Today's Congressional Hearing on Astrobiology
Hearing: Advances in the Search for Life
Hearing charter
“The NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 established “The search for life’s origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe,” as one of the national space program’s objectives. The hearing will survey recent breakthroughs in a variety of fields that contribute to astrobiology, such as the continued discovery of exoplanets and research efforts to understand life’s origin on Earth and in the lab.”
Comittee member statements: Rep. Babin, Rep. Johnson, Rep. Bera, Rep. Smith
Hearing witness statements: Thomas Zurbuchen, Adam Burgasser, James Kasting, Seth Shostak
Archived Webcast
I know Congress rarely pays attention to other people’s schedules, but why are they having a hearing on astrobiology at the same time as a conference on the subject in Arizona? Isn’t that sort of timing it to make sure the most competent people in the field aren’t available to testify?
Aren’t there enough experts to populate a couple events?
Sure, but people generally avoid scheduling two events on the same subject at the same time. It’s more than likely that some of those scientists at the congressional hearing would have wanted to go to the astrobiology conference. It sounds like that wouldn’t have been possible. I’m not suggesting that people can’t work around (or live with) schedule conflicts. It’s just odd to see apparently unnecessary conflicts.