A U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday unanimously approved a one-year spending plan to continue funding NASA's efforts to send astronauts to Mars.

  • Bill authorizes $19.5 billion for fiscal 2017
  • Bill also calls for replacement for shuttle program
  • Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Bill Nelson sponsored the bill

The NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2016, as the bill is titled, explicitly lists the "Journey to Mars" as a long-term priority for NASA. It enumerates funding for research into propulsion technologies that would make the journey shorter, as well as projects related to the overall goal. The bill authorizes $19.5 billion for NASA in 2017.

Senator Bill Nelson introduced the bill in Congress along with five other senators, including Republicans Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

"We are going to Mars. We're going to Mars in the decade of the 2030's with humans and the bill sets a goal of the colonization of other worlds," said  Nelson, D-Florida. "This is a new and exciting time in our nation's space exploration program and particularly now with the human exploration program."

This comes 55 years after President Kennedy challenged the nation to put a man on the moon. Nelson says this bill marks the beginning of a new era of American spaceflight.

The bill also funds continued development of an American-made rocket to once again send American astronauts to and from the International Space Station without having to rely on Russia.