Senate committee approves bill that increases funding for NASA
The Senate Commerce Committee this week unanimously passed a bipartisan bill that would fund NASA for the next fiscal year, moving the agency a step closer to a slight increase in funding in the long federal budget process.
The NASA Authorization Act of 2019 directs Congress to provide the agency with $22.8 billion for fiscal year 2020. It is co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
The bill would, among other things, extend authorization for the International Space Station through 2030 and direct NASA to take steps to grow the burgeoning space economy as well as work toward the agency’s goal of “putting the first boots on Mars a reality,” said Cruz, a Republican who chairs the aviation and space subcommittee.
“Not only will this legislation help ensure that Americans safely return to the moon and establish a sustainable human presence on the moon, it will help ensure that the United States maintains domi
nance in low-Earth orbit by creating an environment for continuous human presence there through and beyond the life of the International Space Station,” Cruz said.
Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Maria Cantwell of Washington, both Democrats, and Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, are co-sponsors.
Wednesday’s markup hearing included a handful of amendments to the legislation, many of which look to further NASA’s technological ambitions. The amendments would commit NASA to partner with “industry-proven” manufacturing suppliers in advancing a new spacesuit design; prioritize the use of low-enriched uranium in the development of a nuclear power reactor for space outposts; and explore the development of a new generation of space-based communications technology.
The bill’s passage out of committee is one step in what is expected to be a lengthy budget process. Congress is still required to pass an appropriations bill to fund the items listed in the bill. The $22.8 billion proposal marks a slight increase from last year’s $21.5 billion budget.
Federal funding for the 20-year-old space station currently is scheduled to end after 2024, but Congress can extend that date and has in the past. Experts have said the space station can operate safely until at least 2030.
Astronauts from the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe serve on the station, from which crews conduct a range of experiments. The bill also supports the Johnson Space Center’s leadership in managing and operating the space station through 2030.
The bill identifies 2028 as the target date to have sustainable lunar exploration in place, carefully avoiding committing to a hard 2024 deadline for NASA to establish a presence on the moon. It requires NASA to establish a lunar outpost that can be inhabited by humans to test and prove technologies and systems.
NASA is currently developing that outpost — a mini space station orbiting the moon called the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway — with the first phase scheduled to launch in 2022.
The legislation also requires NASA to undertake at least one science mission to Mars to enable the selection of human landing sites and authorizes sample return missions to Earth as part of that. Any sample return will go to the Johnson Space Center for analysis and storage.
NASA has been scrambling to meet the expedited timeline in the wake of March comments by Vice President Mike Pence directing the agency to accelerate that timeline to 2024 using “any means necessary.” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has said the Artemis moon program to return humans to the Moon could cost up to $30 billion, but the agency has not provided a budget plan to Congress.
In a speech Thursday at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California, Pence reaffirmed the Trump administration’s intention to “give NASA the resources they need to accomplish their mission” to return to the moon.
The bill would also support the development of next-generation spacesuits, as well as life and physical science research, to ensure that humans can live in deep space safely.
The legislation also bolsters NASA’s efforts to detect asteroids that could threaten Earth in the near future. It directs NASA to develop a dedicated division to launch a spacebased infrared survey telescope to detect “near-Earth objects.”
From a local standpoint, the bill authorizes the establishment of a handful of university-affiliated research centers to facilitate access to essential engineering, research and development capabilities in support of NASA missions. Texas has 44 universities that are members of the Texas Space Grant Consortium that could benefit from this program, including the University of Houston, Rice University and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.