House Committee on Science: "Committee on Science
SHERWOOD BOEHLERT, CHAIRMAN
Bart Gordon, Tennessee, Ranking DemocratPress Contacts:
Heidi Mohlman Tringe
(202) 225-4275

EXPERTS SUPPORT PRESIDENT'S SPACE PLAN, BUT CALL FOR CHANGES
WASHINGTON, March 10, 2004 - Expert witnesses before the House Science Committee today endorsed the broad outlines of the President's space exploration initiative, but called for changes and refinements in some of its elements.
Specifically, several witnesses criticized the reductions proposed in NASA's space science programs to pay for the initiative, and they urged NASA to come up with new ways to get fresh ideas into the program, including from entrepreneurs and the public. The witnesses also agreed that understanding and counteracting the effects of radiation in space on human physiology is one of the most serious hurdles to sustained human activity in space. Two of the witnesses argued that the moon might not be a sensible interim goal for the exploration initiative, but others endorsed the approach outlined in the President's plan - first the space station, then the moon and then Mars. "

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