<p>Less than one week after proposing ;a budget that cuts funding from nearly every government agency, President Trump signed a NASA funding bill that increases the space agency&rsquo;s FY2018 budget to $19.5 billion. ;</p>
<p>The bill restores NASA&rsquo;s focus on manned space flights, a serious change from the Obama-era focus on robotics. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Today, we are taking the initial steps toward a bold and bright new future of American space flight,&rdquo; said Trump at the signing ceremony on Tuesday, adding that the ;<em>NASA Transition Authorization Act ;</em>will create job opportunities in the space industry.</p>
<p>The new bill orders NASA to submit a &ldquo;human exploration roadmap [to] expand human presence beyond low Earth orbit to the surface of Mars and beyond&rdquo; and expands NASA&rsquo;s mission statement by including &ldquo;the search for life&rsquo;s origins, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s been over six years since Congress has passed a NASA authorization bill, and the agency hasn&rsquo;t had its own spacecraft since June 2011.</p>
<p>The legislation, which enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress, marks yet another campaign promise with which Trump has followed through.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Under a Trump Administration, Florida and America will lead the way into the stars,&rdquo; he said at a rally in October. ;</p>
<p>The<em> NASA Transition Authorization Act</em> has a serious focus on reaching Mars, and instructs the agency to find ways to &ldquo;extend human presence, including potential human habitation on another celestial body and a thriving space economy in the 21st century.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>The bill also sets goals for partnerships in the private sector, and Trump hopes to see joint operations take place at NASA launch facilities. ;&ldquo;The commercial and the private sector are going to be using these facilities and I hope they are going to be paying us a lot of money,&rdquo; said Trump. ;</p>
<p>Elon Musk, CEO and founder of the private spaceflight company SpaceX, complains the bill won&rsquo;t put us closer to reaching Mars.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This bill changes almost nothing about what NASA is doing. Existing programs stay in place and there is no added funding for Mars,&rdquo; he tweeted on Tuesday. ;</p>
<p>SpaceX is currently working with NASA under a $1.6 billion contract. They have already flown 10 cargo missions to the international space station, but Musk ;wants more. His ultimate goal for SpaceX is to enable commercial space travel to Mars and to eventually colonize the Red Planet.</p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:</strong> We are a political site, but sometimes you have to look beyond politics and see what is important to mankind. This is important.</p>