“To prioritize lunar landing, things that are also a priority would have to be reduced,” Moran, who also sits on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, told POLITICO. “We will try to provide all the necessary funds to keep Artemis on track for a lunar landing on time, but it is and will remain a challenge.”
For example, he said, “I don’t think our subcommittee or the Appropriations Committee will zero STEM education so that the money can be spent elsewhere.”
The Trump administration announced in March 2019 that it plans to land the next man and first woman on the moon no later than 2024, bringing the timeline forward from 2028. Unlike the previous Apollo missions, the United States is preparing to establish a permanent lunar presence, with astronauts orbiting the moon for months at a time to conduct research that will help NASA prepare for a future manned mission to Mars.
Trump’s effort to bring the landing forward four years has also injected more partisanship into the problem. But Moran insisted that his subcommittee outperformed him primarily by focusing on science that can be done on the moon.
“There has been skepticism on the part of some that this is a political effort related to a calendar of the electoral cycle,” he said. “I have no evidence that that is the case. … We were able to overcome that while pursuing science and politics, not politics, of an early return to the moon. “
Moran also spoke about his panel’s plans to mark NASA’s Senate appropriations bill, how he will address final negotiations with the House, and how the Apollo moon landings piqued his personal interest in space.
This transcript has been edited for its length and clarity.
What is the status of the Senate 2021 Tax Allowance Bill for NASA?
They have been pieces of starting and stopping our efforts. The date we thought we were going to mark our bill escaped us. We are now waiting for a broader deal between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, so we can get back to doing the grabbing work.
Our bill is certainly not finalized, but we have ideas that we hope to come up with when we get to the point … [of] making our report to the full committee. Our efforts have been bipartisan. [Subcommittee ranking member] Senator [Jeanne] Shaheen (DN.H.) and I work closely together and will develop a [commerce, justice, science and related agencies] appropriations bill reflecting shared priorities between Republicans and Democrats. We hope once again to obtain almost unanimity between the full committee and consideration on the floor of the Senate.
Do you have a new date you are pointing to for marking?
There is a consensus suggesting that the appropriations committee will not report the bills to the full Senate until after the August recess. … The hope is that we will be fully involved in the appropriation process in September.
What are your top priorities for NASA spending in FY2021?
I am an ally to NASA’s desire to return a man and a woman to the moon. … I think speeding up the time frame in which that can and should happen … is helpful in getting NASA and its private partners to focus on one terribly important mission. I praised NASA for developing the idea of returning to the moon. Our past appropriations bills have shown that we not only say that we support that mission, but we have also demonstrated that by providing resources to help accomplish that mission. I would hope in 2021 that our bill reflects once again the goal of that aspiration.
We are provided with a certain amount of money within our jurisdiction to spend money. NASA is an important component of our jurisdiction, but even within NASA’s budget, trying to keep spending for things that are also important in addition to the lunar landing effort is also important to me.
NASA’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2021 … proposed a budget cut of approximately $ 1 billion in funding for ongoing programs. To prioritize lunar landing, things that are also a priority would have to be reduced. I understand and value the importance, for example, of [science, technology, engineering and math] education. Whether as a matter of policy or politics, I don’t think our subcommittee or the Appropriations Committee is going to zero out on STEM education so the money can be spent elsewhere.
We still have to find the right balance within everyone [the subcommittee’s] jurisdiction, but even within NASA spending as well. Like Kansan, I come from a state where aviation is very important. The first “A” at NASA is aeronautics, and that’s a very important component of NASA’s priority and focus as well. We will have to find ways to find the right balance as we try to advance the goal of reaching the moon.
Is support for the 2024 moon landing bipartisan on your committee?
It is generally. Some have expressed skepticism that this is a political effort related to a calendar of the electoral cycle. I have no evidence that this is the case. But I think that lends a bit of political skepticism, but we have been able to overcome it as we search for science and politics, not politics, for an early return to the moon. Within our committee, Artemis has had bipartisan support.
How are you going to reconcile that with the House spending bill that reduces funding for the lunar mission?
We will try to provide all the necessary funds to keep Artemis on track for a lunar landing on time, but it is and will remain a challenge. … How do you prioritize the limited amount of money we have to spend on a wide range of things, from the Department of Commerce to the Census, NOAA, and the National Weather Service? Those are all things within our jurisdiction that matter, but we will try to find that right balance.
We will certainly work to negotiate in conference with the House of Representatives … to keep Artemis’s goal moving forward by finding a bipartisan, bi-chamber solution to those levels of spending. … Everyone might have a slightly different point of view on what to prioritize. Our job is to find something that is acceptable to 60 senators and 218 members of the chamber and that can be signed by a president.
Any other areas you expect to differ from the Chamber bill?
I haven’t had conversations with my counterparts in the House yet to get an idea of the … thought process behind their prioritization of spending. I think it remains to be seen how we solve it. We will try to adapt to that resolution as we work on our invoice. We are not going to strive to do something different just to do it differently … or spend to get your attention. We will try to get to a point where there is some understanding and direction that lends itself to easier resolution rather than a fight when we go to the conference.
Do you have a personal interest in the space that led you to seek this position as subcommittee chair?
I’m certainly an age when the Apollo landing landed my attention as a child. I have a goal for my own state, but it is also true for the country, that we honor and value things that encourage young people to pursue careers in science, math, engineering, and research. I want Kansas and the country to reward those who have the ability to inspire people. It is important to the future of our nation.
It is important for our national defense and for the economy of our country. The future of the United States of America is determined in part by the amount of effort and resources we invest in science, research, technology and engineering. So my personal interest in this is that it is really important for our country and its future that the inspiration that comes from space be developed by another generation of scientists and engineers.
