WASHINGTON — NASA needs to invest in a clear plan for the future and to advance human spaceflight if the U.S. wants to remain competitive globally, according to a panel testifying before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology on Thursday.
Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander and the first man on the moon, testified before the House of Representatives on Thursday for the first time since the Space Shuttle Program ended earlier this year.
Led by Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan, the first and last men on the moon with Apollo 11 in 1969 and Apollo 17 in 1972, respectively, the panel stressed that insufficient resources and lack of direction is a concern.
“The absence of a master plan that is understood and supported by government, industry, academia and society as a whole frustrates everyone,” Armstrong said.
That plan should involve human exploration, starting with returning Americans to the moon, according to Cernan, University of Alabama in Huntsville professor and Eminent Scholar Michael Griffin and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Maria Zuber.
NASA’s current plans to develop a multi-purpose crew vehicle and space launch system “represents the minimum possible investment in rebuilding the capability needed to begin the establishment of a permanent human presence beyond Earth Orbit,” said Griffin, NASA’s administrator from 2005 to 2009.
Griffin said the U.S. can’t afford not to put more effort and money back into the space program.
“If the U.S. fails to lead in space, it is unimaginable to me that we will remain a leader on Earth,” he said. “The cost of that is far higher than the NASA budget many times over.”
Cernan called the space program an investment in the future of America and criticized the Administration’s “pledge to mediocrity” with current policy limiting space exploration.
“It’s not just about space, it’s about the country,” Cernan said.
To reignite the space program and keep the U.S. at the top, Cernan said the first step is just to get humans back into space. Once the country shows it’s still in the race, then a long-term program can be put together.
“Lewis and Clark didn’t send an empty canoe up the river,” he said.
Committee member Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said he hopes that NASA will be able to resume the traditional role of operating a manned spaceflight system.
“We’re going to keep the pressure on, do the best we can and keep us going in the right direction,” he said. “To get back to what we’ve done so well — building rockets, putting people into space and expanding the human horizon.”
Returning to these values is important for Huntsville and the Marshall Space Flight Center, he said, where rocket development is key.
“If NASA is to have a future, large rockets are part of it, and that’s going to be done in Huntsville, if it’s going to be done at all,” Griffin said.