the 

Committee to review our space-related export control laws to identify those, in fact, that have become obsolete and sometimes hurt 

more than they help our security and business interest. 

In the wake of the President’s announcement, I also believe that 

there may, in fact, be investors who might explore negotiating with 

the agency an exclusive marketing and brokering arrangement for 

the U.S. portion of the space station for a specific period of time. 

Again, a concept like this would be feasible only if there is genuine 

interest by the United States Government to such a proposal. If 

NASA and its prime contractor base move on to implement the exploration strategy beyond lower Earth orbit, perhaps now is a 

great, opportune time to explore innovative ideas in how the commercial sector might want to utilize the space station capabilities 

to its fullest extent. 

89 

And the gentleman to my right, Mr. Lorsch, certainly has provided an example of the type of innovation that happens when you 

allow creative individuals like himself the license to pursue that 

type of opportunity; but whether or not this specific opportunity 

goes anywhere, my point is that today’s challenges can become winwin opportunities if the government is seriously open to new approaches for the private sector. 

And, finally, sir, the President’s direction to NASA has opened 

new opportunities by which government and industry can learn 

from one another, thus, maximize the chances of this new vision 

actually become reality, while giving birth to a robust, diverse and 

competitive U.S. and industrial base with major benefits for a nation in the future of humanity. And I must say that for those colleagues of yours who are skeptical, I would really urge them to go 

review the Commission that was chartered by Congress 2 years 

ago—— 

Senator BROWNBACK. Right. 

Mr. STADD.—the future of this huge industrial sector, involving 

a former colleague, of course, Congressman—— 

Senator BROWNBACK. Bob Walker. 

Mr. STADD.—Bob Walker, who was the Chairman, who laid out 

in very stark terms the state of our industrial base and aerospace 

today and it’s not a very good situation. And I think one of the benefits of this new vision is that it can help vitalize that base because 

as that report makes clear, as we sit here today, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, other capitals of the world, India, China, of course, are being 

very aggressive, very active in pushing their respective industrial 

base as well. And, frankly, a key concern for the commercial sector 

is whether the U.S. Government will ultimately follow through 

with a promise of a new policy. 

Thank you, again, for the opportunity to be here; and I look forward to answering whatever questions you may have, sir. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Stadd follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF COURTNEY A. STADD, PRESIDENT, CAPITOL SOLUTIONS

Mr. Chairman, and members of the Committee, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to participate in this hearing regarding the President’s newly announced 

space policy and especially to discuss the prospects for private sector interest in 

space-related activities, including launch vehicle development and the International 

Space Station. 

I would like to begin my statement with an excerpt from an essay drafted by one 

of my space clients, Robert Bigelow, about whom I have more to say later in my 

testimony. If you go to his company’s website at www.bigelowaerospace.com and 

click on ‘‘space commerce’’ you can access the full text. I think its sentiments are 

highly relevant to today’s hearing. 

‘‘Two hundred years after the Lewis and Clark expedition America continues to 

explore new frontiers. The manned space program of the late twentieth century 

has opened the door to almost limitless possibilities. Yet, despite the brave efforts and sacrifice of astronauts, both American and Russian, the U.S. and other 

nations have failed to capitalize on the hard earned achievements of the national space programs. As was the case 200 years ago, exploring the frontier 

was relatively simple when compared with the difficulties of surviving and profiting in a new and hostile environment. 

Unlike past space endeavors, settling and developing space cannot be accomplished by government programs and personnel. The U.S. Government could 

fund and order Lewis and Clark to explore the West, but it could not pay or 

force pioneers to settle the region. Governments do have an important role to 

play in creating an environment conducive to space development, but it is the 

90 

pioneering entrepreneurs, not the soldiers or bureaucrats, who can take and colonize a new frontier.’’ 

A little over a year ago, we mourned the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia 

and its heroic crew. The investigation that followed blamed not only technical and 

communication problems within NASA, but called out the absence of a compelling 

strategic vision for our Nation’s civil space program. January 14th marked a major 

milestone in the Nation’s civil space adventure when the President committed the 

Nation to a new bearing point and a renewed strategic direction in space. His vision 

now takes humankind beyond the confines of the low earth orbit we have occupied 

for decades, and draws our attention out into the distant universe, and the next logical destinations for humanity, including the Moon, Mars and beyond. 

The President’s new space policy is a tribute to both the Columbia astronauts and 

future generations of American pioneers. I am the father of two teenagers and I can 

tell you that they and their friends’ imaginations were really fired up by the combination of the President’s speech and the extraordinary technical achievements of 

the Mars rovers—Spirit and Opportunity. The prospect that members of their generation might one day actually walk on another planetary surface even managed to 

cause some of them, however briefly, to think outside themselves and focus on a 

higher calling. No small miracle in itself! 

The President’s plan responds to what many in the space community have been 

calling for in recent years: A bold new vision for NASA that lays out measured, 

pragmatic, evolutionary steps as the path for achievement of the goals he broadly 

outlined. Achievement of those goals will require a number of ambitious capabilities 

to be developed and demonstrated. We in private industry are greatly encouraged 

by NASA’s recognition that it will be looking to the commercial sector for critical 

products and services in pursuing this exciting new road map. And make no mistake: there is ample room for significant contributions by entrepreneurs, private sector investors and commercial companies who see the benefits of supplying products, 

services and technology for space-related markets. 

