Suzanne Bonamici Asks Bill Nelson How Congress Can Support NASA’s Work On ‘Sustainable Aviation’

4 months ago

During a House Science, Space & Technology Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) questioned NASA Administrator Bill Nelson about NASA’s climate & earth science research and sustainable aviation.

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Transcript

00:00 >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman and

00:02 Ranking Member.

00:03 Thank you for being here,

00:04 Administrator Nelson.

00:05 Nice to see you.

00:06 Welcome back to the committee.

00:08 I thank you also for focusing

00:10 your testimony on the many ways

00:12 that NASA benefits America.

00:14 And one of those examples in

00:15 your testimony is NASA's climate

00:17 and earth science research,

00:19 which we know is so essential to

00:21 the health of the planet and

00:23 really strengthening resilience

00:24 in our communities and

00:25 ecosystems.

00:26 And I thank you for your

00:27 testimony.

00:28 Those NASA satellites are so

00:30 critical with giving

00:32 researchers the data they need

00:34 to monitor and forecast extreme

00:36 weather events, climate events.

00:38 And we know the data also

00:40 provides wonderful educational

00:42 opportunities to inspire the

00:44 next generation of scientists

00:46 and engage them, engage the

00:48 public.

00:49 And also thank you for the new

00:51 earth information center at

00:53 your headquarters here in

00:54 Washington, D.C., helping with

00:56 that critical piece of science

00:58 improving science communication.

01:00 So you stated in your testimony

01:02 that much of what we know about

01:04 our changing planet is rooted

01:06 in NASA's more than 40 years of

01:08 earth observations.

01:10 And the suite of satellite

01:12 resources supports that earth

01:13 science mission and the

01:15 scientific community by

01:16 providing an access of a

01:18 variety of measurement data,

01:20 air quality, emissions, ocean

01:21 chemistry, surface biology,

01:23 just to name a few.

01:24 And I'm especially excited

01:25 about the contributions of the

01:27 recently launched PACE

01:29 satellite, plankton aerosol

01:31 cloud ocean ecosystem, PACE

01:33 satellite, to improve

01:35 understanding of ocean health.

01:37 So NASA's budget for fiscal

01:39 year 2025 proposes to

01:41 restructure the earth science

01:43 observatory program by breaking

01:45 missions into smaller elements.

01:47 So I wonder how did NASA arrive

01:49 at this new strategy and what

01:51 effects could this change have

01:52 on NASA's long-term earth

01:54 measurements and climate

01:55 research?

01:56 >> Our strategy is to

01:58 understand very specifically

02:00 exactly what is happening to

02:02 our earth and its climate.

02:06 We have about two dozen

02:10 spacecraft up there now that

02:12 are bringing us various pieces

02:17 of technical information.

02:20 And we are pulling this

02:22 together in a composite 3D

02:26 understanding precisely what is

02:29 happening.

02:30 You mentioned one that was

02:32 more recently, the PACE.

02:36 PACE is able to look at

02:40 plankton and we're able to

02:43 trace it in the ocean like we've

02:45 never been.

02:48 The A in there is aerosols,

02:51 which clearly has an effect

02:53 upon our climate.

02:56 We had another one, EMET.

02:59 This is a spacecraft.

03:01 It was supposed to just look at

03:04 dust storms and how that was

03:06 affecting the climate.

03:08 Low and behold, we got a big

03:10 byproduct from it.

03:12 It could identify methane

03:15 emissions, very specific

03:18 emissions so that we could go

03:21 and try to stop those or in the

03:23 case that it might be an

03:25 industry, the industry might

03:27 not know that it had methane

03:29 emissions.

03:30 >> I want to get another

03:32 question.

03:33 I certainly don't question the

03:34 value of the program.

03:35 I just want to watch how the

03:37 change in the budget in this

03:39 new strategy will affect it.

03:41 You also talk about the work

03:43 that NASA is doing to

03:45 decarbonize the aviation

03:47 industry.

03:48 You talk about the

03:49 sustainable flight national

03:51 partnership, supports projects

03:52 to increase aircraft fuel

03:54 efficiency, for example, and

03:56 invest in electrified

03:57 propulsion research could

03:59 significantly reduce aircraft

04:01 greenhouse gas emissions.

04:03 Considering numerous delays and

04:04 cost overruns, what steps is

04:06 NASA taking to see these

04:07 projects through to completion

04:09 and how can Congress support

04:10 that work that NASA is doing on

04:12 sustainable aviation?

04:14 >> Well, I think there's a

04:16 significant amount of work

04:18 underway.

04:19 There's a joint project that we

04:21 invested upwards of $600,

04:23 $700 million in a joint project

04:25 with Boeing on producing a

04:28 mid-range single-aisle

04:31 transport aircraft that will

04:34 reduce fuel consumption by 30%.

04:38 That project is underway.

04:40 And that will be substantial.

04:43 It's the most heavily trafficked

04:45 commercial airliner.

04:46 If you can save 30% of fuel by

04:49 a different design of the wing,

04:51 a high wing that's long and

04:53 thin, and therefore being high

04:56 can support higher, bigger fan

05:00 jets, you can get 30%

05:03 combination between the engine

05:05 and the wing.

05:07 That's a substantial effort.

05:09 We started on electric

05:11 aircraft, but that's been

05:13 overtaken by industry.

05:15 So you're going to see a lot of

05:19 industry coming out with

05:22 electric-powered aircraft.

05:25 All of this is to do exactly

05:28 what the goal is that you stated

05:30 very eloquently, and that is the

05:34 word is sustainable.

05:36 I call it save energy in flying.

05:39 My time has expired. I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Suzanne Bonamici Asks Bill Nelson How Congress Can Support NASA’s Work On ‘Sustainable Aviation’

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