NASA asks for funds in case ISS needs to land

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – A regular budget request for NASA has become more urgent as tensions continue to grow in space between the U.S. and its adversaries.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson urged a House committee Tuesday to approve an emergency request to help counter any threats from Russia.

“We don’t know what Vladimir Putin’s going to do,” Nelson said.

Nelson told lawmakers the U.S. and Russia have maintained the International Space Station so far with no hiccups.

But in the past week, Russia vetoed a United Nations resolution aimed at preventing a nuclear arms race in space.

“We could be in an emergency situation that we have to get this structure that is as big as a football stadium down and down safely in 2031,” Nelson said.

NASA already plans to decommission the ISS. To do that, Nelson is asking for a de-orbit vehicle that would cost $1.5 billion over six years.

While lawmakers consider that, they expressed increasing concerns about threats in space from other adversaries, too.

“Could you explain how China uses space as a foreign policy tool?,” asked U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, (R-Fla.).

Nelson told Posey the U.S. is racing against China to get to the South Pole of the moon.

“My concern is that they don’t get there first and say, ‘This is our area. You stay out,'” Nelson said.

Nelson said there’s likely water there, which can be used for rocket fuel.

“They’re not going there to study the origins of man or collect rocks,” Posey said. “They’re going there to colonize, and everything that they do has a military component to it.”

NASA plans to land the first astronauts near the lunar South Pole in 2026.

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