Elon Musk: NASA Bill Does Nothing for Deep Space Exploration

The CEO of SpaceX, a company which designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft, on Wednesday slammed President Donald Trump's NASA bill, saying it would do nothing to get missions to Mars going.

Elon Musk, also the CEO of Tesla, tweeted in response to a Recode reporter who said he was likely smiling about the $19.5 billion in funding Trump granted NASA:

@karaswisher I am not. This bill changes almost nothing about what NASA is doing. Existing programs stay in place and there is no added funding for Mars.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 22, 2017

@karaswisher Perhaps there will be some future bill that makes a difference for Mars, but this is not it.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 22, 2017

NASA won't face the same budget cuts as other science and medical agencies because of the funding. The agency will also continue to receive money for construction of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule. The authorization bill also directs NASA to keep its sights on a human mission to Mars in 2033.

"It's been a long time since a bill like this has been signed reaffirming our national commitment to the core mission of NASA, human space exploration, space science and technology," Trump said Tuesday.

Later he added, "We support jobs. It's about jobs."

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