For all the talk about a rapid confirmation of Charles Bolden and Lori Garver to be NASA administrator and deputy administrator, it’s a bit ironic that Wednesday’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee started late. A recess plus an “executive session” to deal with several bills that lasted much longer than the scheduled 10 minutes meant that the hearing started about an hour late. Moreover, while Bolden and Garver were scheduled to be the first to appear, they had to wait for a long line of members of Congress and others to provide statements endorsing all the nominees under consideration, not just Bolden and Garver. There was also the added schedule pressure of a 4 pm meeting on health care that some committee members, including chairman Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV), had to attend.
Given all that, the hearing got off on a sightly awkward footing. Rather than allowing Bolden and Garver to give their opening statements, Rockefeller launched immediately into questions. “Obviously your backgrounds are fantastic, and there’s no question you’re the right people for the jobs,” he said, then noted that we’re on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, and mentioned a discussion he had once with Sen. Bill Nelson. “I questioned, did NASA really have a future? People refer to what has been done, very few refer to what might be done… If we’re going to do NASA, it’s going to be done right.” He continued: “I need bolstering on NASA, personally, I need bolstering. I wonder what specific proposals… what do you propose to do to take what was the inspiration of the nation, which it’s not today, the inspiration of the nation… what do you plan to do to change this posture?”
Bolden and Garver then attempted to respond to the question by going through their opening statements. Bolden in particular cited four challenges “if we choose to lead” in space:
- “Build upon our investment” in the International Space Station and “safely and efficiently” fly out the remaining shuttle missions;
- “Accelerate with a sense of urgency” the development of the next-generation of launch systems [not mentioning Ares, Orion, or Constellation by name] to support human space exploration;
- Enhance NASA’s “credible scientific, technological, and engineering leadership” to better understand the Earth’s environment;
- “Inspire a rising generation” to focus on careers in science, technology, engineering, and math and “making NASA programs relevant to the American public.”
Those answers, though, weren’t sufficient for Rockefeller. “I characterized NASA as adrift,” he said, and pressed them for more details on how they would cope with this. Bolden and Garver then responded with their discussion of concerns about technology development, inspiring youth, observing and understanding the Earth. “The nation has to decide where it wants to go,” Bolden said. “I think it’s beyond low Earth orbit, but we also have to look inward.”
The rest of the hearing went pretty smoothly: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) asked about the role of the ISS (noting that we have invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” building it), while Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) brought up the Augustine committee’s work and the fact that NASA had been “starved for funds” for the last decade. Finally, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) brought up a local issue, NASA’s use of White Sands, and that was it.
One thing that struck me listening to the hearing is that both Bolden and Garver, on multiple occasions, mentioned commercial and entrepreneurial ventures, both as something NASA can enable and as something that can help NASA carry out its mission. “The International Space Station represents what I like to call a bridge to exploration beyond low Earth orbit,” Bolden said in response to Sen. Hutchison. “It is the way that we will allow commercial ventures, entrepreneurial ventures, to have a place where they can seek to go to carry cargo, and one of these days, maybe even carry crew.” And in his opening statement: “I dream of a day when any American can launch into space and see the magnificence and grandeur of our home planet Earth, as I have been blessed to do.”
The hearing adjourned without taking any action on the nominations, although it’s clear it’s a matter of when, not if, they’ll be confirmed. The unofficial goal widely discussed is to have them confirmed in time for the Apollo 11 40th anniversary celebrations, but those begin in just over a week. It’s worth noting that a press release issued earlier this week by NASA about a roundtable discussion on the history and legacy of Apollo notes that event will include remarks by acting administrator Chris Scolese.
