Priorities, plans, and progress of the nation's space program : hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, second session, March 7, 2012.

Priorities, plans, and progress of the nation's space program : hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, second session, March 7, 2012.

This past year has been a real busy one for NASA. What a monumental achievement it was to complete the construction of the Space Station, and now that crew members don't have to focus on assembly of the ISS, they are getting on with the important research up there. Remember, this was one of the things that John Glenn kept pounding over and over, as a Senator. And we just had the 50th anniversary of his Mercury flight celebration, and John was at it again, saying the same thing-research, research. Utilize that facility up there that we have. Better cancer treatment delivery systems are being developed. We have had breakthroughs in vaccine research, we have a National Laboratory on the Space Station and in this lab they have now developed the processes and the drugs, basically, that are now in their final FDA trials as a vaccine for salmonella and another drug that is in its initial FDA trials that is a vaccination for MRSA, which is the explosive bacteria that ravages so many hospitals that they find it very difficult to find drugs that can control it.

The ¿space age¿ began on Oct. 4, 1957, when the USSR launched Sputnik, the world¿s first artificial satellite. A set of fundamental factors gave importance and urgency to the advancement of space tech. These 4 factors include: the need to explore and discover; nat. defense; prestige and confidence in our S&T systems; and scientific observation and experimentation. Contents of this report: Sputnik and America¿s ¿Sputnik Moment¿; Why Was Sputnik so Influential?; Why is Sputnik Important to Today¿s Policies?; What are the Activities of Other Nations and the Commercial Sector in Space Exploration (SE)?; What is the Nation¿s Current Civilian Space Policy?; Why Invest in SE?; What is the Public¿s Attitude Toward SE? Charts and tables.

In January 2004, President Bush announced a new space policy directed at human and robotic exploration of space. The National Academies released a report at the same time that independently addressed many of the issues contained in the new policy. In June, the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy issued a report recommending that NASA ask the National Research Council (NRC) to reevaluate space science priorities to take advantage of the exploration vision. Congress also directed the NRC to conduct a thorough review of the science NASA is proposing to undertake within the initiative. This report provides an initial response to those requests. It presents guiding principles for selecting science missions that enhance and support the exploration program. The report also presents findings and recommendations to help guide NASA's space exploration strategic planning activity. Separate NRC reviews will be carried out of strategic roadmaps that NASA is developing to implement the policy.