Change, of course, often serves as a catalyst for innovation and new out-of-thebox ideas in the way we do things. By their very nature, entrepreneurs view 

‘‘change’’ as a chance to translate challenge into profitable opportunities. This is 

why, frankly, so many American space entrepreneurs are embracing the period of 

potential change set in motion by the President’s policy announcement. 

I have spent nearly thirty years of active involvement in the U.S. civil and commercial space communities—working in both the public and private sectors. With 

that said, I have also learned that it is nearly impossible to craft a national policy 

that satisfies all the various and sundry stakeholders. There will always be ‘‘rice 

bowls’’ who resist change when new priorities are set, such as those who may have 

a vested interest in preserving certain NASA programs that will be terminated or 

redirected as a result of the new vision. There will also be those that are frustrated 

by what they may view as an overly deliberate, evolutionary approach to realizing 

the President’s goals. From this particular stakeholder’s vantage point, however, I 

think the President and NASA have offered a compelling and exciting vision that 

is both pragmatic and executable, costing less than one percent of the annual Federal budget. At the same time, it offers a range of exciting opportunities for private 

industry whose resources can help leverage and expand the investment of taxpayer 

dollars in the space program. 

Before proceeding to discuss specific potential private sector interest in supporting 

the civil space program in areas such as launch vehicle development and the Space 

Station, allow me to underscore that the interdisciplinary nature of the new space 

exploration vision will require innovative technologies and breakthroughs in areas 

with huge potential impact on our economic competitiveness. These include major 

industrial sectors such as communications, robotics, materials, computing and automation, biotechnology and life sciences, power and propulsion, and networking. 

As the Congressionally-charted ‘‘Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace 

Industry’’ (November 2002) made clear, our domestic aerospace infrastructure is severely undermined by a shortage of engineers and scientists, as well as foreign subsidized competition. The Commission’s Executive Summary lays it out in stark 

terms: ‘‘The industry is confronted with a graying workforce in science, engineering 

and manufacturing . . . New entrants to the industry have dropped precipitously 

to historical lows as the number of layoffs in the industry mount . . . We note with 

interest how other countries that aspire for a great global role are directing intense 

attention and resources to foster an indigenous aerospace industry. This is in contrast to the attitude present here in the United States. We stand dangerously close 

to squandering the advantage bequeathed to us by prior generations of aerospace 

leaders. We must reverse this trend and march steadily towards rebuilding the inVerDate Nov 24 2008 08:49 Nov 02, 2016 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00094 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\22360.TXT JACKIE
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dustry.’’ Scientists and engineers initially attracted to work on space exploration 

programs will likely also go on to build the next generation Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, missile defense systems, and laser communications satellites. 

I would respectfully suggest, Mr. Chairman, that your colleagues in Congress, 

should debate the merits of this new exploration vision in the broader context of 

providing this Nation a much overdue opportunity to revitalize our aerospace sector 

and return the U.S. to a leadership position in an area that has such important national economic and security implications. 

With the primary focus of the Space Shuttle on completing the assembly of the 

Space Station, the commercial sector is eager to provide innovative solutions for 

Space Station transportation, logistics and research support. There are several 

start-up companies, such as Constellation Services, Inc., and Kistler Aerospace that 

are offering to provide such services. This category of company includes those who 

are using private sector capital in seeking NASA as an ‘‘anchor tenant’’ in pursuit 

of both government and commercial market business opportunities. Accordingly, I 

am very pleased to see that NASA has included $140 million for a new project, ISS 

Crew and Cargo Services, to purchase Space Station transportation services. Although I understand that foreign suppliers may provide some of these services, 

NASA should be supported in its efforts to direct the bulk of these funds to U.S. 

commercial suppliers to develop services to meet Space Station cargo transport 

needs. 

It is important for NASA to ensure that it offers truly competitive opportunities 

for industry, including start-up ventures; rather than utilizing the procurement 

process to prejudge the outcome for preferred suppliers of products and services. It 

is equally important for this Committee and its counterparts in the House to give 

NASA the resources and even moral support it will need to sometimes take the risk 

on new entrants and engage alternative commercial suppliers of space goods and 

services. In that regard, American entrepreneurial firms are eager to respond to the 

$10 million Small Payload Demonstration Program that is intended to use emerging 

launch suppliers to fly unflown NASA instruments or other small payloads; while 

also assisting these new firms to establish their credibility as providers of new commercial vehicles to meet future NASA needs. The alternative to commercial competition is that NASA and its International Space Station partners will continue to devote critical attention to providing unmanned logistics support that could be done 

by the private sector. That would be a loss for everyone. 

From a commercial standpoint, Mr. Chairman, an exciting new initiative in the 

NASA budget is the Centennial Challenges Program. This initiative was partly inspired by the success of the X-Prize Foundation, which is offering $10 million for 

the first team that launches a vehicle capable of carrying three people (or one person and ballast weight for two others) on a suborbital trajectory to 100-kilometers 

or 62-miles and repeats the flight within two weeks. I understand that approximately 27 entrants representing seven countries are competing for the prize. It is 

fair to say that a $10 million prize has caused tens of millions of dollars to be invested by the private sector in pursuit of a wide variety of innovative launch vehicle 

concepts. For me, this is a dramatic illustration of how much dynamic energy and 

creativity is available in the commercial space sector. 

