AIAA Panel to Discuss Implications of Augustine Commission Report for America's Human Space Flight Plans

September 30, 2009

Dr. David Livingston of "The Space Show" Will Moderate Internet Radio Broadcast

RESTON, Va., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will host a panel of experts to discuss the implications of the Augustine Commission report, "Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans." Scheduled for Monday, October 5 at 2:00 p.m. EDT* as a live, streaming, Internet radio broadcast, the discussion will be moderated by Dr. David Livingston, host of "The Space Show with Dr. David Livingston," and may be accessed at www.thespaceshow.com. (*Note: Scheduling is subject to the actual release of the final report.)

The Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, chaired by retired Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine, was established by the Obama administration to evaluate ongoing U.S. human space flight programs, as well as alternatives, to ensure that future human space flight plans are safe, innovative, affordable, and sustainable. Although the Executive Summary report was released earlier in the month, the final report is expected to be released by the end of September.

The panel will discuss the findings of the report, and the possible future direction of the U.S. space program, as well as the immediate steps NASA might take in fiscal year 2010. Panelists include:

    --  Frank Culbertson - Former NASA astronaut who completed three space
        shuttle missions, and managed NASA's "Shuttle-Mir" program, overseeing
        nine dockings of the shuttle with the former Russian space station.
        Culbertson is now vice president of business development at Orbital
        Sciences Corporation.
    --  Scott "Doc" Horowitz - Former NASA astronaut who completed four space
        shuttle missions, leaving NASA in 2004 to become director of space
        transportation and exploration at ATK-Thiokol. Horowitz was NASA's
        Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems during the George W.
        Bush administration.
    --  John Klineberg - Former director of both NASA John H. Glenn Research
        Center, Cleveland, Ohio, and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
        Greenbelt, Md., and former CEO of Loral Space Systems.
    --  Elliot Pulham - President and CEO of The Space Foundation.

    --  Harrison "Jack" Schmitt - Geologist and NASA's first
        scientist-astronaut, Schmitt was the mission scientist for the historic
        Apollo 11 spaceflight mission, and the Apollo 17 mission, the last
        humans on the moon. Schmitt served as a Senator from the state of New
        Mexico from 1975 to 1981.

Listeners can question the panel by calling 1.866.687.7223, or by sending e-mail during the program to dmlivings@yahoo.com, drspace@thespaceshow.com, or the thespaceshow@gmail.com. Listeners can also communicate with panelists through the AOL AIM, ICQ, or Compuserve Chat services using the screen name "spaceshowchat."

AIAA is the world's largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. With more than 36,000 individual members worldwide, and 92 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org.

SOURCE American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics