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Capitol Comment
by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
A New Agreement for Groundbreaking Research at NASA
September 14, 2007
Since it was founded in 1958, America’s space program has been enormously successful. In addition to broadening our understanding of the universe, the research that has gone into the program has spurred innovations that have greatly improved our lives from car phones to heart monitors, from ultrasound scanners to laser surgery. Recently, NASA has begun implementing my plan to use the U.S. segment of the International Space Station (ISS) as a National Laboratory, which means that even more exciting breakthroughs can be expected in the next few years.
First, let me provide some background: The ISS is a research facility that is currently being assembled in outer space, approximately 200 miles above the Earth’s surface, while moving at over 17,000 miles per hour. If you know where to look, you can usually see the ISS late at night from your own backyard, without even using a pair of binoculars. It is scheduled to be fully completed by 2010.
The ISS provides our scientists with a unique environment where they can conduct many experiments not possible on Earth. For example, biologists can study the growth of human cells without the influence of gravity, learning details that they would not be able to detect on Earth. By seeing how fire and water behave in outer space, they have discovered better ways of spraying water to put out a fire. They also hope that their new insights into the nature of fire may lead to the development of more efficient engines here on the ground.
There have also been discussions about placing a sophisticated particle detector on the Station to learn more about cosmic rays. The planned research on cosmic rays may provide researchers with vital insights in understanding and using dark matter. As much as 70 percent of the universe is made up of dark matter, but at the present time scientists know very little about it. Those insights could directly advance our knowledge of using superconducting magnet technology for propulsion and radiation shielding; and in the long term, possibly a new source of energy.
All of this is possible because Congress has rededicated itself to shaping our nation’s space policy. In 2005, when I was Chairman of the Science and Space Subcommittee, I sponsored the first NASA authorization bill in over 5 years, which included language designating the ISS as a “National Laboratory.” My hope was that we could more fully utilize the Space Station by opening it to universities, private research projects and other government agencies. Now that hope is being realized.
This week, NASA and the National Institutes of Health signed the first of what should be several agreements to facilitate ISS research in the future. The Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense have also expressed a high degree of interest in participating.
Now, more than ever, the United States must continue its commitment to leading the world in outer space. And thanks to NASA’s outstanding work, we now have a firm foundation to plan for the full and complete use of the space station as it was always intended.
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