Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is urging the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to prioritize space projects over Earth-based programs.

Cruz was recently involved in a hearing with Charles Bolden, NASA administrator, to examine the 2016 presidential budget request for the space agency. Cruz expressed skepticism over the $18.6 billion budget for NASA, which focuses on research toward Earth-based programs rather than research of the outer space.

"Since the end of the last administration we have seen a disproportionate increase in the amount of federal funds that have been allocated to the Earth Science program at the expense of and compared to Exploration and Space Operations, Planetary Science, Heliophysics and Astrophysics, which I believe are all rooted in exploration and should be central to the core mission of NASA," said Cruz.

During the hearing, Cruz also displayed a chart that reflected the decrease in funding for space exploration operations and increase in Earth Science program by 41 percent from 2009 to 2016. The chart also demonstrated that space exploration program funding has reduced by about 7.6 percent during the same period.

The senator believes that Earth Science programs are important but that NASA should not prioritize Earth Science over space exploration projects. Cruz said other agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, spend money and effort in understanding various concerns such as soil conditions. However, there are not many agencies in the country that are responsible for the space exploration programs.

Bolden explained that the reduction in space exploration project funding is due to the desire to cut costs involved in outer space programs. Some NASA projects, Bolden said, have also been outsourced to companies, such as SpaceX and Boeing, to bring down the costs of launches. Outsourcing will someday help NASA save millions of dollars each year.

Bolden said having a better understanding about the Earth is very critical. The additional funding for Earth Science programs has helped scientists uncover various conditions on our home planet better than before.

However, Cruz said that NASA is straying from its core operation of space explorations, and he expressed his concerns over the diversion.

Photo: Gage Skidmore | Flickr