In 2019, 53 percent of Americans supported higher spending on space, and manned missions to Mars. But the COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about unforeseen spending. Javier Yanes suggests in this article for BBVA Open Mind that lower economic and industrial activity may have affected NASA’s network of suppliers, posing a threat to the chain of development of spacecraft and equipment. Scientific and technical contributors note that space has been deemed essential by most government agencies, allowing work to continue, as launches by SpaceX and NASA during the pandemic showed. Casey Dreier, policy advisor to the Planetary Society, notes that measures to combat the pandemic slowed testing programmes, but sees a significant possibility that NASA could return humans to lunar orbit and the surface of the moon by the end of the decade.
https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/technology/future/nasa-lunar-martian-ambitions-are-sustainable/

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