VIDEO: Chairman Moran Leads Hearing to Review the President’s FY27 Budget Request for NASA

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) - chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science - today led a subcommittee hearing to review the President's FY2027 budget request for NASA with testimony from Administrator Jared Isaacman. During the hearing, Sen. Moran congratulated Administrator Isaacman on the successful Artemis II mission and thanked him for recently visiting Kansas to tour local aerospace manufacturers and the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson.

"That visit carried a powerful sense of continuity between NASA's past and its future," said Sen. Moran. "As you know, Apollo 13 set the record for the furthest distance humans have traveled from Earth, and during your time in Kansas, that record was surpassed by the crew of Artemis II - a remarkable moment that underscores how NASA continues to build on its legacy to push further and further into deep space."

"I want to commend NASA and its workforce for the successful Artemis II mission," continued Sen. Moran. "This mission represents a critical step toward returning Americans to the Moon, eventually to Mars and beyond. It demonstrates what is possible when NASA has the support, stability and direction needed to execute."

Sen. Moran also highlighted remarks from the Artemis II crew describing the Cosmosphere as the best space museum in the world.

"I certainly agree. I would never disagree with the NASA astronauts, especially since I know that that comment came from the Artemis II crew that just went farther away from this world than any humans before," responded Administrator Isaacman. "There is certainly some absolutely exceptionally rare and historically significant hardware at the Cosmosphere, sir."

During the hearing, Sen. Moran questioned Administrator Isaacman on America's efforts to beat China back to the Moon and emphasized the importance of NASA's Landsat program in providing critical data to support Kansas and American agriculture. Sen. Moran's questioning can be found here, here and here.

Click HERE to Watch Sen. Moran's Opening Statement

Items to note:

• On April 6, Sen. Moran hosted Administrator Isaacman in Kansas to visit with local manufacturers that contributed to NASA's successful Artemis II mission, tour the Cosmosphere and strengthen connections between NASA and members of the aerospace community in Wichita. Watch a recap video of the visit here.
  
  
• During the Artemis II mission, Sen. Moran joined a live call with astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen and invited the crew to visit the Cosmosphere.

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