The Centennial Challenges Program invests $20 million in a series of annual 

prizes for revolutionary, breakthrough accomplishments from innovators not usually 

affiliated with the space program. It is my understanding that in order for the Centennial Challenge program to ‘‘take off’’ it will require that this Committee authorize NASA to have similar prize-making authority that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) currently enjoys. Examples of potential candidate 

programs include nano-materials, very low cost robotic space missions and spacecraft power systems. It is well known that during the Apollo program breakthrough 

innovations often came from unexpected sources; therefore we need to create ‘‘on 

ramps’’ for creative individuals and small entrepreneurial teams. The key to this 

program’s success, however, is to ensure minimal bureaucratic intrusion and efforts 

by ‘‘rice bowls’’ to vector the resources into programs that perpetuate the status quo 

versus truly advancing unorthodox inventions and ideas. Accordingly, I would urge 

this Committee to pay special attention to how the Agency executes this potentially 

exciting program. Done right it could represent no less than a paradigm shift in how 

the Agency works with the private sector. 

Over the past three decades, I have personally witnessed several cycles in which 

private capital—either in the form of institutional or high net worth individuals— 

have tried to develop various space launch and payload concepts for commercial and/ 

or government markets. Every cycle has been characterized by its share of firms 

poorly managed (in that sense, the commercial space business is no different than 

other business sectors) or those who fall into the trap of mistaking technical possiVerDate Nov 24 2008 08:49 Nov 02, 2016 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00095 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\22360.TXT JACKIE
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bility for market opportunity, or those who are essentially using taxpayer money to 

sell to the government under the guise of ‘‘commercialization’’. It is my purely nonscientific observation that the current cycle, although very much in the start-up 

stage, is being driven by more sophisticated players and capital who have learned 

from the trials and tribulations of their predecessors. There are multiple signs that 

capital formation is interested in space activities and even defense and space services, and that capital markets are becoming healthy again. 

Although I do not profess to be an expert on the capital markets, the Nation’s 

pension funds, banks, and insurance companies appear to have re-energized their 

private equity and debt investments into venture and other forms of capital management in the past two years. Venture firms are showing signs of stability as well 

as a penchant for many of the nano-technology, life sciences, power sources, power 

technologies and other fundamental technical areas required for support of new 

space exploration missions. Last quarter, the venture capital industry invested $4.9 billion into new ventures, 

a level of investment activity that is the highest in the past eighteen months. This 

level of investing is expected to continue based on the increase in the availability 

of capital and deal flow for the foreseeable future, approximately $20 billion a year. 

Even more significant is the steady amounts of capital being raised by venture capital firms and other private sector institutions for investments into new high tech 

opportunities. 

In terms of high net worth individuals who are investing their personal wealth 

into commercial space-related projects, I am associated with Robert Bigelow, President and founder, Bigelow Aerospace, a five-year-old Nevada-based space company 

that is developing expandable space module technology based on the Transhab 

project which was managed down the street at the Johnson Space Center until it 

was terminated for budget reasons a few years ago. Mr. Bigelow has never taken 

one dollar of government contract money. He brings to his space venture over three 

decades of true competitive commercial business experience in the construction, engineering and contracting fields. 

Since early 1999, Mr. Bigelow has been aggressively investing his own resources 

in building his company’s expertise, capabilities, key partnerships and hardware. 

Bigelow Aerospace has been developing its capabilities within a Space Act Agreement with NASA that allows for a sharing of knowledge and expertise between the 

two parties involving no exchange of funds. When I informed Mr. Bigelow that I 

would be making a statement to this Committee, he requested that I underscore his 

praise for the Johnson Space Center Director, Jefferson Howell, under whose leadership Bigelow Aerospace has benefited greatly from the cooperation it has received 

from JSC. Such cooperation also appears to reflect the overall policy support for 

commercial space initiatives, such as Bigelow Aerospace, that is coming from NASA 

Headquarters. 

BA is pursuing its expandable space module technology based on the belief that 

such modules might drastically reduce the costs of living and working in the low 

earth orbit (LEO) environment. Potential uses include biotechnology research, earth 

observation, space tourism and other applications that we are pursuing on a proprietary basis. Such modules could, of course, eventually be utilized as habitats on 

other planetary surfaces. In pursuing this capability in low earth orbit, it is imperative that the U.S. develop space vehicles capable of bringing people and cargo to and 

from LEO. The current grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet has revealed the unfortunate reliance of the U.S. on the only alternate human carrier, the Russian Soyuz 

spacecraft, which makes it a single point of failure. Further, it is a fundamental rule 

of business to avoid negotiating in a situation where the other party has the upper 

hand in terms of being the sole supplier of a critical service. In this instance, the 

Russians hold some key ‘‘Aces’’. It is therefore in the self-interest of the U.S. to encourage private sector cargo and human rated launch initiatives. As noted earlier, 

NASA plays a critical role in encouraging the emergence of private sector alternatives. 

