COCOA BEACH, Fla. -- The President's Commission on the Future of Human Spaceflight is having its only local public hearing Thursday in Cocoa Beach. At stake are thousands of jobs at the Kennedy Space Center.

There are two lingering questions that the committee could resolve: How long does the space shuttle continue to fly, and what will be launched next from the Kennedy Space Center. That all determines who keeps their jobs on the space coast and who loses them.

With the first test flight of the Ares 1-X rocket just months away all options are being laid out on the table for where Americans go next in space and how they will get there.

The panel meeting at the Cocoa Beach Hilton has been asked by the President to present the best options for the nation.

The first to address the commission was the director of the Kennedy Space Center, former astronaut Bob Cabana.

"More than anything right now, we need consistency and a clear path forward," said KSC director Bob Cabana.

The Space Center stands to lose 700 jobs next year and 3,000 more in the following year as the space shuttle program winds down.

The panel is not only reviewing current plans to build the Ares 1 and Ares 5 rockets, but other potential rocket designs. Any delays in development of the shuttle's replacement will impact the workforce.

"We can not keep changing direction. We need to decide where we are going, properly fund it and execute the plan," Cabana said.

Then a subcommittee member presented options about whether the U.S. should set its sights solely on the moon, go directly to Mars or create a flexible plan that includes even Venus or asteroids.

"Mars should be the intermediate destination for this exploration. The ultimate goal should be staying off the planet, " a subcommittee member told the group.

The lieutenant governor and a large delegation of Florida politicians were getting their two cents in just before the lunch break.

After lunch the commission will get the chance to hear from the public including some of the people whose livelihoods depends on what the panel tells the president.