In early 2019, the White House directed NASA to put astronauts on the moon by 2024. That would require an enormous increase in the agency’s budget – and at a time when folks on Capitol Hill haven’t been favorable to more big-ticket items or more requests from the Donald Trump administration. Despite the apparent lack of funding, NASA on Wednesday named 18 astronauts – including Spokane’s Anne McClain – to its team of astronauts to fly its projected Artemis missions and has been moving forward on getting a real lunar landing vehicle built.