Elon Musk, who is familiar to this Committee, is another example of an entrepreneur who comes from a non-space industry sector (in his case, the Internet) who 

has founded SpaceX to develop a new family of low cost Falcon launch vehicles that 

are currently priced to cost less than half the price of similar launch vehicles due 

to competitive pricing and through the use of reusable first stage rocket engines. 

It is to the credit of the Department of Defense that it has placed a payload on 

board the company’s first launch—currently scheduled for late spring of this year. 

SpaceX’s Falcon rockets are precisely the type of vehicles that NASA should consider for some of its own experimental payloads. Based on my own informal discussions with Mr. Musk, he is similar to Mr. Bigelow in that they both have immersed 

themselves in the arcane science and engineering associated with their respective 

93 

space businesses, are aggressively recruiting the best and brightest technical minds 

and are investing their own significant wealth in bringing to the aerospace marketplace business strategies that have served them well in their previous commercial 

businesses. 

These two space entrepreneurs are but two examples of the small but growing 

community of individuals and companies that are pursuing space-related opportunities. I am also excited by the potential of companies, such as Zero-G Corporation 

and Space Adventures, that are seeking to expose the marketplace to the experience 

of weightlessness. (As someone who has experienced zero-g on NASA’s KC–135 I can 

testify that the experience is sufficiently exhilarating that I would relish the chance 

to experience it on a sustained basis in space.) The successful growth of space tourism while clearly not a part of NASA’s new mission, would be of enormous benefit 

to NASA in strengthening and diversifying the aerospace industrial base while 

bringing the excitement of space travel to the wider public. I would like to commend 

to the Committee that it review H.R. 3752, introduced by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and recently passed by the House Science Committee, that calls for a balanced regulatory framework for space tourism. These entrepreneurs are demonstrating that the private sector can potentially augment the government’s efforts 

to open the space frontier for the full expression of the human enterprise. 

I wish that I were in a position to tell the Committee specifically how they and 

the Agency could support and encourage the work of these entrepreneurs. The reality is that each entrepreneurial project will have its own unique needs, and therefore they must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. For example, Bigelow Aerospace could potentially benefit from NASA launching one of its sub-scale demonstrator modules, whereas I’m sure SpaceX would jump at an opportunity to receive 

a contract for a NASA launch. The critical issue is that the NASA officials who are 

responsible for dealing with these entities must be given the freedom and support 

to deal with new entrepreneurial companies in a flexible and creative fashion. Moreover, this Committee too can play a critical role in providing the resources and relevant Agency oversight to ensure that NASA is fulfilling its commitment to leverage 

private sector opportunities to the greatest extent possible. Again, I cannot emphasize how important it is for this Committee, its Members and staff to remain engaged in this process over the long term. 

Additionally, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the burden that current export control laws place on new entrepreneurs. No doubt, I could fill this hearing 

room with various academic studies and Commission reports that document the negative competitive effects of the current export licensing regime on the U.S. aerospace 

sector. The emerging space companies often depend upon the low-cost alternatives 

that foreign aerospace organizations can provide. One of the key recommendations 

from the ‘‘Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry’’ was that ‘‘U.S. 

export control regulations must be substantially overhauled. . . .’’ I feel strongly 

that the time has come for this Committee and Congress to conduct a comprehensive review of our space-related export control laws in order to identify rules that 

have become obsolete and hurt more than they help both American security and 

business interests. 

Mr. Chairman, I would like to raise another possible way the commercial sector 

might assist our government in leveraging its highly constrained resources. In the 

wake of the President’s announcement, I really think that there may be investors 

who might explore negotiating with NASA an exclusive marketing and brokering arrangement for the U.S. portion of the Space Station for a specific period of time. 

Again, a concept like this would be feasible only if there is genuine interest by the 

government in such a proposal. Such an initiative is based on the view that NASA 

has demonstrated engineering brilliance in construction and deployment of the 

Space Station. But as NASA and its prime contractor base move on to implement 

the exploration strategy, perhaps now is an opportune time to explore innovative 

ideas for how the American commercial sector might be able to utilize the Space 

Station capability to its fullest extent. Specifically, the potential may exist to establish a structure whereby the Agency would receive royalties based on the profits 

generated by a private sector ISS initiative. These royalties might well help partially reimburse the government for the tax-payer’s investment in ISS, and perhaps 

over the long term could fund improvements to the Station and/or be leveraged to 

support the President’s vision of exploration beyond LEO. Whether or not this specific initiative goes anywhere, my point is that today’s challenges can become winwin opportunities if the government is seriously open to new approaches with the 

private sector. 

In addition to private sector sources of capital, there is an increasing interest on 

the part of state and local government organizations to partner with NASA to assist 

in financing new services. For example, several state-based commercial spaceports 

94 

have used their own resources to leverage infrastructure investments for both private and public sector uses. Speaking of innovative public-private partnerships in 

space, it is worth noting that private investors recently financed a Norwegian satellite data center that supports and is an integral part of U.S. defense and space 

activities. A private placement was raised, which enabled both U.S. and Norwegian 

governments to access a critical service, without seeking new appropriated dollars 

from the Congress. Under the financing mechanism, which raised over $40 million 

dollars, the government is estimated to be saving up to $2.5 million per year for 

the first few years, and as much as $7 million for the remaining 20 years. 

