Congress might tell NASA to scrap putting man back on the moon, instead focus on Mars

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - A conversation happening on Capitol Hill is making the Space Coast nervous.

Right now, industry insiders are concerned a bill moving through the House has the potential to turn everything upside down.  House Bill 5666 deals with NASA deadlines and priorities.  If it becomes law, NASA will be directed to abandon the goal of having a man on the moon by 2024.

The agency would have to create an "integrated master plan" for getting man to Mars, putting an astronaut in Mars’ orbit by 2033.  NASA’s Artemis program is now facing congressional scrutiny. Experts say funding could be in jeopardy. 

"And we’re consistently seeing a huge shortfall in the amount of funds necessary," said Dr. Daniel Batcheldor, head of the aerospace department at Florida Tech.

Batcheldor says private space companies now have an opportunity to step up to put man on the moon again as an independent business endeavor instead of a NASA mission. 

"But for a commercial company, in order to develop that technology, they’d have to know there would be a return in their investments," Batcheldor said.

NASA's administrator says he is "concerned the bill imposes significant constraints on our approach to lunar exploration." 

Even President Trump has made comments and tweeted that NASA’s moon ambitions are misguided, that the agency should go all-in on Mars.

This bill has a long way to go before it gets to the president’s desk.