Res Communis

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The Federation of American Scientists has made the House Committee on Science and Technology Hearing on Impacts of U.S. Export Control Policies on Science and Technology Activities and Competitiveness available. The contents include:

C O N T E N T S
February 25, 2009

Witness List ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Hearing Charter ………………………………………………………………………………………… 3

Opening Statements
Statement by Representative Bart Gordon, Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ……………………………………….. 22
Written Statement ……………………………………………………………………………….. 23
Statement by Representative Ralph M. Hall, Minority Ranking Member, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ……… 24
Written Statement ……………………………………………………………………………….. 25
Prepared Statement by Representative Jerry F. Costello, Member, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ……………………….. 28
Prepared Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Member, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives …………….. 28
Prepared Statement by Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Member, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives …………….. 29
Prepared Statement by Representative Harry E. Mitchell, Member, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives …………….. 29
Statement by Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Member, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ……………………………. 26
Written Statement ……………………………………………………………………………….. 27

Witnesses:
Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft (USAF, Ret.), President and Founder, The Scowcroft Group
Oral Statement ……………………………………………………………………………………. 30
Written Statement ……………………………………………………………………………….. 32
Biography ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 34

Mr. A. Thomas Young, Lockheed Martin Corporation (Ret.); Co-Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Working Group on the Health of the U.S. Space Industrial Base and the Impact of Export Controls
Oral Statement ……………………………………………………………………………………. 34
Written Statement ……………………………………………………………………………….. 35
Biography ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 38

Dr. Claude R. Canizares, Vice President for Research and Associate Provost, Bruno Rossi Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Oral Statement ……………………………………………………………………………………. 39
Written Statement ……………………………………………………………………………….. 40
Biography ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 42

Major General Robert S. Dickman, Executive Director, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Oral Statement ……………………………………………………………………………………. 43
Written Statement ……………………………………………………………………………….. 44
Biography ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 49

Discussion
Executive Order Relating to Relief for Universities …………………………………… 50
International Dual-use Technology Balance ……………………………………………… 51
Differentiating Military Weapons and Dual-use Technology ……………………… 52
Dual-track Export Control Systems …………………………………………………………. 53
Export Control Dangers With the Chinese ……………………………………………….. 54
Conclusion of Hearing ……………………………………………………………………………… 55

Appendix 1: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions
Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft (USAF, Ret.), President and Founder, The Scowcroft Group ……………………………………………………………………………….. 58
Mr. A. Thomas Young, Lockheed Martin Corporation (Ret.); Co-Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Working Group on the Health of the U.S. Space Industrial Base and the Impact of Export Controls ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 62
Dr. Claude R. Canizares, Vice President for Research and Associate Provost, Bruno Rossi Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ….. 65
Major General Robert S. Dickman, Executive Director, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics ………………………………………………………………. 69
Appendix 2: Additional Material for the Record
Briefing of the Working Group on the Health of the U.S. Space Industrial Base and the Impact of Export Controls, Center for Strategic & International Studies, February 2008 …………………………………………………………….. 76

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The FAA has made available environmental documents that have been the subject of two recent Federal Register Notices (U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site Notice and Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA)):

Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Jacksonville Aviation Authority Launch Site Operator License at Cecil Field, Florida (PDF) (July 2009)

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Pegasus Launches at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (PDF) (July 2009)

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The March edition of Statement of Treaties and International Agreements Registered or filed and recorded
with the Secretariat from the United Nations Treaty Division is now available. The only space related treaty notice is on North Korea’s Accession to the Registration Convention:

No. 15020. Multilateral
Convention on registration of objects launched into outer space. New
York, 12 November 1974
Accession
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Deposit of instrument with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations: 10 March 2009
Date of effect: 10 March 2009
Registration with the Secretariat of the United Nations: ex officio, 10 March 2009
No. 15779. Netherlands and

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From the Netherlands Institute of Space Research (SRON) (Firts paragraph in English, the rest in Dutch):

The Netherlands and ESA sign agreement for environmental monitoring satellite
06 Jul 2009

A green light for the building of Tropomi, the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument, was given by the ESA Council Meeting of Ministers in charge of space activities last November at The Hague. There the ministers decided to build the satellite. Earlier the Dutch government had made available 78 million Euro for the building of the Tropomi instrument and the data processing.

