Science & Technology Chairmen React to NASA Report on ISS National Laboratory
(Washington, DC) Today, NASA issued a report to Congress on the planned use of the U.S. portion of the International Space Station (ISS) as a national laboratory.
U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Chairman Mark Udall (D-CO) issued the following reactions to NASA’s Report to Congress on the ISS:
Chairman Gordon: “The nation has invested a great deal in the development of the International Space Station, and it clearly is in America’s interest that we get a meaningful return on our investment in this unique and potentially highly productive orbital facility. Thus, we need to make sure that NASA commits the resources and attention required to effectively utilize the ISS in the years ahead. Beyond that, I want to encourage NASA to continue to pursue arrangements that will permit other federal agencies, as well as the private sector, to make good use of the ISS. The ISS National Laboratory report delivered to Congress should be considered just the first step in that effort.”
Chairman Udall: “The International Space Station has the potential to benefit both NASA’s future exploration missions as well as to help address terrestrial needs. However, realizing that potential will require NASA’s commitment to ensuring that the ISS is adequately maintained, supported, and utilized once it has been assembled. It will also require NASA to reach out to other potential users and to work with them in ways that enable the public and private sectors to make cost-effective, productive use of the Station. NASA’s ISS National Laboratory report indicates that there are some promising opportunities on the latter front, and we will be following NASA’s progress closely in the months ahead.”
The NASA report to Congress can be found here.
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