About the bill
The U.S., the only nation land humans on the moon, last did so in 1972. Mars had often been proposed as the next destination for crewed spaceflight, with America once again seemingly the most likely country to make it happen, but Congress hadn’t passed a NASA funding authorization bill in seven years.
Now they have. And, among other provisions, it includes money to send humans to Mars by 2033.
What the bill does
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness and whose Texas constituency includes the Johnson Space Center.
While its most newsworthy provision is the aforementioned money to send humans to Mars, the $19.5 billion authorization contains a number …
Sponsor and status
115th Congress (2017–2019)
Enacted — Signed by the President on Mar 21, 2017
This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on March 21, 2017.
7 Cosponsors (4 Democrats, 3 Republicans)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“Cruz News: March 10, 2017”
—
Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]
(Sponsor)
on Mar 14, 2017
“House Passes NASA Bill, Cornyn Provisions to Set Goal of Astronaut Landing on Mars”
—
Sen. John Cornyn [R-TX]
(Co-sponsor)
on Mar 8, 2017
“On the House Floor This Week - 3/6/17”
—
Rep. John K. Delaney [D-MD6, 2013-2018]
on Mar 6, 2017
History
|
Dec 10, 2016
|
|
Earlier Version —
Passed Senate (House next)
This activity took place on a related bill, S. 3346 (114th). |
|
Feb 17, 2017
|
|
Introduced
Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber.
|
|
Feb 17, 2017
|
|
Passed Senate (House next)
The bill was passed in a vote in the Senate. It goes to the House next. The vote was by Unanimous Consent so no record of individual votes was made. |
|
Mar 7, 2017
|
|
Passed House
The bill was passed by both chambers in identical form. It goes to the President next who may sign or veto the bill. The vote was by voice vote so no record of individual votes was made. |
|
Mar 21, 2017
|
|
Enacted — Signed by the President
The President signed the bill and it became law.
|
S. 442 (115th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number S. 442. This is the one from the 115th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 115th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 3, 2019. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
How to cite this information.
We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:
“S. 442 — 115th Congress: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017.” www.GovTrack.us. 2017. March 23, 2023 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s442>
- show another citation format:
- APA
- Blue Book
- Wikipedia Template
Where is this information from?
GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.
