White House approves extension of space station to 2024

The White House has approved extending operations aboard the International Space Station (ISS) another four years, taking its mission to 2024, UPI reported Wednesday, citing documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had lobbied the White House to approve the extension. Despite the approval by the Obama administration, both the ISS and NASA budgets still must be approved by Congress. The four-year extension is expected to cost the U.S. space agency $3 billion per year, which would account for almost one-sixth of the NASA budget, currently $17 billion. An announcement of the extension by NASA will be used to reassure international partners about the U.S. commitment to the $100 billion orbiting laboratory, which NASA says is critical to the future of space exploration.