NASA has to change plans due to budget constraints.

Sorry mars have to wait a bit

US President Donald Trump is known for his radical proposals. It changes laws, cancels benefits, modifies migration regime. In addition, Trump has repeatedly stated that NASA is not acting very effectively. True, he allocated enough funds to finance various agency programs. But at the same time, it requires changing the focus from the flight mission to Mars to returning to the Moon.

Also, Trump said that NASA has many diverse projects, which prevents the agency from acting effectively. Now the organization is beginning to gradually change the principles and directions of its work. In particular, we are talking about such a unit as Space Technology Mission Directorate.

It was created in 2010 in order to develop the technologies that are necessary for the agency to study the near and far space. These are rocket engines, power plants, the production process of the parts of mechanisms and the devices themselves in the conditions of outer space. If people really begin to actively explore space, then all this will be needed.
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Budget changes relate to the Exploration program. Officials want the agency to focus on the development of rocket engines and systems. In particular, the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft, the ground systems in the Kennedy space center.

This process has already started, the management of NASA took note of the plans of officials and began to act accordingly. True, Congress has not yet approved the plans of Trump himself, therefore, the operational actions of the NASA leadership are displeasing the representatives of other organizations. Well, the fact that money is removed from the development programs of advanced space technologies and invested in other areas is not liked by many representatives of the agency itself.

Something similar had already happened in the 2000s, when NASA began to actively develop such areas as man’s flight to the Moon and Mars. Since huge funds were needed for the development of spacecraft and their elements, some of the funds decided to take away from researchers the "secondary" technologies that are not needed right now, and gave them to the "rocket men."

Some experts believe that if the agency plans to continue to lead in terms of developing the latest technologies required by the aerospace industry and space flights, then no drastic refinancing steps should be taken. If there is no money, many promising missions simply will not be realized, and promising plans may simply sink into oblivion.

Official representatives of the agency say that no one refuses to develop breakthrough technologies for the exploration of outer space. We are talking about changing priorities, but nothing will be “hacked”, it will simply reinforce some areas of current work. Perhaps the agency will be divided into two directorates. The first one will be engaged in projects on the ISS, commercial activities (launching vehicles into low Earth orbit), as well as rocket technologies. The second directorate will deal with deep space missions and related technologies.

There is also an alternative option, which envisages the creation of a unit that will undertake all research missions and will deal only with them. All changes will begin to implement from October 1 of this year.



Another point was already covered earlier: Trump allocated funding for various programs related to Mars, but only within the framework of those missions that are being implemented. Nothing that could support the projects of the same Ilon Musk on sending people to the Red Planet was presented. Mastering Mars requires hundreds of billions of dollars, and Congress understands this. Hence, almost complete indifference to the progress in the development of programs of this type. The US government has more pressing problems, so no one is going to allocate huge funds for the implementation of the rapid development of its neighbor.

Donald Trump, allocating funds to NASA, said that his first concern was the creation of jobs for Americans. And then later - the exploration of deep space. According to the document, the annual budget of NASA is about $ 19 billion (this year $ 19.1 billion).