Image
Die gegevens zijn van onschatbare waarde voor het volgen van de luchtvervuiling en de klimaatontwikkeling van de aarde en voor het verkrijgen van meer inzicht in chemische en natuurkundige processen in de atmosfeer. Rond het jaar van lancering van TROPOMI zullen namelijk twee andere grotendeels Nederlandse aardobservatie-instrumenten, OMI op NASA-satelliet EOS-AURA en SCIAMACHY op ESA-satelliet Envisat, aan het eind van hun levensduur zijn. TROPOMI garandeert voortzetting van de monitoring vanuit de ruimte van klimaatontwikkeling en luchtvervuiling en wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Daarnaast is TROPOMI een belangrijke verbetering ten opzichte van zijn voorgangers. TROPOMI kan veel verfijnder observeren, waardoor het instrument ook tussen de wolken door kan kijken en zelfs de uitstoot van luchtvervuiling door individuele steden kan onderscheiden. Bovendien geeft TROPOMI een veel betere blik op de uitstoot en verspreiding van luchtvervuiler koolmonoxide en het broeikasgas methaan.

Volgens NSO-directeur Ger Nieuwpoort komt in TROPOMI het beste wat Nederland op ruimtevaartgebied te bieden heeft samen: ‘Het is fantastisch dat we met Nederlandse ruimtetechnologie zo’n belangrijke bijdrage kunnen leveren aan het monitoren van luchtvervuiling en klimaat, de mondiale milieu-issues van deze tijd. Dit is echt waar een klein land groot in kan zijn.’

TROPOMI is het enige wetenschappelijke instrument op de satelliet Sentinel-5-precursor, een voorbereidende missie in het omvangrijke aardobservatieprogramma GMES van ESA en de Europese Commissie. ESA zal in dat programma vijf grote satellieten ontwikkelen met de naam Sentinel, wat betekent ‘poortwachter’. Iedere Sentinel zal gericht zijn op een specifiek aspect van aardobservatie.

TROPOMI is een samenwerking tussen KNMI, SRON, TNO en Dutch Space, in opdracht van het NSO. De wetenschappelijke leiding is in handen van het KNMI en SRON. Dutch Space is hoofdaannemer voor de bouw van het instrument. TROPOMI wordt gefinancierd door de ministeries van Economische Zaken, van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, van Verkeer en Waterstaat en van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke Ordening en Milieu.

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The COuncil of the European Union has published Special Report No. 7/2009 concerning the management of the Galileo programme’s development and validation phase together with the Commission’s replies. The Executive summary states:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I. The EGNOS and Galileo programmes were initiated in the mid 1990s with the aim of establishing a European Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). EGNOS is a regional satellite based augmentation system for Europe that improves the signals coming from existing satellite navigation systems such as GPS. Galileo is currently under development as Europe’s Global Satellite Navigation System.

II. In order to manage the development and validation phase of the Galileo programme, the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) set up a dedicated structure, the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU), which operated from September 2003 until the end of 2006. In 2007, the activities of the GJU were transferred to the GNSS Supervisory Authority, a Community Agency.

III. The Galileo programme was the first of its kind in several respects: it was the first close collaboration between the ESA and the Commission on such a large space programme, the first industrial programme to be managed at European level and the first time the Commission was to participate in a publicprivate partnership.

