Congressman John Culberson (R-TX), an amateur astronomer and one of NASA's staunchest allies in the U.S. Congress, has delivered funding that will allow NASA to send a pair of spacecraft to the Jovian moon Europa in 2022 and 2024.

An avowed space geek, Culberson chairs the House of Representatives appropriations subpanel that oversees NASA. While an unstinting supporter of NASA, Culberson is fiercely against the United States cooperating with China in any space program. He was one of the leaders of the campaign in 2010 that saw the House approve the law banning any cooperation with China in space.

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Europa, the ice encrusted moon of Jupiter, has been identified by scientists as one of the likeliest places where life (more probably microbial life) might exist in the solar system. Spacecraft from NASA and ESA have confirmed there's a deep ocean of liquid water underneath the ice crust engulfing the moon's surface.

Scientists estimate that Europa's global ocean might be an astounding 150 kilometers deep. In contrast, the deepest place on Earth (the Mariana Trench) is about 11 km deep.

Culberson's success in securing funds for spacecraft missions to Europa will attain a goal NASA has been attempting for the past 20 years. Culberson admits he's always been fascinated by Europa.

And in a strange twist, Culberson continued to push for funding a NASA mission to Europa when the agency had given up on the project. That's no longer the case.

The funding Culberson has wrung out of a penny -pinching US Congress orders NASA to send a spacecraft to Europa or else.

In the appropriations bill of 2016, Culberson wrote that a portion of the money that was to go to NASA must be used for a Europa mission. Thanks to Culberson, Congress has set aside $260 million for a Europa orbiter set to launch "no later than 2022" and a lander "no later than 2024." Should NASA fail to meet the deadlines put forward by Congress, this failure might jeopardize future funding for the agency.

NASA told Culberson the deadline might not be feasible given present technologies, but their objections were waved aside by the Texas Congressman.

"I agreed to serve on appropriations so I could help NASA and the sciences," said Culberson.

"Today the Europa orbiter and lander is the only mission it is illegal for NASA not to fly."

In effect, Culberson has made it illegal for NASA not to send spacecraft to Europa.

TagsCongressman John Culberson, U.S. Congress, Europa, NASA