US Congress Urges NASA Not To Postpone Mars Sample Return Program

The US Congress does not agree with the postponement of the Mars sample return mission (photo: dock. Mars NASA)

JAKARTA Earlier this month, the United States Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) wanted to slow down the return of Martian Samples (MSR) program due to funding problems.

However, this plan was strongly opposed by six members of the congress. They asked NASA not to slow down the program and try to persuade other congressmen to seek additional funding by 2024.

The congress, namely Senator Alex Padilla, Laphonza Butler, Representative Adam Schiff,ria Chu, Mike Garcia, and Young Kim stated in a letter they issued that NASA had made quite a decision.

The reason is, this unilateral decision was made too quickly because the congress had not yet completed arranging the allocation of funds for the 2024 Fiscal Year. Congress feels that the postponement of MSR will make hundreds of jobs and science disappear.

However, the important point of this program is its strategic competition. The congress stressed that MSR could put America ahead in the discovery on Mars, but this would be hampered if NASA postponed it.

What's more, China and Russia are also targeting exploration on the planet. They don't know which country will get the best exploration results so the MSR delay will be very fatal.

"The MSR mission is critical to remaining at the forefront of strategic space technology competition, meeting the national security challenges posed by China, and maintaining our current competitive advantage," the congressional representative wrote in the letter.

For information, on November 13, NASA officials announced at a committee meeting that they had asked the Goddard Space Flight Center, JPL, and Marshall Space Flight Center to reduce MSR-related activity.

The reason is, the draft funds proposed by the initial committee amounted to US$949.3 million (Rp14 trillion), but the funds offered by the senate were far from expected, reaching only US$300 million (Rp4 trillion).

"It's a shame we have to make this decision. However, the goal is to allow enough funding to support us throughout the year so we can continue to work on and design this mission," said NASA's Deputy Administrator for Sciences Sandra Connelly, quoted by VOIdariSpacenews.