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What’s Ahead
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| Cherry blossoms bloom in front of a Senate office building. (Image credit – Architect of the Capitol) |
Congress in Recess; Budget Request Coming into Focus
The House and Senate are both in recess for the next two weeks. The Senate is slated to resume review of the president’s fiscal year 2024 budget request for science agencies on April 18 with a hearing focused on NASA and the National Science Foundation; the House has not yet announced its next batch of hearings. Details on agencies’ budget requests have continued to emerge in the weeks since the rollout began on March 9. NSF recently released the complete version of its budget justification, as did various components of the Department of Defense, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the research units of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. DOD has also released budget details on the Microelectronics Commons it is creating with $2 billion provided to the department by the CHIPS and Science Act. A few agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have yet to release their full materials. For details on program-level proposals, consult FYI’s Federal Science Budget Tracker. (Update: NOAA’s budget justification is now posted here.)
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In Case You Missed It
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| The Moon rises behind NASA’s Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis I mission, which conducted an uncrewed flyby of the Moon in November 2022. (Image credit – Joel Kowsky / NASA) |
NASA Establishes ‘Moon to Mars’ Office
NASA created a “Moon to Mars Program Office” within its Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate on March 30. The office will manage the agency’s extension of its Artemis lunar exploration campaign into a longer-term initiative to send astronauts to Mars. It is led by Amit Kshatriya, who previously worked with the International Space Station and most recently oversaw work on human exploration platforms such as the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew vehicle that will now fall under the new office. Congress required NASA to establish the office through policy legislation it passed last year with the CHIPS and Science Act, in part to help ensure the goal of establishing a sustained presence on the Moon does not detract from the goal of Mars exploration. NASA has begun to firm up plans for its first crewed lunar visits since the 1970s, with routine landings slated to commence late this decade. The agency is also beginning to consider next steps for its Mars program beyond the multi-billion-dollar sample return mission it aims to launch in 2028. NASA Planetary Science Division Deputy Director Eric Ianson indicated last week the emphasis will shift to executing a “sustainable” sequence of low-cost missions to Mars that could employ the commercial model NASA is currently using for robotic lunar landers.
DOE Watchdog Pleads for More Money to Oversee Marquee Laws
Department of Energy Inspector General Teri Donaldson testified to the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week that her office faces an immediate budget shortfall of $300 million in its efforts to oversee implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which are providing DOE with hundreds of billions of dollars in grants and loan authority for energy technology deployment initiatives. Donaldson also noted the CHIPS and Science Act could place significant burdens on her office if Congress appropriates funds for the DOE activities authorized by the act. “Without additional funding, we will be stretched so thin that critical pre-existing areas will not receive appropriate OIG [Office of Inspector General] oversight. These areas include research security, grant fraud, environmental clean-up, and nuclear stockpile stewardship, to name just a few,” she remarked. Republican committee members argued the programs funded by the laws are highly susceptible to waste and fraud, pointing to the 2011 bankruptcy of the government-backed solar energy company Solyndra, while Democratic members argued the ambition of the laws is commensurate with the challenges the U.S. faces. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) remarked, “The written testimony from all of the inspectors general here today focus very, very heavily on the risks of the program. … but I also want to make sure that what doesn’t get lost in today’s discussion is the risk of inaction. We cannot allow the risk of imperfection in these programs to paralyze them as bridges crumble, as manufacturing lines stall for want of microchips, as the climate becomes increasingly hostile for our children and our grandchildren.”
Science Committee Approves Batch of Bills
The House Science Committee unanimously advanced seven bills on March 29 to the full House for consideration:
- Two of the bills focus on encouraging further collaboration between the Department of Energy and other agencies, a priority of the committee. The DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act would direct DOE to establish a cooperation agreement with the Department of Agriculture to coordinate joint R&D projects in areas with overlapping implications for energy and agriculture, such as biomass and biofuel energy production, carbon storage, and rural technology development. The Advanced Weather Model Computing Development Act would direct DOE and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish an analogous cooperation agreement for joint work on improving the quality and reliability of weather and climate models.