Such third party and state supported financings are making inroads into many 

sectors of government involvement, especially in defense and energy, which depend 

heavily on outsourced services and private financing. There is no reason why such 

a model could not be utilized in the space arena. 

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I must admit that when I first started in the commercial 

space sector my colleagues and I had fervently hoped that we would be much further ahead in the development of commercial space markets than we are today. In 

retrospect, I believe that we neglected a fundamental rule of the marketplace: Markets usually change over extended periods of time as customers and providers become slowly educated and acclimated to the advantages of new products and services. A case-in-point was the slow evolution of the marketplace before Global Position System (GPS) applications reached ‘‘critical mass’’ with a global commercial 

customer base. A technology that began commercially as a more efficient means of 

conducting land surveys now brings Information Technology-based productivity to 

an astonishing array of global infrastructures—from telephones to trucking and 

aviation to power lines. 

The President’s direction to NASA has opened new opportunities by which government and industry can learn from one another and thus maximize the chances that 

the new vision actually becomes reality while giving birth to a robust, diverse and 

competitive U.S. space industrial base with major benefits for our Nation and the 

future of humanity. America’s space entrepreneurs, who reside in both small and 

large companies, are poised once again to bring the promise of space to fruition. 

Frankly, a major challenge is whether the U.S. Government will ultimately followthrough on the promise of the new policy. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to be here today and I look forward to any 

questions you may have. 

COURTNEY A. STADD: PROFILE

Mr. Stadd is President, Capitol Solutions, a management consulting firm located 

in the Washington, DC, area. In July 2003, after nearly three years, he resigned 

his position as Chief of Staff and White House Liaison for the National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration. He led President Bush’s NASA transition team and 

worked with the NASA Administrator to cast the agency’s strategic direction. Mr. 

Stadd had chief responsibility for developing and executing turn-around plans, 

budgets and staffing that addressed the major financial and management challenges 

facing NASA’s high-profile $15 billion research and development activities. 

For the past 26 years, Mr. Stadd has worked in both the private and public arenas with a primary focus on identifying and removing barriers to market-driven opportunities in aerospace-related technology areas. In the previous Reagan and Bush 

Administrations, he has held senior space-related program management and policy 

positions in the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the White House National Space Council. 

In the private sector, he was affiliated with the establishment of several satellite 

and space transportation ventures, such as Colorado-based DigitalGlobe, an industry leader in providing high-resolution commercial satellite imagery. Over the past 

twenty-five years, in both official and private capacities, he has been invited by various U.S. Congressional committees to testify on a range of high technology-related 

public policy matters. 

He has been the recipient of numerous industry and government awards including 

the 2002 U.S. Space Foundation certificate of honor for his contributions to advancing ‘‘the greater cause of the exploration and development of space.’’ In 2001, Mr. 

Stadd was awarded NASA’s highest honor—The Distinguished Service Medal for 

‘‘his extraordinary vision, leadership, and dedication to . . . advancing technology 

into industry.’’ 

Senator BROWNBACK. All right. I think that’s a good way to put 

it. This isn’t just about an expenditure of money on a mission. It 

95 

can be about vitalizing and energizing a whole industrial sector; 

and to me, one of the keys here is that I want to see that private 

capital coming in and the reward coming back with that growth 

and opportunity with it. 

Well put. Thanks. 

I have to call up a story. I had a chance to visit Dennis Tito, who had paid Russia, what, $20 million to do space tourism and he, like 

so many of us, wanted to go to space. As a young man, he was an 

aerospace engineer or something of that nature. He worked at Jet 

Propulsion Laboratory, then left and made a lot of money, but still 

wanted to go to space. So, he paid for the ride. I believe there’s a 

huge sector of the population willing to pay pretty substantial fees 

to experience weightlessness and see the world from that perspective. He gave me a really interesting little vignette, though. He was 

saying that when he was up there it was really an incredible experience to him and he said he noted at one point in time that he 

now understands all those pictures of angels that he saw as a 

child, which didn’t make any sense to him because he thinks as an 

aerospace guy, he said, the wings are too small on all the pictures 

of these angels. He said in weightlessness you just need little 

wings; I understand. 

It was an interesting vignette that he gave. 

Mr. Chafer, I hope you’ll provide to us specifics on what we need 

to do to put in any authorizing language to make sure the private 

sector has access to work in these areas because we really do want 

to do this mission in a different way; and I think for it to work it 

has to be done in a different way of going to the Moon and to Mars. 

So, I hope you’ll provide to us or your group of your specific areas 

that the authorizing legislation language needs to be different and 

we’ll, hopefully, work with you, excuse me, we will work with you 

on that. 

Mr. CHAFER. Happy to do so, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK. You said that we haven’t been open in the 

past. Is that different now? Is there anything we need to do now 

to make sure that that is different now? 

Mr. CHAFER. It ebbs and flows and I think that the biggest challenge is that it’s so personnel dependent that there’s adequate authority to do almost anything under the 1958 Space Act, so that 

you’re looking at the only person in the world that’s bought a Minuteman Missile from the U.S. Government. We did that from 

NASA. Launched it off Matagorda Island under Deke Slayton’s 

leadership and created the first privately launched rocket into 

space when there were no regulations, but 11 separate agencies 

gave us the approval. We had to go 11 for 11 to do that. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Wow. 

