DTM Director, Sean Solomon testified before the Committee on Science of the U.S. House of Representatives, along with a group of five other experts, on April 28. The other experts offering testimony during the hearing were Alphonso Diaz, the Associate Administrator at NASA for the Science Mission Directorate; Berrien Moore, Co-Chairman of the National Research Council’s decadal survey of Earth science and applications from space, “Earth Observations from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future”; Tim Killeen, Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research; Marcia McNutt, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; and Ray Williamson, Research Professor at the Space Policy Institute of The George Washington University.

The hearing was organized in reaction to a report released early in April by the National Research Council, which concluded that reductions to NASA’s budget are seriously weakening the agency’s Earth science program, particularly in light of recent downsizing, delays, and cancellations of several Earth science missions. Dr. Solomon was asked to specifically address ways in which NASA might prioritize their missions, as well as to address the contributions that the Earth science program has made in the past and what benefits to society the program may provide in the future.

An archived webcast of the hearing, along with Dr. Solomon’s testimony and numerous supporting documents, can be found on the committee’s website by clicking here.