June 28, 2005

            “I am pleased to welcome Administrator Griffin to Capitol Hill, and tell him that I am excited about the future direction of NASA,” Hall explained.  “Our ventures into space not only keep America at the forefront of exploration and innovation, but they also are vital to our economy and our national security.”

            Griffin’s plans for the space agency mirror those that President Bush laid out in a January 2004 document titled “Vision for Space Exploration”.  The Vision includes returning the Space Shuttle to flight next month and completing the International Space Station before retiring the spacecraft in 2010.  Griffin explained that he would like to speed up development of the next generation spacecraft, the Crew Exploration Vehicle, so that the United States could return to the Moon by 2020 and then venture to Mars. 

            “While Griffin outlined an ambitious agenda for NASA for the next decade, he also stressed that we should be fiscally responsible in our efforts and focus our agenda,” Hall said.  “It is important that we take a step-by-step approach to reduce budgetary strain.”

            Hall also urged the administrator to make crew safety and survivability the cornerstone of the new thrust into outer space.  “The Columbia disaster two years ago underscored the sad reality that we have not done enough to ensure crew safety,” Hall stated.  “I understand the difficulty involved in attaching or installing an escape module in any of the three existing shuttles—but I do not want to initiate any new program unless we are, at least, underway with incorporating safety mechanisms and devices into the design of the new Crew Exploration Vehicle.”