By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Tuesday, March 21, 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed into law bi-partisan legislation reauthorizing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with $19.5 billion in funding and key policy provisions supporting the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The President was joined by a bipartisan set of legislators and dignitaries including US Representatives Martha Roby (R-Montgomery) and Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville).
Congresswoman Roby serves on the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee that is responsible for NASA funding.
Congresswoman Roby said, “Alabamians are proud of the key role NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville plays in the space program. This bill will ensure important NASA exploration efforts are authorized and properly funded for in 2017, including the Mission to Mars. As a member of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee, I’m committed to ensuring NASA has the resources it needs to remain the world’s preeminent space program.”
Congressman Mo Brooks is the Vice Chairman of the House Space Subcommittee.
Congressman Brooks said, “As the Congressman from Alabama’s Fifth District, representing the Marshall Space Flight Center, I was honored to be invited to the White House for President Trump’s signing of the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017. This legislation gives NASA the long-term purpose and stability NASA needs to accomplish its robust missions, including the Space Launch System and Orion Spacecraft. In signing this legislation, President Trump demonstrated his strong support for NASA and reaffirmed America’s commitment to human spaceflight and the journey to Mars. These programs play into the strengths of the Marshall Space Flight Center and focus on areas in which Marshall has excelled for more than half a century.”
In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Donald J. Trump (R) said, “American footprints on distant worlds are not too big a dream.”
S. 442, the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017, authorizes $19.5 billion for NASA. Among the policy provisions included are designating the Mission to Mars as the nation’s primary long-term exploration goal and identifying Huntsville’s Space Launch System as the deep space vehicle. The bill also calls on NASA to submit a detailed plan for how deep space exploration by astronauts will proceed.
