On Wednesday, at a hearing all the key House lawmakers stated that the last week's successful test flight of a deep-space capsule by NASA should boost the Obama administration to focus more on its limited resources and try and get humans to Mars at the earliest.

Members of a Science, Space and Technology subcommittee have widely criticized the White House for having tepid commitment and having an administration that is in favor of other priorities rather than having Red Planet rendezvous.

Steven Palazzo, Mississippi GOP Representative who chairs the Space Subcommittee stated that test flight that sent Orion 3,600 miles from Earth before returning was "certainly a job well done". He added that it "somewhat puzzling (but) not at all surprising" that President Obama doesn't seem fully sold on a deep-space mission.

Referring to the Space Launch System being built to carry the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle to Mars, Palazzo said, "It is no secret that this committee is concerned that the support within NASA for the SLS and Orion is not matched by the administration. The president has made clear that he does not believe space exploration is a priority for the nation".

Palazzo and other Republicans went on to point tow to the president's fiscal 2015 budget request, which would cut $330 million from the exploration program from $3.12 billion in fiscal 2014 to $2.78 billion.

On Tuesday night on a fiscal 2015 spending bill publicize a compromise that would increase the program's budget to $3.25 billion. It is expected that Congress could approve the measure as early as Thursday.

Administration officials stated that much of the resentment directed at the administration is because of Obama's decision in 2010 to scrap the Constellation Program championed by former president George W. Bush that would have sent astronauts back to the moon. Obama canceled Constellation after an independent panel of experts said it was financially unsustainable.