IV. Negotiations with the private sector on a concession agreement stalled in early 2007 and the Parliament and the Council decided to redirect the programme in autumn 2007. Technological development has been set back five years. As at the end of 2008, no operational satellites have been launched and cost estimates for the development and validation phase have almost doubled from 1,1 to 2,1 billion euro. The Court’s audit of the development and validation phase of the Galileo programme examined:

(i) which factors accounted for the failure of the concession process;

(ii) which factors accounted for the reported delays and cost overruns of technological development;

(iii) to what extent spending on research and development activities has benefited the Galileo programme;

(iv) how well the GJU had integrated EGNOS into Galileo;

(v) whether the Galileo programme was adequately governed.

V. The Court concluded that management of the development and validation phase was inadequate. The Galileo programme experienced problems at different levels:

(i) The GJU was not a strong programme manager nor was any other body assigned this role. The GJU did not achieve most of its objectives – owing, however, to factors that were largely outside the GJU’s control.

(ii) The programme lacked a strong strategic sponsor and supervisor: the Commission did not proactively direct the programme, leaving it without a helmsman.

(iii) Owing to their different programme expectations, Member States intervened in the interest of their national industries and held up decisions. The compromises made led to implementation problems, delays and, in the end, to cost overruns.

VI. The PPP was inadequately prepared and conceived. As a result, the GJU was required to negotiate a PPP which was unrealistic.

VII. The GJU’s task of supervising the technological development activities was seriously constrained by governance issues, an incomplete budget, delays and the industrial organisation of the development and validation phase.

VIII. Discontinuities, the inappropriateness of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) for funding market development activities, the absence of a comprehensive market development approach and delays account for the limited usefulness of Galileo RTD results.

IX. The integration of EGNOS into Galileo was only partially successful because the GJU’s mandate was not clear, the decision to include EGNOS in the concession negotiations held up the achievement of the EGNOS programme, the EGNOS institutional framework was not clear and the GJU devoted little effort to market development for EGNOS.

X. The programme’s governance was inadequate. The division of roles between the entities involved in the development and validation phase of the programme (EU and ESA Member States, Commission, GJU and ESA) was not clearly defined. The Commission did not provide adequate leadership in developing and managing Galileo.

XI. If the mid-2007 redirection of the EGNOS and Galileo programmes is to succeed, the Commission must considerably strengthen its management of the programmes. This report includes a number of recommendations aimed at supporting the Commission in this task.

XII. Finally, should the EU resolve to engage in other large infrastructure programmes, the Commission must ensure it has access to the appropriate management tools.

There is another related document that is procedural in nature.

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

Yesterday the Senate held a confirmation hearing for several presidential nominees including those for NASA Administrator and Deputy Administrator. The prepared statements of these two nominees are below.

Mr. Charles F. Bolden Jr., Administrator-Designate National Aeronautics and Space Administration:

Statement of Charles Bolden
Before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate
July 8, 2009

Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Hutchison, and members of the Committee, it is an honor to come before you today as the President’s nominee for Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Thank you for your time in considering my nomination as well as that of Ms. Lori Garver for Deputy Administrator.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Senator Lindsey Graham for his support and kind introduction. Special thanks are also due to Senators Nelson and Hutchison for your words of encouragement during my preparation for potentially taking on the duties of NASA Administrator. I thank both of you specifically and this committee in general for your long-standing support of NASA in its mission of leading the nation in the exploration of our universe and of exercising our leadership in aeronautics, science, and technology. I’d also like to acknowledge members of my family (my wife, Jackie; my daughter, Dr. Kelly Bolden; my brother, Warren Bolden and his wife, Wendy; my aunt Alyce Martin) and other family and friends who have traveled many miles to be with me today.

I would also like to extend a special thanks to Christopher Scolese, who has been the Acting Administrator at NASA since mid-January. Chris represents the very best of NASA’s career civil servant workforce. For his dedicated leadership and service I am greatly appreciative.

