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The President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond, chaired by Edward C. "Pete" Aldridge, will hold its second public hearing in the soon-to-be-completed Missile Gallery of the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, on March 3 and 4, 2004.
The first day of testimony will begin at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, and continue until 5:00 p.m. that evening. On Thursday, the hearing will reconvene at 9:00 a.m. and adjourn at 4:00 p.m. From 3:30 to 4:00 p.m., audience comments will be addressed. And at 4:15 p.m., a news conference will be held.
To date, public response to the Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond -- as measured by "hits" and responses to the website -- has been significant. As of February 17, over 1.3 million people logged on to the site, and almost 4,000 emailed their comments. A health care consultant from Pennsylvania said: "I no longer dream of personally leaving this earth as I once did as a child, youth, but can only hope our children will have this opportunity."
Chairman Aldridge strongly encourages public comment: "I want to be sure the American taxpayer, the one who pays the bill, is part of the process," he said. Everyone interested in commenting on the work of the Commission and U.S. Space Exploration Policy should log on to www.moontomars.org.
The President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy (Moon, Mars and Beyond) is charged with providing recommendations to the President regarding moon research activities, increasing young people’s interest in space science, and bringing in industry and other countries as space partners.