- The NOAA Weather Radio Modernization Act would direct NOAA to expand the range of the Weather Radio All Hazards network it uses to distribute weather updates and warnings, and to make the service available on digital platforms.
- The NWS Communications Improvement Act would order the National Weather Service to purchase commercial instant messaging services to replace the in-house chat system its personnel currently use to communicate with media outlets and emergency responders. NOAA has already begun to transition its chat services to the commercial platform Slack and intends to sunset the legacy platform by this September.
- The Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act would add Indian tribes to the set of stakeholders that NOAA is required to engage to assess ocean acidification impacts.
- The Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act would direct the National Science Foundation to fund research on new methods for teaching mathematical modeling, data science, and statistics in U.S. schools.
- The Testing, Rapid Analysis, and Narcotic Quality (TRANQ) Research Act would instruct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to coordinate research efforts that aim to detect the presence of dangerous drugs such as synthetic opioids in other commonly consumed illicit drugs and to establish best practices for the safe handling and transport of such dangerous drugs.
GAO Flags Challenges Facing Fusion Energy
The Government Accountability Office released a report last week that outlines barriers to developing fusion power plants and suggests potential policy responses. The “significant scientific and engineering challenges” it identifies include the need to develop new materials that can withstand the intense conditions of fusion reactors, systems engineering challenges associated with operating and maintaining a fusion plant, and safety and supply chain concerns raised by the use of tritium fuel. The report also states that since the 1990s the Department of Energy’s fusion program has largely focused on basic science rather than the development of technologies needed for commercial fusion and that private sector efforts have been slowed by difficulties in accessing federal funding and negotiating agreements between companies and DOE’s national labs. However, the report notes recent public-private partnership programs such as DOE’s Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) have been well-received by stakeholders, who recommend their expansion. Uncertainty on how strictly fusion plants will be regulated poses another hurdle, though Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials told GAO that their goal is to provide “flexibility for different technological approaches and levels of risk.” Additional challenges identified by the report include a limited workforce, limited supply chains, and uncertainty about public perceptions of fusion energy.
White House Confers Prestigious Fermi Award After Hiatus
The White House announced last week that the Enrico Fermi Presidential Award has been awarded to nuclear chemist Darleane Hoffman and chemical engineer Gabor Somorjai, the first recipients since 2014. Hoffman is recognized for her work in radiochemistry research and contributions to DOE’s security and nuclear waste management missions, and Somorjai is recognized for his pioneering molecular studies of surfaces and catalysts. The Fermi Award recognizes excellence in research relevant to the mission of the Department of Energy and has been presented at irregular intervals since 1956. Past recipients include numerous science luminaries, such as Robert Oppenheimer and Freeman Dyson. Both Somorjai and Hoffman are former recipients of the President’s National Medal of Science, which has also gone unawarded since 2014.
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Events This Week
All times are Eastern Standard Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, April 3
Tuesday, April 4
Wednesday, April 5
Thursday, April 6
Friday, April 7
Monday, April 10
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Opportunities New Disclosure Rules for SBIR Program Open for Comment
The Small Business Administration is seeking comments on a proposed template for disclosures of “investment and foreign ties” by applicants to the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, as required by the SBIR and STTR Extension Act passed last September. The law creates specific vetting criteria agencies must apply when awarding grants to businesses. Comments are due May 3.
National Academies Research Security Panel Hiring Staff Lead
The National Academies is hiring a senior program officer to oversee the National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable and other activities related to research security and the health of the U.S. research enterprise. Applicants should have a graduate degree in a related field, six years of professional experience, including two in a supervisory capacity, and the ability to obtain a top-secret clearance.
NOAA and Smithsonian Seek Input on Climate Literacy Guide
On behalf of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Smithsonian Institution are seeking input on the development of an updated national climate literacy guide. Last released in 2009, the guide is intended for policymakers, scientists, and educators, and it has informed state educational standards across the U.S. Comments are due May 31.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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