I was born and raised in Columbia, SC in the segregated south – the older of two sons of Charles and Ethel Bolden, public school teachers who, despite very long hours and lower wages than their white counterparts, loved every day of their work and made the hard choice to remain in public education and to inspire thousands of Black students to take their places in national, state, and local leadership. With them as the consummate role models, I overcame the refusal of my Senators and Congressman to appoint a Black to the Naval Academy by appealing to President Lyndon B. Johnson for assistance. President Johnson had taken the initiative to send a retired federal judge around the country to visit with Black and Hispanic high schools to recruit young, qualified minorities for entry to the three major service academies. I expressed interest in the Naval Academy during his visit to my high school and this led to my subsequently receiving an appointment to Annapolis from Congressman William Dawson of Chicago, IL. Inspired by my Plebe Year company officer, Major John Riley Love, a Marine Corps Viet Nam veteran and mentor reminiscent of my father, I chose to become a United States Marine upon graduation. Much like my father, Major Love was very tough and demanding, but incredibly fair and just in dealing with everyone. For more than 34 years as an active duty Marine, I witnessed thepower of teams of diverse military men and women responding to worldwide crises of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, such as the small 16 to 20 person teams of Marines and Navy corpsmen sent from my command into Djibouti in the Horn of Africa to help drill fresh water wells and to assist the villagers in building rudimentary medical centers. The engagement and compassion exhibited by these Marines and sailors gained us a level of respect by the local tribe members that allows us to operate with impunity in this region even today.

As a NASA astronaut I flew four times on the Space Shuttle as a member of international teams of dedicated engineering and science professionals. Floating in the windows of the Shuttle, speeding across its great desert at 4 – 5 miles per second, I saw the beauty of the Middle East, appearing peaceful and serene in spite of the Earthly reality of violence in the region. From my window perch, I viewed with sadness the majestic Amazon Rain Forest, considered by many to be the model of serenity and peace, yet devastated by deforestation, leaving the area and its people facing some of the greatest environmental challenges of our day. l now dream of a day when any American can launch into the vastness of outer space and see the magnificence and grandeur of our home planet, Earth, as I have been blessed to do. I’m convinced this will inspire them to be more concerned for our environment and to strive to put an end to man’s inhumanity to man.

When I reflect on the violent days of the 1960’s civil rights movement; war in Viet Nam and anti-war demonstrations on our streets; turmoil and division in our nation not seen since the Civil War – I am inspired by the power of a shared national vision articulated by President John F. Kennedy to put men on the Moon; uniting the world in celebrating this achievement; and assuming uncontested technological leadership. NASA and its contractors produced what is a marvel of the modern age – the Space Shuttle followed by the International Space Station (ISS). With the common goal of making life better for humans here on Earth and improving understanding of our universe, NASA provided the leadership to our scientists, industry, and international partners to launch probes to distant planets; change human understanding of the universe in which we live with the Great Observatories – the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Chandra X-Ray Telescope, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), and the Spitzer Space Telescope – and develop biomedical research that contributed to innovation of the CATScan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the Debakey Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) or heart pump, and even a prospective salmonella vaccine.

All this we accomplished in times equally as difficult as today, if not more so because, beginning in 1961, a young president and a bold Congress inspired the American people to have the courage to take action in areas previously unthinkable. Can we do any less today? I think not.

Dr. Shirley Jackson, President of Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, warns – ―There is a quiet crisis building in the United States — a crisis that could jeopardize the nation’s pre-eminence and well-being. The crisis has been mounting gradually, but inexorably, over several decades. If permitted to continue unmitigated, it could reverse the global leadership Americans currently enjoy. The crisis stems from the gap between the nation’s growing need for scientists, engineers, and other technically skilled workers, and its production of them…. Our government, universities, and industry must act now to develop the intellectual capital of the future.

Today we have to choose. Either we can invest in building upon our hard earned world technological leadership or we can abandon this commitment, ceding it to others who are working vigilantly to push the frontiers of space.

If we choose to lead, we must earn that leadership by committing to confront the following challenges:

- Build upon our investment in the ISS, a unique national laboratory, and a bridge to human exploration beyond low Earth orbit, as we safely and efficiently bring the shuttle era to a close.

- Accelerate with a sense of urgency the development of a next generation launch system and human carrier to enable America and other space-faring nations of the world to execute the mission of expanding our human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.

