President's Commission on
Moon, Mars and Beyond

Representatives from the European Space Agency, Arianespace, Canada and Japan will appear as witnesses before the President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond in a public hearing to be held in New York City, May 3 and 4, 2004. Popular space organizations such as the Planetary Society, National Space Society and Federation of Galaxy Explorers will also be represented – along with "big picture" media spokesmen from IMAX, PARADE and Aviation Week. The final segment of the hearing will be devoted to public deliberation by the Commission members. The hearing will take place at the Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, New York, New York.

An International Partnerships panel will lead off the testimonies, which begin at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, May 3. The second panel of the day, titled "Lunar and Other Science" will feature Dr. Tony Tether, DARPA; Stu Nozette, NASA; and Professor John Delano of the SUNY University at Albany. A panel called "Space to the People," featuring grass roots space organizations, will complete the first day of testimony.

On Tuesday, May 4, the hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m. with testimony from a BOEING representative who will discuss sustainability and management. The presentation at 10:00 a.m. will focus on astrophysics and feature Catherine Pilachowski, William Smith and David Spergel. Addressing the theme of "Prosperity and Competitiveness," SpaceVest CEO John Higginbotham, Morgan Stanley analyst Miles Walton, and Princeton Synergetics President Joel Greenberg will speak at 11:00. At 1:00 p.m., a "Big Picture" media panel will testify, and at 2:15 NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe will make his comments to the Commission. From 3:00 until 3:30, members of the audience will be invited to comment, and a press conference will be held at 3:45.

At 4:30 the Commissioners will engage in public deliberation about their findings and recommendations for the report that is due at the White House in early June. While audience members are welcome to observe, there will be no opportunity at this time for questions.

The President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy (Moon, Mars and Beyond) is charged with building consensus, 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.