It's a topic that didn't come up at any of the presidential debates, but it costs taxpayers about $20 billion to fund each year.

Space.

NASA plays an important role along Central Florida's Space Coast and the next president will make key decisions about the future of space exploration.

"The most dangerous time in the space program is probably when a new president enters the Oval Office because of that continuity," said Joe Mayer, who helped start the Citizens for Space Exploration grassroots organization. "The space program cannot be recreated every four years or every eight years."

  • Space exploration wasn't discussed at the presidential debates
  • Space exploration costs taxpayers about $20 billion per year
  • NASA plays an important role along Florida's Space Coast

Canceling a single NASA program could cost taxpayers billions of dollars and set the United State back years, if not decades.

Donald Trump's campaign said it supports the goal of sending humans to explore the solar system. The campaign did say it is concerned with delays and cost overruns for the NASA rocket still under development.

A Trump administration would illicit new national and private sector participants to use and refurbish the International Space Station (ISS). Commercial companies would continue to expand in their roles in low-Earth orbit with Trump as president, the campaign said.

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Trump outlined his vision for space last week during a rally in Sanford.

"As a cornerstone of my policy, we will substantially expand public-private partnerships to maximize the amount of investment and funding that is available for space exploration and development," he said. "This means launching and operating major space assets right here that employ thousands and spur innovation and fuel economic growth."

Hillary Clinton has yet to offer a space policy speech, but most of her goals for space are similar to President Barack Obama's over the last eight years.

She supports safely sending humans to Mars and working with commercial partners to send cargo and crew to the ISS and low-Earth orbit. Clinton also wants NASA to continue observations of Earth and changes in climate.

"As somebody that’s an engineer, who has worked as a scientist in space, science and believing in reality are really important to me, and I don't see that in (Trump)," said Mark Kelly, a former astronaut who has endorsed Clinton.

Whatever the outcome, Mayer hopes space and NASA are taken care of. 

"The key thing for us is that space is a nonpartisan issue politically, and (we'd) like to keep it that way," Mayer said.