Congress gave NASA $55 million to build habitats for Mars by 2018

NASA will develop a habitation module using funds granted through a spending bill recently passed by Congress. This habitation module will be tasked with helping the space agency in its deep space exploration ambitions, though details on how exactly NASA will utilize the funds isn’t clear at this point.

The Orion spacecraft that will drive astronauts to Mars has a diameter that’s about the length of a pickup truck.

NASA envisions the Orion capsule could link up to a habitation module in space, but right now they have no idea what that module could look like. Plans to make that goal happen are moving as NASA is set to build a habitat on Mars for astronauts to live in during missions. For those glancing at the calendar, 2018 is just two short years away, meaning NASA has roughly 730 days to show off what could likely shape deep space travel for dozens of decades.

According to Digital Trends, NASA International Space Station director, Sam Scimemi, says that the habituation testing will occur during a “shakedown cruise” in cislunar space.

‘That is our big objective for cislunar space for human spaceflight, ‘ he said at the Space Transportation Association luncheon. Though the funding is there, it is still unclear what the module might require in terms of money and resources. Expected to carry crews to and from deep space beyond Earth’s orbit, it could possibly one day enable missions to Mars or asteroids beyond the Red Planet. He added that “As soon as I put a picture up there, somebody is going to assume what the configuration is”.

NASA is already working with companies like Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace on potential habitats in space, but it could be forced to really speed things up now to comply with Congress’s wishes.

The NextSTEP contracts, valued at up to $1 million each and lasting for one year, will inform NASA’s plans for later habitat development work.

Bigelow Aerospace company has also developed a prototype expandable module that will be installed on the International Space Station (ISS) in early 2016. Further, the agency is required to provide Congress with a status update on the project within 180 days of the appropriation bill’s enactment.