Hosting NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in Kansas

During the Artemis II mission, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman made three visits – the Kennedy Space Center, the Johnson Space Center and Kansas! I hosted Administrator Isaacman in Kansas on Monday to visit the Cosmosphere and cut the ribbon on the Hall of Space Museum. We stopped to view the Apollo 13 capsule, which is housed at the Cosmosphere, just hours before the Artemis II astronauts broke the Apollo 13 record for traveling the farthest away from Earth. Administrator Isaacman was able to see firsthand the science demonstrations happening at Dr. Goddard’s Rocket Lab and the unique space artifacts spanning from the space race against the Soviet Union through the Shuttle Program. Thank you to Cosmosphere CEO Jim Remar for the tour and Gerry Griffin, former NASA Flight Director during Apollo and former Johnson Space Center Director, for joining us.

You can watch a recap video of Administrator Isaacman’s visit to the Cosmosphere here.

From Hutchinson, we traveled to meet with two local aerospace companies that contributed to the construction and success of the Artemis Program – D-J Engineering in Augusta and Globe Engineering Co. in Wichita. There are seven local suppliers in the Wichita area, and 15 across Kansas, that contributed to the success of the Artemis II mission. The administrator also took time to meet with other aerospace suppliers and pilots-in-training at Wichita State University Tech’s National Center for Aviation Training.

The road to space runs through Kansas, and I am grateful to Administrator Isaacman for visiting Kansas. Thank you to D-J Engineering CEO Rezaul Chowdhury and Globe Engineering President Jeff Teague for welcoming Administrator Isaacman to your businesses and Wichita Mayor Lily Wu, Congressman Ron Estes, Greater Wichita Partnership Chief Economic Development Officer Andrew Nave and many others for helping welcome the administrator to Kansas.

You can read more about Administrator Isaacman’s visit to Kansas from The Hutchinson News here and KAKE here.

Splashdown!
Welcome home, Artemis II! Your journey to the moon was inspiring, captivating, historical and a tremendous achievement for NASA and the United States. Congratulations to the hundreds of men and women who contributed to the success of this mission, from the innovation and ingenuity of the engineers and manufacturers who built the SLS, to the Mission Control flight controllers who worked around the clock to safely guide this mission from launch to splashdown, to the four astronauts who carried with them the hopes and dreams of millions of people, exploring deeper into space than any human being has gone before. This is just the start of an exciting new era of space exploration.

Participating in Call with Artemis II Astronauts During their Return to Earth
On Thursday evening, I joined a live call with NASA Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen. As the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds NASA, I had the opportunity to briefly speak with the four astronauts, invite them to join me at the Cosmosphere, the museum that Reid Wiseman says is the “best space museum in the world,” and ask them how the Artemis II mission will help inspire the next generation. Thank you to these four incredible individuals and the entire Artemis II and NASA teams for the work they do every day to push humanity forward and help us better understand our world.

You can watch my questioning of the Artemis II astronauts here.

Space Symposium Interagency Roundtable

On Sunday, I participated in a roundtable with NASA, Space Force and industry leaders to discuss the future of space exploration, appropriations and interagency collaboration. In my role leading funding and oversight of NASA, I shared my perspective on the investments needed to reach the moon and Mars. America’s leadership in space isn’t guaranteed – China is quickly advancing its own space program and making significant investments in its goal of beating the U.S. back to the moon. It is critical that the U.S. continues to maintain our global leadership in space exploration, scientific advancement and national security.

Update on U.S. Military Operation in Iran

After five weeks, the fighting in Iran halted due to the agreement of a two-week ceasefire announced last Tuesday night. The pause permitted the highest level of talks between Iranian leaders and Americans led by Vice President J.D. Vance since 1979. While the talks on Saturday failed to yield a breakthrough in negotiating positions, it appears diplomacy will continue. In the meantime, the United States this week imposed a blockade of Iranian-related shipping through the Persian Gulf in an attempt to squeeze Iran’s energy-based economy.

The decision to waive oil sanctions on Russia and Iran freed up millions of barrels of Russian and Iranian oil, enriching two of our adversaries and further funding their aggression against the U.S., Ukraine and our partners in the Middle East. Now that the waiver on the Russian oil sanctions has expired, it should not be extended. There is little evidence that the waiver produced any significant relief to American consumers during the month it was in effect. However, the waiver has generated billions in revenue for Moscow, sustaining Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine & efforts to undermine the U.S. around the world. Russia is actively working with Iran, providing support that endangers our troops in the region.

Iran continues to reap significant revenue due to its current waiver, providing financial relief to an adversary we are actively fighting. Any additional waivers for Russia or Iran would be against our national interests.