- Enhance NASA’s capability and organic expertise to provide credible scientific, technological, and engineering leadership to help us better understand our Earth environment.

- Inspire the rising generation of boys and girls to become men and women committed to increasing knowledge in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by making NASA and its programs relevant to the American public.

Today we face a crisis of opportunity. We can either confront the aforementioned challenges of technological leadership that ensure our nation’s safety and security or cede that leadership and prestige to other nations. I ask each of you to help NASA turn these challenges into opportunities. I ask each of you on this Committee as well as your colleagues in the Congress to help us ensure that safety and mission success are the preeminent principles in our continuation and extension of human exploration. And I ask all of you to help NASA ensure that our nation remains the leader in the world in aeronautics, technology, science, and the care of our environment.

Together we can find innovative ways to enhance our nation’s educational, scientific and technological capacity or we can sit by and watch other nations assume our long-held and recognized leadership role.

Together we can find innovative ways to enhance needed basic research and development in aeronautics, science and technology or we can sit by and watch other nations move ahead in these fields.

Together we can find innovative ways to advance space exploration, reduce the costs of access to space and further push the boundaries of what we can achieve as a nation.

Thank you for this opportunity to appear before this committee. I am excited and energized about the possibility of taking on these challenges, if confirmed, and I look forward to responding to your questions.

And Ms. Lori Garver, Deputy Administrator-Designate National Aeronautics and Space Administration:

Statement of Lori B. Garver
Before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate
July 8, 2009

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Hutchison, members of the Committee, thank you. I am honored
to appear before you today as President Obama’s nominee for the position of Deputy Administrator
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA. I would like to thank Senator
Stabenow for her support and for her kind introduction today. Many of my Michigan relatives are
with me today, including my mother and my uncle, my husband David, and my sons, Wesley and
Mitchell.

I was raised in Michigan by a family who considered public service an expectation. My grandfather,
a farmer, spent 12 years in the State Legislature. My uncle, a veterinarian and farmer, followed in his
seat and served a combined 12 years in the State House and Senate. I have been in campaign
parades with them before I could walk and I took a semester off of college to work on one of my
uncle’s two bids for Congress. Both of my parents, my sister, aunts, uncles and grandparents are
teachers – another honored service contribution. I met my husband on an early political campaign
and before he got the space bug, he was also a teacher. It has been my experience that most people
who choose public service, do so as a contribution to Society and because they believe part of life’s
purpose is to leave things better than we found them. For me, space and politics have been that
service and my calling for the past 25 years

When I graduated from college, I had never stepped a foot in the nation’s capital, but largely
because of this upbringing, I drove across the country to come here to try to make a contribution.
My first job in Washington, working for John Glenn’s presidential campaign, led to my early
exposure to the space program. It didn’t take long for me to be “hooked”. For me, space offered
the challenge of a generation who had grown up with Apollo. Space development opened up
instantaneous worldwide communication that helped bring an end to the Cold War – the biggest
geopolitical challenge of the time. I believe that space exploration helps bring us together as a
collective human society. Astronauts, cosmonauts and taikonauts alike all remark on the unifying
view from space and their changed perspective upon return. It was no coincidence that the first
Earth Day was in 1970 – following humanity’s first tentative steps on another celestial body and the
iconic photograph of Earth Rise from the Moon taken by the Apollo 8 crew.

This exposure led to my Master’s degree in space policy and to the National Space Society where I
worked for 13 years – 9 as executive director. NSS is a not-for-profit grass-roots space advocacy
organization. This experience embedded my belief that the space program is for all of us. Our
government space program must be responsive to American tax-payers in order to be meaningful
and sustainable. This understanding only deepened during my five years working on
communications and policy at NASA. My NASA experience exposed me to the incredible talent of
the NASA workforce. The unbelievable achievements of this team over its 50-year history are
unmatched.

