According to NASA, an additional $ 20 billion is needed to land humans on the Moon by 2024

According to a new interview with NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, NASA needs 20 to 30 billion dollars more than the space agency's current budget to land humans on the moon.

"Consider this as a short-term investment to have a sustainable program on the moon, where we will finally keep our eyes on Mars," Bridenstine told CNN.

The future landing mission on the moon, dubbed Artemis after the Greek goddess whose brother was Apollo, has already sparked a little controversy after President Donald Trump flip-flopped, declaring for the first time times in May that he wanted to send astronauts back to the moon, then tweeting a week ago that it was one of a kind waste of time.

"NASA should NOT talk about going to the moon – we did it 50 years ago. They should focus on the much bigger things we do, including Mars (which the Moon is part of, "said President Trump on Twitter. June 7.

But Bridenstine does not seem disconcerted by the contradictory messages. He cleverly tries to give the impression that President Trump's flip flop simply makes sense in a broader context.

"How can we learn to live and work on another world, the Moon, and then on Mars, and do it so that, once done, the American people can have a program they can be proud of? term? ", said Bridenstine at CNN on Thursday.

NASA's current space budget is already running at around $ 20 billion a year and any budget increase should go through Congress. Bridenstine, who was previously a Republican representative of the United States House in Oklahoma, repeatedly reiterated that Congress could find money somewhere. The Trump regime has already submitted an additional $ 1.6 billion request for NASA's budget for the next fiscal year.

Butchers in the Trump budget plan to raise $ 1.6 billion from the Pell Grants program, which helps low-income Americans attend university. But this funding plan is not suitable for most Democrats.

"Last night, the White House proposed to reduce Pell grant funding by almost $ 3.9 billion," Senator Kamala Harris said on Twitter. May 14. "More than 8 million low-income students depend on it. We already have students who give up meals and sleep in cars because they can not afford the rising costs of college. It's upside down. "

But without the additional funding from NASA, wherever it comes from, any future landing on the moon would likely be pushed to 2028. And that will probably be a problem for President Trump, because he obviously does not care not really going into space. cares about the adulation that he would receive if it happened during his presidency.

Correction: The legend of Gizmodo on the photo above of Jim Bridenstine originally indicated that he was drinking a Mountain Dew while he was testifying before a congressional committee on March 13, 2019. Bridenstine was drinking a Mountain Dew Diet. Gizmodo deeply regrets this mistake and will try to do better next time.