The US government is seeking billions in additional funds for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to send a mission to the moon by 2024.
In its annual budget request, the Trump administration asked Congress to allocate over $25 billion for NASA in the 2021 fiscal year, $12.4 billion of which will specifically be for the moon landing program.
Since US President Donald Trump took office, the space agency's budget has increased annually from less than $20 billion in 2017 to $22.6 billion for the 2020 fiscal year, which ends on September 30.
The request also enumerated a series of future budget increases for NASA that would boost its annual budget to $26.3 billion in fiscal 2025.
The proposal grants lawmakers a more detailed look at how much money the moon program, called Artemis, would cost and how the space agency plans to spend it but it does not guarantee that the Congress will abide by the administration's request.
While NASA has been targeting 2028 for a lunar landing prior to Trump's election, Vice President Mike Pence announced in March 2019 that the agency has been instructed to significantly shorten that timeline and send American astronauts to the lunar surface within the next five years "by any means necessary."
According to NASA chief Jim Bridenstine, the moon mission will serve as a stepping stone to the eventual exploration of Mars. Bridenstine promised to keep costs down through partnerships with the private sector, including Elon Musk's SpaceX and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.
Bridenstine, a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma, assured that he's worked hard to depoliticize the moon program but Democrat lawmakers remain skeptical. In January, the House space subcommittee approved a NASA authorization bill that stipulated the space agency should follow its 2028 timeline for a moon landing.
President Trump even raised questions regarding his support for the program when he tweeted last June: For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part)."
Brindenstine argued that the budget request solidified the president's support, saying: "If the president's support for NASA wasn't clear before, it should be obvious now."
