This week: Senate panel ponders NASA's future

With NASA having completed its final space shuttle flight, a Senate committee will examine the future of human space exploration this week.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing Thursday to examine the next steps for NASA, which awarded its four retiring shuttles to museums earlier this year.

Lawmakers like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R), whose state has a large NASA presence centered around its Cape Canaveral space center, have been critical of the Obama administration for not making post-space shuttle plans clear before the end of the program.

"When this final shuttle mission draws to a close, many Americans will be startled by the realization that we don't have an answer to the question: What's next for NASA?" Rubio said in a floor speech in July as NASA prepared for its final launch of the space shuttle Atlantis.

"NASA has no answer, the administration has no answer, and as we transition to the next generation of space exploration, Florida's aerospace workers are left with only questions about their future," Rubio said.

The Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will also take up a trio of nominations on Tuesday, considering Maryland residents Rebecca Blank and Jon Leibowitz for the positions of deputy Commerce secretary and Federal Trade Commissioner, respectively, as well as Virginia resident Maureen Ohlhausen for the FTC. 

The committee will look at weather forecasting by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Wednesday.

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