The U.S. Congress approved the 2021 NASA budget amounting to nearly $23.3 billion. However, the space agency's officials said it will not be enough to support its lunar lander program.

According to 2021 omnibus spending bill released on Dec. 21 after reaching a compromise between the Senate and House bills, NASA will get a total funding of $23.271 billion for the 2021 fiscal year. This was $2 billion less than what the agency's initial request of $25.246 billion, although it was higher than $642 million from its 2020 budget.

Can NASA Lunar Lander 2024 proceed?

NASA's key exploration programs, including the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System, and Exploration Ground Systems all received funding, which are even above the administration's request. However, for the Human Landing System (HLS) program, the bill only provides $850 million, which merely 25% of the original request of $3.3 billion. Either the Senate or House versions are short to the requested HLS funding with only $1 billion and about $600 million, respectively.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and other officials has already previously warned that full funding for HLS is required to ensure that human's trip to the moon will push through as scheduled in 2024. During a meeting with National Space Council on December 9, Bridenstine said that the budget they requested will provide everything needed to achieve the lunar lander 2024. "Ultimately, if we don't get the $3.3 billion, it gets more and more difficult," the administrator noted as reported by Space News adding that NASA has been meeting all milestones.

Similarly, the budget for the agency's commercial low Earth orbit (LEO) development program was also severely reduced from $150 million to just $17 million. The funding was intended for the development of commercial LEO in 2021.

The NASA Artemis program is scheduled to bring humans back to the moon in 2024. The agency aims to include the first woman in the moon lander team who will establish sustainable exploration on moon's surface. The research and knowledge they will gain in this program will be later used for future missions to Mars.

Read also:  NASA Works with Texas Startup to Build a Lunar Base Design from Moon Dust Using Vulcan 3D printer

NASA space technology and educational programs

Part of the $23.3 billion NASA funding will be allotted for its space technology and educational programs. This includes $1.1 billion for the On-orbit Servicing, nuclear thermal propulsion, and Assembly and Manufacturing (OSAM) 1 mission, which is above the agency's request.

Also, $156.4 million budget for NASA's planetary defense programs is included in the bill, which instructs the agency to "request adequate resources" for the mid-2021 launch of Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and the 2025 launch of Near Earth Object Surveillance Mission (NEOSM).

Despite the deductions, NASA will still be able to push through its some science missions, including the Roman Space Telescope, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, PACE and CLARREO Pathfinder Earth science missions. These programs were earlier being cancelled in the administration's original request as well as the NASA's education programs, which the bill also includes funding for.

The bill also includes several provisions related to NASA's various programs, instructing Europa Clipper' launch on the SLS, if it already available and "Clipper's appropriateness for SLS" is confirmed by torsional loading analysis. If Europa Clipper is not suitable for SLS, NASA can seek for a commercial alternative.

NASA associate administrator for space technology Jim Reuter warned in September that reduced overall funding to specific programs will greatly restrict the agency's buying power for "other things we want to do."

Related article: Scott Tingle: Meet the US Navy Captain Who May Be the Next Man to Land to the Moon

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Written by CJ Robles

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