Trump seeks extra $1.6 billion in NASA spending to return to moon by 2024 Trump seeks extra $1.6 billion in NASA spending to return to moon by 2024 The Trump administration asked Congress on Monday to increase NASA spending next year by an extra $1.6 billion as a “down payment” to accommodate the accelerated goal of returning Americans to the surface of the moon by 2024. The increased funding request, announced by President Donald Trump on Twitter, comes nearly two months after Vice President Mike Pence declared the objective of shortening by four years NASA’s previous timeline for putting astronauts back on the moon for the first time since 1972. How many of you believe that the “first moon landing” never happened?