NASA may have just scored a major win in the funding department.
Despite being under-funded for ages, and relying mostly on third-party commercial companies to provide equipment for space travel/exploration and resupplying the International Space Station, Congress now appears to want to give NASA even more money for future space exploration projects than NASA had originally wanted in the first place.
The magic number? – Congress wants to give NASA about $19.3 billion worth of funding in 2016 that would further propel space exploration and scientific experiments in space.
The recent major announcements from space agencies showing interest in deep-space missions and even commercial space travel for tourists is illustrating quite clearly on paper that space exploration is a major future endeavor for mankind.
As of right now, NASA relies a lot on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to take astronauts into space, and the goal is to get more of those launches happening right here in the United States, making us a little less dependent on other nations to be a part of the space race.
NASA will continue to use third-party companies for space travel and resupply missions, although with the additional funding, which would give NASA $1.24 billion for its commercial crew program alone, the missions in store for the future may not be as delayed as originally thought and NASA can get started right on schedule.
The House is supposed to review the bill at the end of the week and it’s expected that it should pass without much hassle. Fortunately for NASA, this means some much-needed catching up and perhaps even getting a little ahead of the game in coming years.
Source: The Verge