Nasa revealed its latest plan to return astronauts to the Moon in 2024, and estimated the cost of meeting that deadline at $28 billion, $16 billion of which would be spent on the lunar landing module.

Congress, which faces elections on November 3, will have to sign off on the financing for a project that has been set by US President Donald Trump as a top priority.

The $28 billion would cover the budgetary years of 2021-25. In a phone briefing with journalists Monday on the Artemis mission to return human beings to the Moon, Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine noted that “political risks” were often the biggest threat to Nasa’s work, especially before such a crucial election.

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