The full House Science Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday morning (10am, Rayburn 2318) on “Options for Hubble Science”. The witness list currently stands as follows:
- Dr. Lou Lanzerotti, Chair, Committee on the Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope, National Academy of Sciences;
- Dr. Steve Beckwith, Director, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD;
- Dr. Colin Norman, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University;
- Dr. Joseph H. Taylor, Jr., James S. McDonnell, Distinguished University Professor of Physics, Princeton University;
- Mr. Gary Pulliam, Vice President, Aerospace Corporation; and
- Dr. Paul Cooper, General Manager, MD Robotics.
A notable omission is any representative from NASA. This is not surprising: the agency doesn’t want to be forced to tip its hand (and face stiff questioning about it) in advance of its February 7 budget release, allowing NASA to describe its plans for Hubble on its own terms.