Spare a thinking for some of the scientist at NASA . Every yr , it seems like the goalposts are being moved . And with a new President set to be elect later this twelvemonth , there will surely be yet another shake - up for the agency presently .
That ’s certainly the case with thelatest project budgetfor NASA . This one was put forward by the House of Representatives ’ subcommittee ring Commerce , Justice , and Science ( CJS ) . It is not a final budget , but instead a suggestion – alongsidethe Senate ’s – on how NASA ’s financing for next year should be allocate , establish on the President’soriginal budget postulation . The next step will be for the House and Senate to squelch their two budgets together into a final NASA 2017 budget , which will go on later this class .
For a full account of how NASA ’s budget works , check out these two fantabulous videoshere(part 1 ) andhere(part 2 ) from The Planetary Society .
So , what does this budget entail for NASA ? Well , it would increase the total funding for the agency to $ 19.5 billion , which is $ 500 million more than the President request . But the complexity of these budgets mean there are a number of cuts and marriage proposal not originally put forward by NASA .
Perhaps most of interest is that the House wouldcut fundingfor NASA ’s proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission ( ARM ) , which was already rumored to be in abit of trouble . This commission is seen by NASA as a important step towards going to Mars . It would involve picking up a boulder from a near - Earth asteroid and place it in lunar orbit . Astronauts would then travel to the ball of asteroid on Orion and the Space Launch System ( SLS ) rocket , collect samples and refund them to Earth .
Instead , the CJS recommends that NASA focuses on a return to the Moon , as part of its pathway to Mars . “ The long - term cost of launching a robotic guile to the asteroid , followed by a crewed military mission , are unknown and will divert scarce resource away from developing technology and equipment necessary for missionary work to Mars , ” the draft reportstates . This would be a jolly drastic chemise for the roadmap to Mars .
The CJS want NASA to return to the Moon . NASA
Elsewhere , asArs Technicareports , the budget includes backing for several fringe technology . These admit a pocket-size unmanned flying Mars probe , essentially a mini helicopter , which would accompany a future wanderer . The small investigation would be able to reconnoiter large distances on the Red Planet ’s airfoil .
There ’s also a proposal to fund a delegation to the nearest star system to our Sun , Alpha Centauri . You may recollect last calendar month that Stephen Hawking and co announced their own proposal for such a mission , calledBreakthrough Starshot , which would use optical maser propulsion to traverse the 4 light - years to Alpha Centauri in 20 years . The House bill suggests that NASA should investigate this and other technologies , include antimatter driving and optical fusion engine , to reach the same end . The proposed date for the military mission would be 2069 , the centesimal day of remembrance of Apollo 11 .
The budget would also allocate $ 260 million of funding to a military mission to Jupiter ’s icy moon Europa , whichmay include a lander . There would also be fund for a starshade , a technology that could help us like a shot analyze exoplanets by forget out the light of their parent star . The other notable parts of the budget include an increase in funding for global skill , but a decrease for Earth scientific discipline .
As mentioned , this is not NASA ’s final budget . But it give an indication of what the office may be asked to work on in 2017 . We ’ll have to hold back and see what makes the last revision by and by this year .