The last eight years of my career have been spent working in the commercial sector, with aerospace
industry. This experience has taught me that the incredible talent and dedication of the workforce
not only resides at NASA, but also in private industry. During this time, one commercial project led
me to Russia, where I began medical testing and training for a commercially sponsored Soyuz flight to the International Space Station (ISS). I developed the project to utilize the unique opportunity of
space tourism and commercial investment to help educate the public about the amazing
achievements and capability of the ISS. At the time, our boys were ages 10 and 8 and we planned
for them to stay with us in Star City for part of the training. The project, called “Astromom” was
about better communicating the excitement of space exploration to the general public, with the
Discovery Channel filming my experience. Although ultimately unsuccessful, it was a life experience
that taught me about international and commercial partnerships, their possibilities and their
limitations.

The NASA family is its most valuable resource and I am humbled by this opportunity to return in a
leadership position. President Obama has promised to lead our government in a direction to make
it work as effectively as it can for the American people. NASA must also continue to demonstrate
its relevance, as a source of solutions for the problems we all face today. Every aspect of NASA’s
programs can contribute in this way:

NASA helps lead the world in scientific understanding of our planet, our solar system and our place
in the universe. What parent doesn’t thrill at their children’s first questions about the night sky?
Walk through elementary schools today and look at the art on the walls that includes depictions of
the planets (with or without Pluto – depending on your age) and images from the Hubble Space
Telescope. No matter how you feel about a cap and trade system, most of us agree that many
scientific measurements of planetary climate change can uniquely be made from space, and should
be expanded.

Human spaceflight is a symbol of U.S. leadership and technological advancement. Depending on
your age, different space exploration milestones are binding memories of society. For many of us,
the Moon landings and Apollo-Soyuz. For some of us – Sally Ride’s first flight, or Guy Bluford’s.
Why is it that universally, Americans can tell you where they were when they heard about the Space
Shuttle accidents? I believe it is because space exploration represents the best in all of us. Our
hearts and minds are a part of every mission. I believe we can and should do more to share this
amazing chapter of space exploration with the public.

Space exploration and cooperation on the International Space Station have opened up new
relationships that continue to provide tremendous value to society. Expanded cooperative activities
in robotic and human spaceflight should be considered.

Jake Garn used to have a great line about spending money in space. He said, “You know – you
can’t spend money in space – I didn’t bring my wallet, as there is nothing to buy”. The half of a
percent of the federal budget that we spend on space today is spent right here on Earth, employing
our critical scientific and technological workforce. The nation’s investment in NASA has helped
create a private sector workforce at least 10 times as large as the civil servant workforce. In addition,
investment in NASA has led to new industries entirely independent from government funding that
have contributed greatly to the U.S. economy over the past half century. I believe that a key role of
NASA is to continue investing in programs and technologies that have the potential to develop into
independent commercial industries of the future.

One of the most visible of these successful industries is aviation and aeronautics. NASA (and its
predecessor, NACA) research has contributed much to this global industry. Recent NASA research
has helped reduce fuel consumption and noise in commercial and military aircraft and helped improve safety and efficiency. Yet – there is much more to be done. I believe NASA can and
should do more to assist this critical industry to become leaders in green aviation and to improve
aviation system efficiency.

I am confident that NASA can address these critical challenges. I am excited about the opportunity
to return to NASA in this leadership position, if confirmed. I’m also excited about the opportunity
to serve under Charlie Bolden’s leadership. We’ve spent the last few months discussing how we
could better address these challenges, if we are given the opportunity. We’ve spent hours in
meetings with many of you, listening to your ideas and concerns and it would be an honor to work
together toward our common goals.

It has been many years since I lived in Michigan. My most recent years have been spent in Virginia,
raising our two boys. I’ve tried to be an example to my boys, to help them develop a passion for
service. So far, Wes plans to broker world peace and Mitch hopes to discover a cure for cancer.
With your support, I’d love to get to work at NASA doing what we can to help address both of
those challenges and so many others.

Thank you for the opportunity to share these thoughts with you. I look forward to your questions.

