The Biden-Harris administration has proposed a $27.2 billion budget for NASA in fiscal year 2024, which would give a significant boost in funding the Artemis program and other space missions.
The White House's budget framework was revealed on Thursday, March 9, and it plans to increase the space agency's budget by 7% from the nearly $25.4 billion that NASA received for fiscal year 2023.
New Cosmic Shores
"The budget details a blueprint to grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. "At NASA, we support good-paying American jobs, stir imaginations, and excite the world to gaze up at the heavens and reflect on our place in the universe."
NASA claims that the budget will enable the agency to keep an eye on and safeguard the environment, promote environmentally friendly aviation, better support orbital debris management, create cutting-edge new technologies, and inspire the Artemis Generation.
"President Biden's budget will help us explore new cosmic shores, continue to make strides in traveling to and working in space and on the Moon, increase the speed and safety of air travel with cutting-edge technologies, and help protect our planet and improve lives here on Earth," Nelson added.
The proposal allocates $8.1 billion for exploration, which is an increase of more than $500 million from the previous year.
The funding will be used to support the necessary systems and equipment, including rockets, lunar landers, space suits, and crew vehicles to fly astronauts around the Moon on the Artemis 2 mission, which is scheduled for late 2024, as well as later Artemis landing missions.
According to Space News, Nelson also announced that NASA would reveal the four-person crew of Artemis 2 on April 3, with three NASA astronauts and one Canadian astronaut, in accordance with a previous agreement between Canada and NASA regarding Canada's contributions to the lunar Gateway.
Read Also: [LOOK] NASA Unveils New Map Detailing 2023, 2024 Solar Eclipses in the US
Mars Mission and ESA Collaboration
The budget includes $949 million for the Mars Sample Return mission, which aims to return samples collected by the Perseverance rover on Mars. This amount is higher than the $800 million projected in NASA's 2023 budget proposal for the same mission in 2024.
The White House proposal indicates that it supports the US collaboration with the European Space Agency's (ESA) ExoMars rover mission, although the amount of funding is not specified.
The ESA cut ties with Russia last year and sought support from NASA to fly its Rosalind Franklin rover, including thrusters for the lander, radioisotope heating units for the rover, and launch services.
The White House has requested $2.5 billion for Earth science in the budget, which is in line with NASA's projected spending for 2024. This funding will support the next Landsat spacecraft and the Earth System Observatory series of missions.
In addition, the budget proposal includes a new initiative seeking $180 million to begin developing a deorbit tug for the International Space Station (ISS). The administration aims to develop this space tug to avoid relying on Russian systems, which may not be able to accomplish the task.
Related Article: NASA's Roman Space Telescope Simulates Millions of Stunning Galaxies in Deep Field Image
