Under a bill signed on October 15 by President Bush, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been authorized to add two space shuttle flights to the International Space Station and accelerate the development of a new moonship.

The $20.2 billion law requires NASA to develop technology such that the public can experience missions to the moon and Mars. NASA must also deliver a multimedia experience to the public, including high-definition video, 3-D images, and scientific data delivered over a high-bandwidth network.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said in a statement: “I’m grateful to the President for his signature on the law. The major provisions of this authorization bill affirm Congress’ support for the broad goals of the president’s space exploration policy, including the return of American astronauts to the moon and exploration of Mars and other destinations.”

In fiscal 2009, NASA will be funded by The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act. It also directs the agency to take all necessary steps to fly a third additional shuttle mission above the already planned missions. In addition, the law also calls for a review of the security systems that protect NASA’s information technology systems and data.

The recently-signed authorization bill also solidifies funding for nine shuttle missions to the space station and it extends the agency’s involvement in the space station until 2020.

Furthermore, the measure urges an additional shuttle mission to launch the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a $1.6 billion-observatory that would be attached to the outside of the station.

President Bush signed a similar authorization bill in 2005, a year after he directed the space agency to retire its three space shuttles in 2010 and develop a ship to fly to the moon by 2020. However, after that authorization, the years that followed witnessed a fall in the president’s budgets for the space agency much below the authorized levels.