NASA chief: 2024 moon landing 'off the table' if Congress doesn't approve Trump request for extra fu

[nitpicker]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/06/2024-moon-landing-off-table-if-congress-doesnt-ok-extra-funds/1369337001/

NASA chief: 2024 moon landing 'off the table' if Congress doesn't approve Trump request for extra funds

Ledyard King, USA TODAY

Published 4:21 p.m. ET June 6, 2019 | Updated 5:14 p.m. ET June 6, 2019

WASHINGTON – NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said NASA won't be able to meet a 2024 deadline to land astronauts on the moon unless Congress approves the Trump administration's request for an additional $1.6 billion in next year's budget. "It takes this off the table," Bridenstine told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview Thursday. Without the extra funding, "we're going to be back looking at 2028."

It was the NASA chief's strongest statement to date that the fate of a lunar return five years from now – ballyhooed by President Donald Trump – depends almost entirely on congressional action in the coming months. Humans last walked on the moon in 1972.

In March, Vice President Mike Pence announced an ambitious plan to accelerate a return to the lunar surface from 2028 to 2024, the last year of Trump's presidency if he wins a second term next year. Last month, Bridenstine unveiled a proposal to fund the first year of the program.

As part of the newly dubbed "Artemis" program, the agency proposed raising its original 2020 budget request from $21 billion to $22.6 billion. But the proposal outraged education activists and some Democratic lawmakers because the funding would come from Pell Grants, which help low-income students pay for college.

"We already have students forgoing meals & sleeping in cars because they can't afford the rising costs of college," said California Sen. Kamala Harris, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, last month. "This is backwards."

The administration said the transfer wouldn’t affect students currently benefiting from Pell Grants and that the program is expected to have “sufficient discretionary funds until 2023,” according to language in the budget amendment.
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[cstanleytech]

1. Let me guess after they approve it he will steal it for his wall?

[Scarsdale]

2. Where does all this money

come from? It is conveniently invisible when talks of national health care, school lunches, welfare programs are discussed. According to McConnell, the Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid funds are running out. (yeah, right) Here is a suggestion, have the entire tRump family and the hangers on who had the luxurious trip to London and Ireland pay their cost. Renting 4 luxury SUV's cost almost one million dollars! It would have been cheaper to buy them outright. The hotel rooms were expensive, too. Why are taxpayers paying for that???

[Harker]

3. They could cut the cost in half

if they'd drop the flashing TRUMP sign visible from Earth.

[marble falls]

5. Another way to save would be to put Trump on the flight and make it one way.

[Phoenix61]

6. I'll set up the GoFundMe.

Bet we could hit it in a week.

[marble falls]

7. My 401k is available.

[Harker]

14. More space junk. n/t

[gordianot]

4. The orange turd says he wants to militarize space.

This is proof he is not even competent enough to do that, the first thing you would want is a moon base. What happened to the good old days when Fascist made the trains run on time? This senile Narcissistic crude coward is better suited to locking up toddlers and killing children at the border.

[Kurt V.]

8. we don't need to be spending money to go to the moon. how about we worry

about things more...local.

[edhopper]

9. We must remember

Bridensine is a non-scientist Trumpster who has no qualifications to run NASA.

[2naSalit]

10. That was my first question...

Who is this "NASA head" and was he there pre-45?

[edhopper]

11. Google him

his space "experience" is running the Tulsa Oklahoma Planetarium.

[2naSalit]

13. I would do that except

it's just too disappointing to do that for most of these criminals and buffoons.

[lark]

12. Yeah, then hell beast shouted we don't want no stinking moon landing - it's part of Mars.

So it looks like nothing is going to happen with this, which is probably a good thing. Is there any scientific purpose to going back to the moon, if not - forget about it!!!