Thank you, mister chairman. Let me introduce our witnesses. First witness today is Mister William gerstenmaier, associate administrator at nasa. William gerstenmaier began his nasa career in 1977 performing Aeronautical Research and he has managed nasas human spaceflight portfolio since 2011, received a bachelors of science aeronautical engineering from Purdue University and a masters of science in Mechanical Engineering from university of toledo. Our second witness today is Sandra Sandra magnus, executive director of astronautics. In addition to her role there, Sandra Magnus is a former and nasa astronaut and prior to that worked as a practicing engineer in the aerospace industry. Sandra magnus received a degree in physics as well as a masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Missouri University of science and technology. She also earned a phd from the school of material science and engineering at georgia tech and now recognize William Gerstenmaier for five minutes to present his testimony. We are living in an amazing time in human spaceflight business and our International Partners have crewmembers living aboard the International Space station for more than 17 consecutive years. Most High School Students today have only known a time when humans are living and working in space. We are using the space station to expose the Broader Community beyond the Current Space industry to the benefits of using microgravity as an environment to develop new system for techniques and use on the earth, these researchers have never seen the benefits of space through the product and processes, the space station is becoming a place for business to expand, grow and gain competitive advantage over companies not doing research in space. Justice having crews in space is accepted, business operating in space will become normal and acceptable. Nasa has bought services from two company that is adding a third for the process of acquiring services certifying two new systems to transport crews to the International Space station and manufacturing and certifying assistance. Partners in low earth orbit are building strong commercial space industry and allows us to focus on deep Space Exploration. Which brings us to the subject of todays hearing, exploration systems development. The space launch system rocket, the orion deep space counseling European Service module and ground programs undergoing manufacturing and certification in preparation for their first integrated flight. There is more human spaceflight hardware in production today than at any time in the United States since apollo. As a nation we are Building Three different crew vehicles, or ryan, star liner and dragon, one for deep space, two for low earth orbit. Getting to this point was that easy and there are still challenges but we all need to pause and reflect on this amazing time. As we pursue human exploration further into the solar system, our exploration teams are building more than a rocket and a spacecraft for a single flight. We are building a flexible, sustainable system that will be used for decades to come. With this approach we can incrementally upgrade and enhance our exploration systems to accomplish a variety of missions, crewed and on crude in the face and we are building a System Design with modern manufacturing techniques for lower production costs than previous designs. The work performed in support of sls and orion has applications to other programs in aerospace, for example hundreds of requests for information have been transferred from orion to the commercial spacecraft in development for low earth orbit. We work on self reaction frictions through welding developed for sls will have application beyond as well as 2 other launch vehicles in development. It is the proper role of government to develop capabilities for use by all. Hardware to support the multiple flights was developed, three orion crew models, one structural test article, one flowing during exploration flight test one and current flight article have all been billed for orion, four major testbeds of been completed at marshall, the engines testing, structural testing completed and marshall, the vertical is that we building at ksc, the launchpad is nearing completion. All rs 25 engines and controllers are ready for flight, 17 parachute Development Tests are complete, four qualification parachute tests are complete with four more open. Data from these parachutists are helping commercial crew partners with their tests also. The amount of work completed today for the deep Space Exploration systems is large and documented in my written testimony. Further, this Government Investment in sls and orion is benefiting all. We need to be careful and not focus on a single launch date projection but rather take time to examine quality, quantity and future benefit of the work completed. This examination will reveal the value of the work completed to the nation. Nasa has carefully reviewed the work remaining to launch including certification and while this review shows a launch date of june 2020 as possible, the agency has chosen to manager december 2019 lunch. This earlier launch date is reasonable and challenges teams to stay focused on tasks without creating undue pressure. Furthermore nasa is taking additional steps to reduce schedule risk for both known and unknown issues and protect for the earliest possible launch date. The cost for em one even