Donald Trump's presidential plans for NASA's budget are now known, and it now looks like the US space agency won't face such extreme cuts as other US federal agencies next year. NASA will receive $ 19.1 billion in fiscal 2018, $ 200 million less than in 2016. These funds will keep NASA, in general, on the same path that the agency has held for the past seven years, albeit, by the way, will suggest some big shakes. Including - a number of reductions in educational programs.
In a statement, NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot said the proposal "matches our funding in recent years and will enable us to effectively carry out our core mission for the nation, even in these times of financial constraints."
In short, some very interesting missions have been canceled, including NASA's controversial asteroid redirection mission, an initiative to robotic extraction of part of an asteroid and bring it closer to the Moon. Nonetheless, Lightfoot emphasized that much of the solar engine technology developed for the mission can still be carried over to future projects. “I've personally been involved with this team and its progress over the past few years, and I'm extremely proud of their efforts to advance this mission,” Lightfoot says.
The mission to land on Jupiter's moon Europa is also canceled. Meanwhile, all this does not require any major changes in NASA's space exploration program. There is no question of returning to the moon, so the agency will continue to focus on Voyage to Mars.
However, the budget request emphasizes that NASA works with the commercial space industry, and mentions that the proposal "supports and expands public-private partnerships as a foundation for future US civil space efforts." The document argues that under the new budget, NASA will be open to "collaborating with industry" in managing the space station, developing deep-sea habitats, and maintaining small satellite constellations.
As for NASA's manned space flight program, everything will be the same with them. The space agency is currently building two transports - the giant Space Launch System rocket and the Orion crew capsule - to send humans into deep space and possibly Mars someday. These two programs will receive a total of $ 3.7 billion from the request, almost the same as in 2016. The lack of cost increases for SLS and Orion likely means NASA will not change its current plan for these programs. A couple of weeks ago, NASA announced that it was considering new options for accommodating people on the first flights of the SLS and Orion. But without increasing the budget, the agency is likely to stick with the old scenario: an SLS drone flight in 2018.followed by a manned mission a few years later.
ILYA KHEL
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