Trump signs NASA funding bill, hopes to send humans to Mars

‘President Donald J. Trump has signed legislation aimed at funding the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in what may become a down payment on a future manned mission to Mars.
As reported by The Hill, the bill’s authors and sponsors – including Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla. – were in attendance in the Oval Office for the signing.
Known as the NASA Transition Authorization Act, the law provides the space agency with 19.5 billion in funding for fiscal year 2018, while requesting that the agency come up with a plan to send a “crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s.” Trump only requested $19.1 billion, which was a modest funding cut, but he wound up signing a larger funding measure.
The legislation also asks NASA to develop ways to “extend human presence, including potential human habitation on another celestial body and a thriving space economy in the 21st century.”’
Read more: Trump signs NASA funding bill, hopes to send humans to Mars