SPACE.com — Senate Panel Approves NASA Plans to Send Astronauts to Asteroid, Mars
A key Senate committee on Thursday approved an authorization bill that would allow NASA to add one more space shuttle mission before retiring the fleet, and press forward with ambitious plans to send astronauts to an asteroid and on to Mars.
After months of debate and criticism, the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation committee passed the NASA authorization bill by a unanimous vote. The bill will now move up to the full senate for review.
Crucially, the bill includes $6 billion for new commercial spacecraft development. This is small potatoes by government standards, but it is an enormous sum for the still-small commercial spaceflight industry.