Ted Cruz opposes cutting NASA's budget: "I don't want to wake up one day, look up at the Moon, and find that the Chinese have already gotten there ahead of us."

Reported by Space News, April 24, United States.

As a U.S. Senator from Texas and current chair of the NASA Committee, Ted Cruz has consistently voiced opposition to cuts in NASA’s budget, particularly emphasizing the need to maintain competitive pressure with China in space exploration.

The Trump administration’s latest budget proposal again calls for significant reductions to NASA’s funding, reigniting familiar tensions between Congress and the executive branch over how to finance the space agency.

Just as Artemis II is en route to the Moon, the fiscal year 2026 presidential budget request would cut NASA’s total budget by 23%.

Cruz stated: "Regardless of political affiliation, I have always been committed to strong support for NASA and America’s leadership in space."

Shortly after speaking with the Artemis II crew—just about 24 hours after their successful splashdown in the Pacific—Cruz gave an interview to reporters. He and several other members of Congress participated in that call.

NASA’s Artemis program aims to establish permanent human presence on the Moon, with plans to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2028 and build a base near the Moon’s south pole in the 2030s.

This timeline largely depends on sustained funding support across multiple budget cycles and presidential administrations.

China also has similar ambitions regarding Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor, aiming to send its own astronauts to the Moon before 2030—a fact that has led industry experts and American lawmakers to declare that a new space race has already begun.

"I told President Trump: I don’t want to wake up one day, look up at the Moon, and find that the Chinese have already arrived first, and we’ve lost to the Chinese Communist Party. I believe such a blow to America would make the Sputnik moment seem insignificant," Cruz said.

"Science has brought us this far, and it is precisely this capability that allows us to send humans beyond Earth," Cruz added. "There is overwhelming bipartisan consensus in Congress: We will provide the necessary support to maintain America’s leadership on the Moon, Mars, and throughout space."

"Yet, incredibly, we’ve managed to let partisan politics infiltrate space, space exploration, and NASA," Cruz said during a briefing earlier this month.

"I had the opportunity to talk directly with the engineers currently in control of the mission," Cruz said. "My message to all of them was: Focus on doing your job. We’ll handle the politics. We’ll keep politics out of your way so you can work in peace."

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1863391580800007/

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