Aerospace Commission Hears Testimony From Elliot Pulham and Martin Kress. Elliot Pulham, President and CEO of the Space Foundation, and Martin Kress, VP of AIAA Public Policy Committee, appeared yesterday before the U.S. Commission on the Future of the Aerospace Industry in Washington DC. Pulham's comments centered around 'Space and the Work Force of the Future', wherein he outlined the major challenges: 1) The loss of critical skills; 2) The graying of the work force; 3) A shallow pool of college graduates from which to recruit; 4) The cultural and financial inability of aerospace companies to compete for college graduates; 5) The general perception of space and aerospace as a boring, callous, 'rust belt' place to work. Pulham goes further to state that the biggest crisis facing the industry is the shallow pool of technically skilled domestic college graduates. Of particular concern to the Space Foundation is the K-12 pipeline, which is hampered by poor pay and work conditions for teachers. The unintended negative impact of politically mandated testing schemes is that there has been a regressive paradigm shift in education. Pulham adds, "... math and science education is becoming a casualty as entire school systems and states focus on point testing for other skills." He called on the Commission to strongly recommend action aimed at meaningful, systemic education reform. Kress' testimony focused on a vision for 2015 based on the assumption that there will be a significantly increased awareness of the value of work done in aerospace; more college students in aerospace-related fields of study; greater commitment to long-term science, technology, engineering programs; and adequate investments being made. Kress painted a picture of vigorous space activity that included operations of a lunar interferometer gathering its first complete data set of the Orion region, which is 1,500 light years away from Earth. Demand for on-orbit research is so great that the first of two lab sections for a second industrially funded space station is on the launch pad at KSC. Dick Rutan successfully flew the replacement vehicle for the Space Shuttle. Info Elliot Pulham, elliot@spacefoundation.org; Martin Kress, kressm@battelle.org.

A Call for Humans to Mars. Describing it as "visionary" space legislation U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson (D- TX, ww.house.gov/lampson) introduced the Space Exploration Act of 2002 yesterday afternoon at a press briefing in the House Triangle. According to the press announcement "the intent of the Space Exploration Act of 2002 is to provide a vision and a concrete set of goals for the nation's human space flight program after the ISS. This legislation sets forth specific incremental goals that are challenging, exciting and that build capabilities and infrastructure needed for an ultimate human mission to Mars." Another supporter of a humans-to-Mars program is Senate Space Subcommittee chair Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR, www.senate.gov/~wyden/) who noted at the 10 May NASA budget hearing that "NASA should set the goal of putting a person on Mars and work with Congress to set a date to do it." Says Mars Society President Robert Zubrin, "Senator Wyden's call for NASA to embrace humans-to-Mars represents the increasing realization among important political figures that NASA needs an over-arching goal, and that goal can only be sending humans to Mars." While lunar advocates might disagree that Mars should be the priority destination as opposed to the Moon, all space advocates agree that NASA must remain goal-oriented if the agency is to continue to thrive. In other Mars news, Leonard David of space.com updates the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), which is exciting scientists with the possibility that it may harbor active volcanoes. THEMIS is revealing Mars's surface to be much more varied than previously thought. "I see Mars as a far more active, interesting place than I thought it was 6 months ago, " said Principal Investigator Philip Christensen of Arizona State University. Info: www.marssociety.org.

Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan to Speak at Kurt Debus Award Ceremony. Moon walker Gene Cernan, a veteran of three spaceflights that included command of Apollo 17, the last lunar landing mission, will be the featured speaker at this year's Kurt Debus Award Dinner sponsored by the National Space Club Florida Committee Friday, 17 May, according to National Space Club Florida's news release. The event will take place at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, beginning with a reception at 18:30 EDT, followed by the black tie-optional dinner ceremony at 19:30. Cernan will speak at 21:00 or so. Named for the Kennedy Space Center's first Director, Dr. Kurt H. Debus, the award was created in 1990 to recognize significant achievements and contributions made in Florida to the American aerospace effort. Rick Abramson, President and Chief Operating Officer of Delaware North Parks Services of Spaceport, Inc., will be honored as this year's winner. Abramson is being recognized for his outstanding personal and professional efforts in supporting the U.S. space program by helping to educate and inspire the millions of guests who visit the Kennedy Space Center each year. Both Cernan and Abramson will be available for media interviews. More than 300 guests, including the Space Coast's top aerospace leaders, are expected to attend this sold-out event. For more information visit http://nationalspaceclubflorida.org.