red planet and land on Mars and the first boot to set foot on the surface of Mars will be that of an American astronaut."

The Tuesday hearing focused on NASA's exploration plans and was intended to mark next week's 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which first landed a man on the moon.

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Among those testifying were Dr. Christine Darden, a data analyst and aerospace engineer at NASA, one of the African-American mathematicians at the agency, a group whose work was popularized in the recent film "Hidden Figures."

In her testimony, Darden praised the Apollo program and also touted NASA's ongoing Artemis program which aims to returns Americans, including the first woman, to the surface of the moon by 2024.

"A thriving, visible Artemis Program will do much to inspireThe Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2016 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on November 3, 2016, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

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