with the june date remain with the 15 limit for sls and slightly above ground systems operations. Exploration mission 2 orion cost and schedule and not adversely affected by the m1 schedule and as discussed earlier the work completed by sls orion shows outstanding progress, welcome your questions and thank you for this opportunity to discuss the amazing work accomplished by the men and women of nasa and the contractor partner teams, thank you. Now i recognize doctor magnus for five minutes for testimony. Distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to address you today. The Development System of the space launch system and orion crew vehicle are major milestones for the nations Space Program and i do not understate their importance but i would like to address the larger view related to the current Human Spaceflight Program and its progress and direction. The idea of what is possible in space has been in transition over the last decade when talking with the public i use a model to describe the ecosystem that is todays Human Spaceflight Program. I refer you to the figure on the tv monitor and have you imagine a bubble or balloon centered on the earth will be expanding, that expanding surface represents the expansion of human activities since the apollo era for the last 40 years, the surface of that bubble has expanded only to low earth orbit in an initial phase and this remains. During this period the government was the driving force behind the expansion of human activity in space and is led to Human Technology and management operations in this environment, private industry is interested in engaging in this open space. As commercial activities matured create the foundation on which can expand beyond low earth orbit. Expansion will be driven by government and investments. And in low earth orbit nasa and the Government Free to develop beyond in lunar space. Two key questions, what are the technology, knowledge and experiences the government wants to have available for broad dissemination to industries 50 years from now and what are the capabilities and Services Government and private industry driven by their own motives are interested in developing can sustain viable spacebased businesses after leveraging initial Government Investment. The core concept inherent in the model and underscored by these questions is there is a need for Government Investment at the leading edge of exploration during the initial phase and the fact that industry will sooner or later we the benefit of that Government Investment to create and establish new capabilities in the development phase. I might comment the normalization phase we are not ready for yet in human spaceflight but we see that happening over the last decade and a satellite industry where there are independent economic spheres active with the government as a customer, the government still does its own or its own purposes so you can add that with a twisty human spaceflight, not ready for that space yet. This is a dynamic unfolding in human spaceflight as i mentioned. The model i discussed is a powerful one and if it is employed strategically, it brings me to the important point and this is one you have heard many times and i dont think you disagree, the United States needs a comprehensive National Space strategy. It is imperative we commit as a nation with continuity of purpose for the longterm. It is the nature of the Space Business that takes time, patience to make advancements, the National Space council provides an opportunity to create this integrated approach. A committed longterm strategy is necessary but not enough to ensure the success of the us Space Program. To be effective sufficient resources need to be allocated to implement the plan. This is challenged nasa in the past and continues today. When i joined the agency in 1996 nasa received 7 10 of a penny for every dollar. Today the agency receives 5 10 of a penny for every tax dollar. This despite the fact the number, breadth and complexity of programs has increased. Fundamentally nasa is constrained by limits to control on the expense side of the budget and limited freedom to adjust over either facilities also workforce and in some cases management around the agency. To execute a longterm strategic us Space Program in a constrained budget environment nasa must be given the ability to make decisions and take action in these areas. Equally important to the adequate resources, developing space hardware is complex and challenging as you heard today. The program can absorb more engineering decisions knowing the result will be lower operational costs at net savings. The current budgeting process and lack of stable budgetary environment permits this brand of approach to be used. The transition that is occurring for how humans engage in space is a goal for decades lose our nation was built on exploration, expansion and Economic Development from the arrival of the first immigrants and settlers to westward expansion across the continent, we have faced challenges, forged new paths can come to new obstacles, as we expand into space im confident we can tap into the same spirit and energy. Thank you for the opportunity to address this body and your continued support for our nations Space Program. I look forward to any questions you may have. I now recognize, i appreciate the witnesss testimony. The chair recognizes himself are questions. I want to thank you both. I was