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From a Roscosmos press release (unofficial Google Translation):

09-07-2009 The Ministry of Industry and Trade: An introduction of customs duties on the import of GPS-receivers

Russia plans to Ban the customs duty on import of GPS-receivers. This will be done in order to move the masses in the Russian navigation system GLONASS /

Ministry of Industry and Trade Ministry is preparing a proposal to impose duties on imports into Russia GPS-receivers at a rate of 50%, said Deputy Minister Yury Borisov at a press conference on Wednesday. “At 50% will now raise customs duties on the GPS-receivers,” – said Yuri Borisov. He said such a decision is necessary for that to give way to Russian producers. In Minpromtorge Russian Interfax explained that the proposals for the introduction of such fees are contained in the draft decree of the Russian government on a comprehensive support system GLONASS. The project was aimed at harmonizing the Ministry offices.

It reminds agency Interfax «GLONASS – this is one of the priorities for the state programs. President Dmitry Medvedev has included in its list of the major topics discussed in mid-June issue of technical re-equipment of the country’s economy. And in the words of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the creation of the GLONASS system is a priority and cost budget. That is, the curtailing of expenditure allocated to the system the money the state does not touch ».

The Agency also reported that «Rival GLONASS – GPS system can simply” strangle at its root, by stopping the import of the receivers. There will be no competition, and then the Russian navigation system will become invincible in our country. Moreover, according to the State, must be received in other industries. The Deputy Minister noted that Russia should pursue a more aggressive policy of the customs, especially in the high-tech products: “Do not know how to do something today – must be zero customs duty. Learned to do – put the protective duties. We need to create a preference for our manufacturer» .

By agency Interfax (http://www.interfax.ru/business/txt.asp?id=89270)

And in the original Russian:

09-07-2009 Министерство промышленности и торговли РФ: планируется введение таможенных пошлин на импорт GPS-приемников

Россия планирует ввести запретительную таможенную пошлину на импорт GPS-приемников. Это будет сделано ради того, чтобы продвинуть в массы российскую навигационную систему ГЛОНАСС/

Министерство промышленности и торговли РФ готовит предложения о введении пошлин на импорт в Россию GPS-приемников в размере 50%, заявил замминистра Юрий Борисов на пресс-конференции в среду.
“На 50% будем сейчас поднимать таможенные пошлины на GPS-приемники”, – сообщил Ю. Борисов. По его словам такое решение необходимо для того, что бы дать дорогу российскому производителю. В Минпромторге РФ “Интерфаксу” пояснили, что предложения о введении такой пошлины содержатся в проекте постановления правительства РФ о комплексной поддержке системы ГЛОНАСС. Проект был направлен министерством на согласование ведомств.

Как напоминает агентство Интерфакс «ГЛОНАСС – это одна из приоритетных для государства программ. Президент Дмитрий Медведев включил ее в перечень важнейших тем, обсуждая в середине июня вопрос технического перевооружения экономики страны. А по словам премьер-министра Владимира Путина, создание системы ГЛОНАСС является приоритетной и с точки зрения расходов бюджета. То есть, урезая расходную часть бюджета, выделенные на эту систему деньги государство не тронет».

Агентство также сообщило, что «Конкурента ГЛОНАСС – систему GPS могут просто “задушить на корню”, прекратив ввоз соответствующих приемников. Не будет конкуренции, и тогда российская навигационная система станет непобедимой в нашей стране.
Причем, по мнению государства, так надо поступать и в других отраслях. Замминистра отметил, что России необходимо проводить более агрессивную таможенную политику, особенно в сфере высокотехнологичной продукции: “Не умеем делать сегодня что-то – должны быть нулевые таможенные пошлины. Научились что-то делать – ставим заградительные пошлины. Нужно создать преференции для нашего производителя».

По материалам агентства Интерфакс (http://www.interfax.ru/business/txt.asp?id=89270)

This is an unofficial translation and is provided to the readership of Res Communis as a convenience.