WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are urging NASA not to delay work on the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program now, while lobbying others to provide more funding for the effort in 2024. We are conducting activities.
in Letter dated November 21 to NASA Administrator Bill Nelsonsix members of California’s Congressional delegation said they were “most vocal about NASA’s directive to delay MSR work” earlier this month, citing uncertainty about how much funding would be available for the program in fiscal year 2024. expressed strong opposition.
The letter includes Sen. Alex Padilla (D), Sen. LaFonza Butler (D), Rep. Adam Schiff (D), Rep. Judy Chu (D), Rep. Mike Garcia (R), and Rep. Young.・Signed by Representative Kim (Republican). All four congressmen represent districts in Southern California that are home to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which leads the entire MSR effort.
At a Nov. 13 advisory committee meeting, agency officials recently told centers working on MSR (Goddard Space Flight Center, JPL, Marshall Space Flight Center) that they are “reducing MSR-related activities” because of large gaps. He said he had given instructions to resume operations in earnest. The amount of spending falls between the House spending bill, which provides the full amount requested for the program at $949.3 million, and the Senate spending bill, which provides only $300 million.
“It’s very unfortunate that we have to make this decision at this time. But the goal is to make sure that we have enough funding throughout the year so that we can continue to work on this mission and continue to design.” NASA Deputy Deputy Administrator Sandra Connelly said at a meeting of the Planetary Science Advisory Committee.
NASA is operating under a continuing resolution (CR) that funds NASA at the fiscal year 2023 level through February 2, amounting to $822.3 million for MSR. The concern expressed by Connelly and other agency officials is that if NASA ends spending at the 2023 rate. If the Senate’s numbers fall short when Congress ultimately passes the 2024 full-year spending bill, there will be little money left in the MSR by the end of the fiscal year in September.
In a letter, the bipartisan group said it was “baffled” by NASA’s decision to fully fund MSR and urge NASA to begin the remaining missions to return samples to Earth by 2030. Referring to the language of the House bill that directs them, he argued: The cuts “violate Congress’ spending authority.”
“If forced to operate at unnecessarily low funding levels that NASA prematurely mandated, JPL will miss its 2030 launch window and billions of dollars in contracts supporting American companies will be subject to cancellation. “This will result in another tens of billions of dollars of contracts being terminated,” they wrote. California will lose high-skilled jobs. ” Contents of the letter First reported by Politico.
The letter also argued that the MSR is part of a broader geopolitical competition with China in the space sector. “MSR’s mission is critical to leading the race in strategic space technology, addressing the national security challenges posed by China, and maintaining our current competitive advantage,” they said. writing.
Padilla and Butler joined seven other senators. Letter of October 31stAlthough previously unreported, we asked Senate appropriators to increase funding for MSR in 2024. They specifically requested a 2023 MSR budget of at least $822 million.
“Without adequate funding next year, we will not be able to meet our 2028-2030 launch window, jeopardize mission accomplishment, and likely eliminate nearly 1,300 high-skilled jobs across the United States.” they wrote in a letter to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). ) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair and Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-Maine).
Other senators who signed the appropriations letter are Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Ben Ray Lujan (D-Ariz.). Mark Warner (Democrat, Virginia). ), Tim Kaine (D.Va.), and Martin Heinrich (D.M.).
The MSR funding debate comes as NASA is formulating a response to an independent review board report issued in September. The report concluded that the current approach to the mission has little chance of staying on budget or on schedule, and the cost of the entire MSR program could be overrun. It reaches $11 billion. NASA is evaluating several alternative architectures for her MSR and plans to select a new approach for this mission by next March.
Both the letter to Mr. Nelson and the letter to Senate appropriations leaders referenced the independent review and NASA’s response, arguing that funding shortfalls during the CR or in the fiscal year 2024 spending bill jeopardize NASA’s response.
“Changes to the NASA program management structure for the MSR, coupled with the rapid finalization of a revised mission architecture, will ensure a launch no later than 2030 to place samples into Mars orbit, at the fiscal year 2023 level.” “We need funding levels consistent with this,” the letter states. said Nelson.