It called for a manned mission to Mars in the 2030’s and the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion crew capsule-an update on the old Saturn V rocket and Apollo capsule that ferried humans to the moon almost 50 years ago. He repeated this admonition a few days ago when he signed the current funding bill for NASA. ![]() For instance, last fall he said: “Human exploration of our entire solar system by the end of this century should be NASA’s focus and goal.” Why Trump chose to spare NASA from the science-budget guillotine is not entirely clear, although Candidate Trump did occasionally tout human space travel as a potential priority for his administration. He has suggested cutting it by less than one percent, compared to, say, a 31 percent slashing of the EPA, and a 20 percent gouging of the National Institutes of Health. Curiously, the one non-military science agency that President Trump has largely spared in his draft budget is the National Aeronautics and Space Agency. It’s a brawn over brains agenda that befits a blusterer who can’t be bothered with namby-pamby science stuff.Įxcept, apparently, where space exploration is concerned. The president also hasn’t appointed a science advisor, and has left dozens of top research and development posts in his administration unfilled. We know this from the $54 billion increase in defense spending the president wants in his 2018 budget, and the massive cuts to agencies researching, say, cures for cancer and building more efficient wind turbines. What he does not seem to like, however, is research in biomedicine, alternative energy, or the environment. Congress often adjusts budget amounts during the approval process.President Donald Trump likes tanks, killer drones, and aircraft carriers, for which he has allocated billions of dollars in his proposed federal budget. What the White House wants, and it will get for the U.S. There’s an additional $180 million so NASA can begin building a “space tug” to help pull the International Space Station down from orbit when it’s expected to retire in 2030. The White House also wants close to $1 billion dollars for a mission to return Mars rock and soil samples. Each company built one stage of the three stage launch vehicle.īiden’s budget request represents a 7% increase from NASA’s budget in fiscal year 2023, with more funds allocated for Artemis. The agency says the Saturn-V rocket that carried the Apollo missions used three prime contractors, North American, Boeing, and Douglas Aircraft. The Apollo lunar program that out astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon demonstrated how NASA used multiple contractors on space missions. This upcoming activity, known as the Sustaining Lunar Development contract, will lay out requirements for the future capability to carry astronauts to and from the surface of the Moon. Future landers after the Artemis 3 touchdown on the Moon could include opening the process of developing lunar landers to a wider collection of potential contractors. NASA, and Marshall, tweaked that process last year for going beyond that. The space agency originally asked SpaceX to be the prime contractor for the craft to carry the first astronauts to the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972. Specifically, the Biden budget proposal includes additional funding for NASA to build a new lunar landing vehicle. That booster carried the agency’s first Orion space capsule, without astronauts on board, to orbit on the first leg of a trip around the Moon. Marshall manages the new Moon effort and tested components for NASA’s new super rocket, called the Space Launch System or SLS. $8.1 billion dollars are being earmarked for NASA’s Artemis program to send astronauts to the lunar surface. The goals set by the White House could mean a larger investment for work being done or managed by Alabama’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. President Joe Biden is seeking to increase NASA’s budget to $27.2 billion next year.
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