Mr. CHAFER. So, there’s almost always the ability to accomplish 

things and I use the example of Courtney and Dr. Ed Weiler who 

wanted to do those things. What I sense today is, as Courtney said, 

there’s more sophistication in the private sector and, therefore, 

there’s a greater willingness in the government sector to look at 

these alternatives. 

My largest concern is that you almost always bump into situations where you may well be competing with each other, the government and the private sector; and we have such scarce resources. 

96 

We need to find ways not to compete. That was certainly true back 

in the early launch vehicle days when the space shuttle was being 

designed as a way to launch all satellites for everyone and here we 

were, a group of a few people in Texas wanting to launch rockets. 

So, there’s great risk that the power of the government, while 

well-intentioned, can end up foreclosing commercial investment; 

and, again, I think it’s a sensitive issue. I know it’s not a clean, 

easy answer, such as a piece of legislation; but I think Courtney 

nailed it by saying this Committee can encourage the agencies and 

the leaders in the agencies to be open to commercial activity. And 

if that occurs, we’ll see some of these little flowers bloom into very 

large plants and you’ll begin to get people working together. And 

there’s nothing like the real-world experience of working together 

to give each other confidence and the success of these co-developed 

missions. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Do you have an official advisory committee 

to NASA or to the space community that private sector interfaces 

with to give these thoughts to? 

Mr. CHAFER. I’m unaware of one. 

Senator BROWNBACK. All right. 

Mr. CHAFER. There may well be. We’ve not been asked to come 

and speak to it but I think that would be great. 

Senator BROWNBACK. I just would like to institutionalize—— 

Mr. CHAFER. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK.—this dialogue more. Maybe that’s one of 

the things we could put in authorizing legislation that we have a 

private sector advisory committee. I’d like to give them more power 

than just advisory, so that the Administrator has to listen to it or 

has to meet with them. The administrator, whoever he or she is, 

has to meet with them two or three times a year, so, to make sure 

that that’s happening at a high-level dialogue. 

Mr. CHAFER. I think that would be a great idea. We’d love to participate in that. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Bob, you lit my fuse or sent my rocket off 

here with thinking we missed out on $5 billion that could have 

gone into the space program. 

Mr. LORSCH. Let me light your fuse about a hundred million dollars that is on the table of this subcommittee probably within the 

next 6 months if you want to take a look at it. You know, we talked 

about encouraging entrepreneurship and private sector initiatives 

and I didn’t mean to interrupt you in the middle of your stream 

of thought, Senator. 

But my fuse is lit as well here today. So, I hope you don’t mind 

if I say this. Things can be done now. We have a space shuttle mission that’s going to go sometime soon. There’s going to be a tremendous amount of public interest in that mission. There is no reason 

that a private foundation can’t be formed for 50 sponsors to spend 

a million dollars or more to have their name, their logo just on a 

plaque on that launch to support this Nation getting back into 

space; and as soon as the legislation is passed that can get the 

money into NASA, the money leaves the foundation and goes to 

NASA. It just hits it as a holding spot. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Well, let me interrupt you on that. If we 

just took a little piece out of this legislation right now and we just 

97 

said out of the overall reauthorization of NASA or toward this program and said: ‘‘Let’s just take this little piece out and try to get 

it through fast so that this money can go directly to NASA,’’ which 

is a key issue—— 

Mr. LORSCH. Yes. 

Senator BROWNBACK.—you’re saying that that needs to take 

place. Then we can have access to, you think, a hundred million 

dollars on a near term versus? 

Mr. LORSCH. I think between the next shuttle mission and the 

concept of a screen saver, where photos that are not on the public 

NASA website, but for one dollar can be downloaded as a screen 

saver—— 

Senator BROWNBACK. Yes. 

Mr. LORSCH.—for people who want to support the space program 

will generate a hundred million dollars within the next 6 to 12 

months. And I would be amazed if it wasn’t substantially more 

than that. 

I think that even if the legislation can’t be fast tracked because 

you want to start selling this, in essence, immediately I think the 

trust or the holding place for this money could easily be in one of 

two places: the Smithsonian Institute in a special fund Air and 

Space Museum; or perhaps in a special fund where that money, 

which may not go direct to NASA, might go to subsidize programs 

that NASA wishes it had money to subsidize, like some of the programs that Mr. Stadd is talking about. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Yes. I want to work with you in getting 

that introduced soon. So, we just take that piece of it out and let’s 

just get it in now and see if we can move that through fast and 

get access to those funds for NASA. 

Mr. LORSCH. And I think the other piece that’s important, if it 

can be done, is the comment that Mr. Mitchell made. I know of carnage and I say this with all due respect of NASA and government. 

But there are a lot of people that have been pioneering the way 

and working the halls of NASA, Congress and the Senate to give 

to the space program, who have come up with great ideas and 

great programs. And I think that to the extent that we have a body 

of law that covers intellectual properties, copyrights, registrations, 

presentations, concepts and ideas, it should be extended to outer 

space to protect and motivate the entrepreneurs that are out there 

creating the difference that’s going to bring the hundred million 

dollars I’m talking about in the next 6 to 12 months—or the billions that I’m absolutely convinced we can generate prior to heading off to Mars. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Would that have to be involved in this narrow piece of mechanism to get the money just to NASA, would this 

second piece have to be involved in it to truly access those private 

sector advertising dollars? 

