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 ... 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.

Event runs 03/03/04 -03/04/04

Location: U.S. Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH, US

For More Info: http://www.moontomars.org/

Media are invited to attend a briefing for industry representatives by managers from NASA's new Office of Exploration Systems (Code T) on Wednesday, March 3, 2004, beginning at 10:00 a.m. EST.

The briefing will be in the NASA Headquarters James Webb auditorium, 300 E Street SW, Washington. Reporters attending the briefing will have an opportunity to ask questions at the conclusion of the briefing.

NASA's Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Craig Steidle and his staff will brief. They will explain the organizational structure and management priorities established to achieve the exploration goals in human and robotic technology and transportation systems in NASA's Vision for Space Exploration.

The presentations will be restricted to the concept of operations governing Code T activities. Specific status about on-going or contemplated contract actions will not be discussed. Charts from the presentations will be available on the NASA Web site prior to the briefing.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

Location: NASA Headquarters - 300 E Street SW, Washington, DC

For More Info: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html