Congressman Matt Cartwright (D-PA-8), Ranking Member of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's hearing on the Fiscal Year 2025 Request Request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):
Thank you, Chairman Rogers, and I would like to join you in welcoming Administrator Nelson back to the Subcommittee.
NASA continues to be respected throughout the United States and the world as a leader in advancing our knowledge of the Earth, the solar system, and the wider universe, as well as in advancing human space exploration, developing new technologies with wide applications, and helping to establish more fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly aviation.
It is my hope that NASA will continue to inspire young Americans to pursue STEM-related careers. I'm also proud that Dr. Nathaniel Frissell of the University of Scranton was selected by NASA to lead a Citizens Science Investigation for the study of this month's solar eclipse. He and several of his students, along with an international network of ham radio operators, researched changes in the Earth's Ionosphere during the eclipse, including how the sudden loss of sunlight during totality affects radio signals.
The Biden Administration's fiscal year 2025 budget request for NASA is $25.4 billion, an increase of $508.7 million above fiscal year 2024.
NASA continues to develop and operate a number of large and complicated endeavors, and I look forward to hearing more during this hearing about NASA's progress on these efforts. These include the Artemis program to send American astronauts back to the surface of the Moon, and an array of space science efforts such as the powerful James Webb Space Telescope, the Mars Perseverance Rover, and the OSIRIS-REx mission that returned an asteroid sample to Earth last year, among many other missions. NASA also continues its work on a number of critical Earth Science programs aimed at advancing our understanding of the Earth and providing key information to guide our efforts to tackle the climate crisis and mitigate natural hazards.
In addition, NASA's aeronautics research program continues to be critical to advancing the Biden Administration's goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions from the aviation sector by no later than 2050.
I look forward to hearing more today from the Administrator about NASA's plans to manage, in a cost-effective manner, these many critical missions and programs.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
