Congress just passed a bill that tells NASA to send humans to Mars by 2033

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March 8, 2017 9:22 PM

It also gives NASA a $19.5 billion budget, cancels a mission to capture an asteroid, and calls on the space agency to search for aliens.

An astronaut in space flashes a thumbs-up sign.

For the first time in more than six years, both chambers of Congress passed a bill that approves funding for NASA and gives the space agency new mandates.

The NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 is a bill that the Senate and House collaborated on for months, and it appropriates $19.5 billion to the agency. (NASA received $19.3 billion in 2016, or 0.5% of the total federal budget.)

When the Senate brought the bill before the House of Representatives for a vote on March 7, "no members spoke against the bill" and it passed, according to Jeff Foust at Space News.

The document asks NASA to create a roadmap for getting humans "near or on the surface of Mars in the 2030s." It also calls on the space agency to continue developing the Space Launch System (SLS) — a behemoth rocket — and the Orion space capsule in order to eventually go to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

Business Insider did not immediately receive a response from Trump administration officials about the president's plans for the new bill.

But its passage seems likely.

Trump has expressed support for a crewed exploration of Mars, and in his inauguration speech he said he's "ready to unlock the mysteries of space." Administration officials, meanwhile, have said they want NASA to return to the moon in the 2020s but also proposed to end the space agency's 58-year mandate to study the Earth and its climate, details the bill leaves out.

Trump also maintains a relatively tight collaboration with the Republican-controlled legislative branch.

Whats in NASAs proposed budget?

The American Astronomical Society has a convenient breakdown of the $19.5 billion in the bill, including funding for human space exploration, space-station operations, science, and more.

Here are some notable titles, articles, and sections of the 146-page document:

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