President Donald Trump finally signs the bill that funds NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for its Mars landing project. The President has also set an aggressive deadline, hoping to see the mission completed in 2033. He made the very important announcement on Tuesday.
The NASA Authorization Act of 2017 basically states that the science firm should stay on its course towards its dream of sending mankind to the red planet. While Barack Obama also supported this endeavor, he talked about it in more vague terms.
According to CNET, the bill talks about the sustained partnership between NASA, SpaceX and Blue Origin. The former is owned by Elon Musk while the other is headed by Jeff Bezos. The ultimate goal of the multi-deal is more than just getting to Mars, but "colonizing" it as a second home for mankind in the coming decades (if not centuries).
Notably, Trump has sacrificed a huge chunk of the 2018 budget for other agencies in order to push this NASA mission. For one thing, he intends to halt the funding for climate change research. Meanwhile, during the signing ceremony, Trump asked Representative Ted Cruz (R-Texas), if he wants to go into space. Cruz said the President "could send Congress" instead.
The gentleman from Texas authored the bill. He was with different astronauts and fellow lawmakers when the formal authorization happened. Per Time, NASA gets a total of $19.5 billion in spending.
Last week, though, the President proposed a lower $19.1 billion budget for the space agency. "For almost six decades, NASA's work has inspired millions and millions of Americans to imagine distant worlds," he noted. Meanwhile, the bill also supports the use of the International Space Station (ISS) until at least 2024. For the record, SpaceX is doing the delivery of supplies to cosmonauts stationed at the ISS.
