Wednesday, Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) voted in favor of the Space Subcommittee passage of H.R. 5666, the “National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2020.”
The act includes an amendment authored by Brooks to ensure competition and flexibility for NASA’s choosing an integrated crewed Mars landing/assent system design.
“I thank my Space Subcommittee colleagues who supported my amendment to the NASA reauthorization that ensures competition and flexibility for NASA in choosing an integrated crewed Mars landing/assent system design,” Brooks explained. “The policy experts at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center analyzed the text of the bill and determined more than two designs would be best. I’m glad this win for Marshall passed and is included in the bill as it heads to full committee debate.”
Brooks is the number two in seniority Republican on the Space Subcommittee.
“NASA needs direction and support from Congress to achieve mission success,” Brooks said. “I’m pleased the Space Subcommittee today took an important step toward providing that direction and support by passing a bipartisan NASA reauthorization bill. This is not a perfect bill. There are good and bad parts. Nonetheless, I supported the bill with my vote today and look forward to improving this bill throughout the legislative process.”
“This NASA reauthorization bill enhances America’s space exploration programs by: embracing the Artemis Moon and Mars exploration program while setting a 2033 date for human orbit of Mars; strengthening the Space Launch System program, much of which is done at the Tennessee Valley’s Marshall Space Flight Center; recognizing the importance of heliophysics research to understanding space weather; continuing NASA’s thermonuclear propulsion development; and, commissioning an interagency assessment of China’s space exploration capabilities and threats posed by China to America’s space assets.”
Brooks amendment reads, “to the extent funding permits, the administrator shall maintain two competing integrated crewed Mars landing assent system design concepts through the critical design review milestone at which point the administrator shall make a selection of the system to be utilized in the first human Mars landing mission.”
“I believe that it is probably best to allow the administrator to have two or more and as such this amendment adds the phrasing “at least” in front of the word “two”, Brooks said. “I believe in competition, I believe in the diversity of ideas, and the more ideas, quite frankly that are presented to the administrator, the better the chance that we have a good one that will work.”
The bill passed the subcommittee by voice vote.
H.R. 5666 will next be marked-up by the full House Science, Space, and Technology Committee before proceeding to House Floor consideration.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is in Huntsville. NASA and its contractors are major employers in the Fifth Congressional District. The Space Launch System will carry Artemis to the moon and on to Mars.
Mo Brooks is in his fifth term representing Alabama’s Fifth Congressional District. Brooks is number two in seniority amongst Space Subcommittee Republicans.