running late this morning it didnt have a chance to see you before the hearing started so great to have you here. One of the primary purposes of the nasa transition authorization act of 2017 was continuity of purpose. Expressing the importance of staying the course on Program Development so as not to delay american Space Exploration any longer. Can each of you discuss continuity of purpose and how you balance that against good Program Management and discipline . We start with William Gerstenmaier. It is important we have a common vision of what we are doing as we move forward so we can build hardware and systems to support that vision and we have done that with sls and orion. We build a system that allows us to move human presence into the solar system so the orion capsule has applications around the moon, can support activities on the moon, litter activities, it can also support Development Beyond the earth moon system, same with sls, the rocket is designed to be a heavylift launch capability, it can support Human Missions around the moon and to be critical for Mars Missions and can serve a strong role for science victory like the euro but mission, reduce transit time by 50 to the outer planets so we have tried to build pieces of key infrastructure that enables the vision and allows us to fit within this architecture and framework we have been given but keeping constancy of purpose or general direction moving forward is extremely important to us. Starting and stopping is very difficult in our industry. Sandra magnus. I would like to echo that, starting and stopping in our industry is not healthy. We saw that with the end of the Shuttle Program when we lost a lot of our corporate knowledge, we will see that when we start launching again, we will have to relearn the lessons we already learned for the continuity is important. As a nation we have a short Attention Span and we hurt ourselves. There were a lot of programs nasa had to cancel over the years. In the apollo era the dedication and commitment over a decade and longer to commit and execute the program is what you need in the human spaceflight, you need a 10 year, 15 year, 20 her program and stick to it. It is exciting is that the committee is interested in this topic, the oversight is important to keep people focused, that is an important key as well, it takes the whole community but you have to be able to stick to this program and funds it appropriately so Intelligent Decisions can be made to do the trade off. Thank you very much. Delay in the first launch of an uncrude space launch system until no earlier than december 2019 impact the scheduled launch date of a crude launch sls, nasas internal date is managing as well as a date it has formally committed to. Either of these dates now change . In terms of Exploration Mission two, so far the scheduled delays even if Exploration Mission one went all the way to june it doesnt really impacts where we are with em 2. Theres a constrained the mobile launch platform in florida, the facility the rocket launches off of needs to be modified between the first flight and the second flight to allow the exploration upper stage and theres a 33 month amount of time needed for that upgrade of the mobile launch so that keeps em one and em 2 tied together but now the slips we have seen dont impact where we can launch the first crude flight at this point but we need to be careful, watch for that and potentially discuss if it is advantageous to have another mobile launch are available to avoid the tie between em one in 2 but that is the current thinking. Anything to add to that . How will a slip in the first launch impact the cost of the program . Surprising to some that the overall cost hasnt changed that much. What we have done is we are building more than one single flight. As work is completed on the first launch and the first flight the network completed that flight to be set to the side and the teams can start working on the next element so in fact you have multiple pieces of hardware inflow for the multiple missions. Okay. How will a delay in the first on crude launch of the space launch System Impact a potential launch for the Europa Mission . There is no impact, we can support whatever the Science Mission director needs for that mission, whether it occurs after the first or second flight to meet their needs. I have several more questions but we will go on to the gentleman from california. Sandra magnus come in your Opening Statement you talked about the importance of a Strategic Vision over a long period and we stopped that when president kennedy challenged us in the 1960s to the man on the moon. My colleague from colorado probably does have a sticker that says mars by 2033. We ought to commit to putting a woman on mars by 2033. It does give the public a sense of what we are working towards. That perspective, thinking about sls and orion, the Lunar Mission etc. Gives us a chance to think about it in the context of if we are going to the moon how to that help us think about how we are going to take the next step. In that context, thinking about em one in the context of going to deeper space. I am sensing as we do the em one mission we are learning a lot, reestablishing supply chains, reestablishing the work force and talent base that will make em 2 easier. Is that correct . Definitely. The first em one flight is the test of the vehicle and systems and hardware to make sur