Mr. LORSCH. No, it would not have to be involved; but it would 

protect the individuals that were—I mean, I’ve just come up with 

two ideas sitting here at the table today. And I’m good but I’m not 

the world’s greatest in marketing. And I’m sure there are a lot of 

other people that have other ideas that could make that pot $300 

million. 

98 

Senator BROWNBACK. Need to protect the intellectual property. I 

see what you’re saying. 

Mr. LORSCH. So, it would be nice to know that those people knew 

that if they invested their own hard-earned dollars into something, 

it wasn’t going to be something that was presented and then was 

exploited by some multi-national corporation or NASA on a direct 

basis. But the real opportunity right now is with the excitement 

and the enthusiasm that’s going on with the Mars landers and the 

next shuttle mission. If this Committee does not take advantage of 

it, it would be just a waste of another hundred-plus million dollars; 

and, again, Senator, I say that with all due respect because I know 

that government works in strange ways. 

But this is a wonderful opportunity that can make a major difference toward getting us into space fast. 

Senator BROWNBACK. I hope you will give us the benefit of some 

of your thinking, too, of what we could get in marketing resources 

for NASA regarding the space program, in a tasteful fashion that 

involves and works with the private sector. 

Mr. LORSCH. I think every component mission that goes up, if 

you assume that we’re going to assemble and build a spacecraft to 

go to Mars from the lunar surface, there’s going to be a tremendous 

amount of activity between the United States—between here, 

Earth, space station, the Moon. Every one of those missions, 

whether it’s to bring parts, to do work, or to develop living experiments, has the potential of generating between 10 and $25 million 

a mission, easily, just for the rights of the companies who are sponsoring those missions to be able to say they’re part of taking man 

into space. 

The ultimate mission of going to Mars, there’s going to be a tremendous amount of time, as I understand it, at least 7 months to 

get there, a year and a half up there, 7 months to get back. A tremendous amount of television time, tremendous amount of photos; 

and every aspect of any piece of intellectual property or broadcast 

that’s communicated from the lunar surface, the spacecraft, back to 

Earth or from Mars back to Earth or news conferences with astronauts that can be standing in front of nothing more than a Nextel 

logo, a Northrop Grumman logo are worth hundreds of millions of 

dollars. If the Super Bowl game, which is one Sunday, can generate 

a million and a half to $2 million for 30-second advertisement, a 

lifetime of changing the way this world exists and contributing to 

science, technology, education and the future of our children has to 

be worth billions of dollars and without a lot of work. 

The difference between what I’m talking about is these are programs that if next week the Senate said: ‘‘We’ll somehow create a 

mechanism by some type of executive order where on the next 

shuttle mission 50 corporations can put a sponsorship plaque, minimum $1 million the 50 highest bidders,’’ I would not be surprised 

if that mission took off with a hundred to $250 million of sponsorship money because there’s so much enthusiasm, support and goodwill from corporate America toward our space program. There’s no 

way for people to demonstrate it. There’s no way for the teacher 

in a classroom to encourage their student to design a piece of artwork using a photograph from Mars and entering a contest that for 

25 cents or 50 cents could generate $10 million. 

99 

Look at how much money was raised in quarters for the children 

of Afghanistan in one week, in one speech—— 

Senator BROWNBACK. Yes. 

Mr. LORSCH.—by a President. 

Senator BROWNBACK. And for me, just looking at it, we’ve got to 

get resources in this program to make it work. It’s just we have to 

do that, and I think this represents a real way that we can get resources we need. 

Mr. Mitchell, when your comments came forward, I was thinking 

that we probably need to do a full hearing on what the scientific 

community is saying about the near-term prospects of asteroids hitting Earth. And we may lean upon you to get us scientific community names you think will be good and we’ll do our own research 

as well on that who the best minds are. 

Mr. MITCHELL. Yes. 

Senator BROWNBACK. I’m looking at this, just the timeframes 

that they are considering this to be a real prospect for us, as being 

another part of the factors that we put forward to the public and 

to Congress about, ‘‘Here’s the reason why we need to do these 

things and do them now.’’ So, I’m hoping you can work with us on 

that. 

Mr. MITCHELL. Will be glad to, sir. 

In that light, starting Monday, actually Sunday, David Morrison 

of NASA and Rusty Schweickart and a whole plethora of scientists 

and individuals are holding a Planetary Defense Conference in Los 

Angeles on the very subject and the proceedings of that hearing 

will be, I think, very interesting to you and—— 

Senator BROWNBACK. Good. 

Mr. MITCHELL.—anyone else in Congress who might be interested in the subject. And I’ll be glad to help you in any way to put 

another meeting together. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Just on that topic. 

Mr. MITCHELL. Just on that topic, yes, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK. We’ve got to build a case for why to move 

these on forward and expend the resources from the government to 

do this. 

Mr. MITCHELL. Yes. 

Senator BROWNBACK. And this will be another platform issue. 

Mr. Stadd, thank you. Thank you for your thoughts from both inside and outside the organization, and I think those are good 

thoughts for us to have. 

