Trump signs bill authorising NASA funding

US President Donald Trump signed a bill authorising 19(point)5 billion US dollar funding for the NASA programmes and setting a new goal to send humans to Mars. The law, known as the NASA Transition Authorization Act, gives the space agency the funding for fiscal year 2018. 

It also asks the agency to create a plan to send a "crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s."



Opening a new vista to human exploration of the space, Mr Trump signed the bill in his Oval Office of the White House in the presence of the Vice President Mike Pence. 

In his brief remarks, Trump praised the bill as a boon for NASA and a job creator. He said the bill will make sure that NASA's most important and effective programmes are sustained.