Should NASA explore the moon or look farther to Mars?
President Trump boosted his plan to return American astronauts to the moon when he announced his fiscal year 2021 budget proposal in February. The White House requested roughly $25 billion for NASA, a 12% increase from what the space agency received just a year before.
“The reinforced support from the president comes at a critical time as we lay the foundations for landing the first woman and the next man on the South Pole of the Moon by 2024,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote in support of the proposed funding. “This budget keeps us firmly on that path.”
Since taking office, President Trump and his administration have made space exploration a priority. It reestablished the National Space Council in late 2017, and in 2019, Vice President Mike Pence announced plans to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024 “by any means necessary.”
Through what it’s calling the Artemis program, the administration aims to garner a sense of national pride and prominence, similar to the spirit created by the Apollo program in the 1960s and 1970s. The program would also prepare NASA for an eventual landing on Mars and direct resources to research that will support further space exploration.
“In reaffirming our heritage as a free nation, we must remember that America has always been a frontier nation,” Trump said in his 2020 State of the Union address in February. “Now we must embrace the next frontier, America’s manifest destiny in the stars. I am asking the Congress to fully fund the Artemis program to ensure that the next man and the first woman on the moon will be American astronauts — using this as a launching pad to ensure that America is the first nation to plant its flag on Mars.”
The administration’s lunar ambitions have been met with some pushback. The House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee approved a bill in late January that would delay a return to the moon until 2028. The NASA Authorization Act of 2020 (H.R. 5666) would also direct the space agency to focus a majority of its efforts on putting astronauts into orbit around Mars by 2033 rather than the moon mission.
“Getting to Mars is a bold and long-term endeavor that future Congresses and administrations must continue to carry forward,” Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Okla.), subcommittee chair and lead sponsor of the bill, said in opening remarks during the subcommittee’s markup of the bill. “H.R. 5666 directs the development of plans, funding profiles and ongoing oversight of the moon to Mars program. The bill also establishes an independent program analysis and evaluation office to assess performance and cost estimates.These tools help to provide NASA and Congress the ability to ensure the program stays on track.”
While the House bill has bipartisan support, some Republicans have argued against scaling back the moon program in favor of a Mars mission.
At least one nonprofit advocacy organization focused on space exploration spoke out against the bill. In a statement, the Planetary Society argued that the legislation would place too many restrictions and limitations on NASA and “could disrupt and delay a planned return of U.S. astronauts to deep space.” The group noted that it “believes that NASA should have the flexibility to best implement its efforts at the moon and beyond.”
The Senate is also considering its own NASA reauthorization bill (S. 2800), but unlike the House bill, it supports returning an American astronaut to the moon by the White House’s target of 2024. The legislation was introduced in November 2019 by a bipartisan group of senators, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and was approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee late last year.
“The next human being that steps foot on the moon will be an American, and will be an American woman,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), committee chairman and a co-sponsor of the authorization act, said during the committee markup session. “I hope we’ll all resolve to follow the leadership of NASA and make provisions [for that to] take place by 2024.”
S. 2800 is now awaiting a full Senate vote. A markup of H.R. 5666 is expected in the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, where it is likely to be amended. The two versions would then need to be reconciled in conference, and it remains unlikely that President Trump would sign a bill resembling the House version in its current form.
For background, see the September 2011 issue of Congressional Digest on “Space Exploration.”