I hope you put forward even the idea of having the commercial 

sector run the space station near term. You think there are a number of groups that would be competent and capable of doing that? 

Mr. MITCHELL. Let me caveat by saying, one, I was thinking 

more in the context of working with the government pending an exclusive license to broker and market the U.S. portion part of the 

station, recognizing that there are some safety issues and so forth 

that will have to be taken into consideration. 

Yes, I do believe that under certain conditions there would be interest by individuals with substantial resources. I know that some 

people I’ve talked to are, quite frankly, somewhat concerned that, 

if you’ll forgive the metaphor, but as the center of gravity, if you 

will, sort of shifts beyond lower Earth orbit in terms of focusing beVerDate Nov 24 2008 08:49 Nov 02, 2016 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00103 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\22360.TXT JACKIE
100 

yond the station over the long term. The American taxpayer has 

spent billions and billions of dollars in nonrecurring investment. 

One investor said to me, it’s like having a house guest in your 

house and if you’re not using the house, the house guest naturally 

is inclined to spread their belongings around a bit and end up with 

a defacto ownership. 

And I would presume that the taxpayer would prefer that the 

United States make full use of that capacity. So, I’m simply suggesting that under the right conditions I do believe there would be 

interest. 

Senator BROWNBACK. I had a guy tell me previously that with all 

that private sector, you’re going to be able to get that same work 

done for, he was suggesting, a fourth of the cost and a third of the 

time frames to get it done. Which the governments do great work, 

but we are inherently a bureaucratic big monolith to move. 

Mr. MITCHELL. We are. And I’ve had the honor of working on 

both sides as you indicated, Mr. Chairman. I certainly would not 

want to, at least on my part, the record to reflect that this is tough 

stuff when you’re leaving the gravity well and going up to what is 

a pretty hostile environment. It’s pretty complicated, pretty risky 

stuff, particularly when you involve people. 

So, I don’t think any one of us certainly at the table would underestimate the challenge; and some of the costs associated with, 

particularly with human systems, has to do with protecting those 

lives; but having said that, you’re absolutely correct. As Mr. Chafer 

said, the genius of the American entrepreneur is if you give us a 

challenge within a certain set of parameters, I think we have a 

pretty good track record of stepping up and meeting that challenge. 

And I do want to emphasize his point, particularly if we can do 

so as co-partners with the agency. I think that we could be having 

you, sir, holding this hearing 10 years from now and I think we 

could see much of that initial part of the vision being executed with 

benefits to everybody in the American society and, quite frankly, on 

a global basis. 

Senator BROWNBACK. Well, as we celebrate 200 years of Lewis 

and Clark, it was a government operation, Lewis and Clark was; 

but they didn’t settle it. 

Mr. MITCHELL. No, sir. 

Senator BROWNBACK. They opened it up, set a pathway, proof of 

concept; but then it was the millions of people on foot that followed, 

settled and opened it up. Many of them settled in my state of Kansas. Off of a really well-designed government program, the Homestead Act. I’m critical of a lot of governmental programs; I don’t 

think they work very well, but this one worked great. Five years 

you stay on it, you get 160 acres; and the number of people that 

tried and failed at that were enormous. The number of people who 

tried and succeeded were significant, but it was just: ‘‘OK. Here’s 

the field. You guys go at it. God bless you.’’ 

And I hope we can take some modeling, you know, from prior activities of when we’ve opened up other frontiers and do it right, do 

it thoughtfully and we don’t want people to risk lives in fashions 

that they clearly shouldn’t. But at the same time we want to engage that spirit, entrepreneurship, energy, and capital to move us 

on forward. 

101 

Mr. STADD. Absolutely. If I may, sir, sometimes it’s been my observation that there’s a bit of a disconnect sometimes between the 

Nation’s political system and, ironically, the very people the system 

is representing. 

Often I think the system underestimates the resiliency and the 

capacity of the American public for risk. I had the honor of being 

the chief of staff in the midst of the Columbia tragedy and it was 

awesome the bow wave of cards and letters, e-mails, the faxes that 

we received from people of all ages in America. And the common 

theme was: ‘‘Go forward. Please find the problem, fix it, but move 

forward.’’ And, in fact, we had an exhibit in the lobby that I was 

very proud of that juxtaposed CEOs of large corporations with 6- 

year-olds and Crayon-written cards with the common theme that it 

is important for this country to proceed forward. 

Senator BROWNBACK. It is. 

With that note, Gentlemen, thank you very much. It has been 

quite a stimulating discussion. It has been an excellent hearing 

and input. We are working with the Chairman and the Ranking 

Member’s on authorizing legislation. We’ll be working on this 

budgetarily as well certain of the Appropriation’s Committee. So, 

we’ll be working on that issue, too; and it’s a good moment. The 

thing I’m really interested in right now is that we get the design 

as close to right legislatively as we can, because there’s a legislative architecture that is being chewed and stewed on right now and 

we want to get that as right as we can. 

We don’t ever get them a hundred percent right, as is obvious by 

a number of some missed steps; but, hopefully, we can get those 

close to right to be really able to stimulate this and move it on forward. 

Thank you very much for appearing. The record will stay open 

for the requisite number of days. Thank you all for attending. We 

appreciate your being here. The hearing’s adjourned. 

Æ