Key Takeaways: Massive Budget Announcement

On Monday February 10, the White House Office of Management and Budget released the President's FY 2021 budget request for federal agencies, which included an influx of funding for NASA with a goal to return to the Moon under the Artemis Program by 2024. Following the proposal being delivered to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine hosted a State of NASA, where he discussed the budget request and the path forward to the Moon.

At Johnson, the State of NASA was followed by an All Hands in the Teague Auditorium with NASA's Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Doug Loverro and Johnson Center Director Mark Geyer.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the State of NASA and the Johnson Town Hall. 

1. The Administration is Fully Committed to Returning Americans to the Moon.

Following the Feb. 4 State of the Union address where the President called on congress to fully fund the Artemis Program to ensure that the first woman and next man on the Moon would be American astronauts, the White House budget request includes that largest funding increase for NASA in decades. The request calls for a nearly $3 billion increase to the $22.6 billion that NASA was allocated for FY2020. According to Bridenstine, the additional funding includes $3.3 billion for a human landing system (for the first time since Apollo) and fully funds Orion and SLS.

2. It Is Up to Us to Deliver

The budget request made it clear that NASA is a priority for the administration and that it is very serious about landing American astronauts on the Moon by 2024. It is imperative that the NASA team come together to accomplish our daring goal and inspire the world. 

3. Artemis Deep Dive Assessment Results

When Loverro was last at Johnson he discussed the Artemis Program deep dive that would assess all the required pieces to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 and adjust to ensure the mission could be accomplished. During the All hands, Loverro reported that he is expecting initial results on Feb. 14th with the goal is to have all discussions wrapped up by mid-march. He noted that program managers will be involved in the process and in any decisions that are made following the discussions. When the results and recommendations are complete, the results will be rolled out to congress and to NASA employees. 

4. Commercial Crew Updates

We will launch American Astronauts from American soil this year. At the Johnson All Hands, Loverro discussed the ongoing investigations into Boeing's OFT flight and the software errors that the mission encountered. The program is currently looking into the errors and process improvements to ensure the safety of our astronauts when they fly to the International Space Station.

5. Commercial Lunar Payload Surface Delivery

The first delivery is set to take place next year. This will be the first delivery to the moon since the Apollo era and the first of sixteen Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) missions slated under the program. CLPS is set to receive $254 million for lander delivery missions in the proposed FY2021 budget. 

6. Question Everything

At the Johnson All hands, Loverro made a heartfelt call to Johnson employees to look for process improvements by consistently questioning the way we operate. In response to a question about operating quickly and the most promising way of getting out of low-Earth orbit, he encouraged employees not to be afraid to challenge processes and question everything we do that makes it harder to do your job. “Ask yourself, can we do this better without sacrificing safety or taxpayer dollars?”

7. We Are the Artemis Generation

With the excitement of an extremely positive budget reveal, Geyer was optimistic about Johnson’s role in the Artemis Program. He believes that the center plays a key role, not only because Johnson is the home of the astronauts, but also because Johnson is an expert in integration. Using the expertise developed with ISS and bringing both international and commercial partners together, we have a great foundation that is paving the way for Artemis. 

The JSC All Hands will be available to watch online. When it is available this story will be updated with a link to the video.