Congress has just shown its full support to NASA by promising a $19.5 billion budget for it to continue its ongoing mission of space exploration. However, one tricky thing inside the bargain to NASA is that it should be able to send astronauts to space within the next 25 years.
This means that this budget will just cover the next 25 years and not later. What makes the new bill be very firm is that it cannot be removed, stopped, or amended by the next US presidents.
New Age of Space Exploration
Senator Ted Cruz says, "We have seen in the past the importance of predictability and stability in NASA and space exploration, (and) that whenever one has a change in administration, we have seen the chaos that can be caused by the cancellation of major programs. The impact in terms of jobs lost, the impact in terms of money wasted has been significant."
According to one of the reports, the bill was made this way so as not to let the cancellation of another space program to happen. Such as what happened with Obama cancelling the Constellation program of the Bush administration.
The Possible Golden Age of NASA's Space Exploration
The bill is also one that will forever mark an etch in the hearts of people as it is the very first time that a mission to Mars has become a mandate of law. This will surely usher in a new age of space exploration spearheaded by the United States.
The funds for the Mars mission are as follows: $4.5 billion for exploration, $5.4 billion for science and $5 billion for space operation. The new bill that has been passed just recently also sees to it that the Orion Earth-orbit-and-beyond spacecraft, as well as the new Space Launch System, will also be developed into use.
To sum it all up, what is stated in the bill is that NASA should send a manned mission to Mars in the year 2021, ensure the continuity of the International Space Station (ISS) at least until the year 2024 and also successfully finish the development of the new space suits that are going to be used on Mars.
