Click here or the image above to watch Senator Capito’s questioning.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, participated in a Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to review the president’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and for the National Science Foundation (NSF).
During the hearing, Senator Capito questioned NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan on the importance and future of West Virginia’s Green Bank Telescope (GBT). She also questioned NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on the role of the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Facility and inspiring the next generation’s interest in science through the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
HIGHLIGHTS:
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF WEST VIRGINA’S GREEN BANK TELESCOPE:
Senator Capito: “You know, I've implored previous directors to not mothball that Green Bank Telescope, and you and I talked previously, right before. The new director, Dr. James Jackson, started a few years ago. I just think we ought to talk about and tell everybody about the possibilities the promise of radar systems in the area of planetary defense. The National Academy of Sciences has written of the dangerous effects of Near Earth Objects. What role do you believe radio astronomy, and specifically Green Bank, which is the largest fully-steerable telescope in the world, located in West Virginia, what role do you see there? Where do you see the future?”
Director Panchanathan: “GBT is a tremendous asset. You know, just to put this in perspective…GBT continues to be the cutting-edge resource that we have got for advancing science. As you know, that was part of the reduction of the gravitational waves, and so it's now 23 years old. And, Senator, I was just talking to you just before the hearing that we are working on making sure that is maintained well, so we’re constantly investing in ensuring that it's maintained well. It’s also being integrated into the next generation of radio astronomy that you talked about, the [National] Radio Astronomy Observatory, including planetary defense objectives and so on. It is an integral part of the planning of what we do with the next generation Very Large Array, the ngVLA program.”
Senator Capito: “I look forward to working with you on that and I am working to set up that visit to that beautiful part of our state.”
Director Panchanathan: “I would love to come with you.”
ON THE ROLE OF IV&V AND EPSCOR TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENCE LEADERS:
Senator Capito: “We have the IV&V center in West Virginia, which is critical to every NASA mission. But we also have the EPSCoR program that is important to institutions like our West Virginia University and others – Marshall, I do believe. Where do you see EPSCoR in terms of growing and being able to get more and younger people interested in science, particularly young women and more diverse populations?”
Administrator Nelson: “We take it very seriously. We are making a direct effort beyond EPSCoR, in order to get our space grants out to parts of the country that you may not think would be the recipients of space research grants. For example, the rural parts of the country. And this is all a part of our trying to be very inclusive with how we spend our research and development money.”
Senator Capito: “Those are essential dollars, particularly in rural America, as you said. Let's go to the IV&V center that does all the verifications. And I don't know that I've been briefed on this, or maybe you can you can help me with this, but what kind of coordination you have with the private sector at IV&V? Obviously, it's not – the verifications are not all researched by or are all performed by NASA – or some of them are contractors. Can you talk about the public private partnership there?”
Administrator Nelson: “Yes, there are 60 direct civil servants, matched with 364 contractors, and that's what we're doing. The economic effect is – extends beyond that into 700 jobs.”
Senator Capito: “Right, and I will say too, they do internships and cooperative arrangements with Fairmont, but also West Virginia University and whoever's in there surrounding area, again to spur the next generation workforce onto this.”
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