Senate panel authorizes money for Mars mission

With a new president on the horizon, a key Senate committee moved Wednesday to protect long-standing priorities of the nation’s space program from the potential upheaval of an incoming administration.
Members of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee passed a bipartisan bill authorizing $19.5 billion to continue work on a Mars mission and efforts to send astronauts on private rockets to the International Space Station from U.S. soil — regardless of shifting political winds.
Lawmakers haven't forgotten that President Obama, shortly after taking office, scrapped the Bush administration’s Constellation program that sought to send astronauts back to the moon. Many members of Congress felt stung by the cancellation and angry that Obama hadn't consulted them.
Under the Senate bill, NASA would have an official goal of sending a crewed mission to Mars within the next 25 years, the first time a trip to the Red Planet would be mandated by law.
The legislation would authorize money for different NASA components, including $4.5 billion for exploration, nearly $5 billion for space operations and $5.4 billion for science.
The bill does not order NASA to scrap its controversial plan to send astronauts to an asteroid and collect samples by 2021. But it would require the agency to routinely report to Congress on the mission’s progress and justify why it's worth the $1.4 billion price tag.

Beyond money, the measure would:

• Direct NASA to continue working on the Space Launch System and Orion multi-purpose vehicle that are the linchpins of a planned mission to send astronauts to Mars by the 2030s. The bill includes specific milestones for an uncrewed exploration mission by 2018 and a crewed exploration mission by 2021.
• Require development of an advanced space suit to protect astronauts on a Mars mission.
• Continue development of the Commercial Crew Program designed to send astronauts to the space station — no later than 2018 — on private rockets launched from U.S. soil.
• Expand the full use and life of the space station through 2024 while laying the foundation for use through 2028.
• Allow greater opportunities for aerospace companies to conduct business in Low Earth Orbit.
• Improve monitoring, diagnosis and treatment of the medical effects astronauts experience from spending time in deep space.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ey-mars-mission-shuttle-replacement/90793160/