Cost Of Space Exploration

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is perhaps the most well known space agency in the world. Since its formation in 19581, it has pioneered in space science, yet is also renowned for its large budget. NASA has the highest budget of any space agency, $18.6 billion2 in 2015, the equivalent of every American paying $54 towards the agency3, meaning 0.14% of total GDP is spent on NASA3 . This money is spent on the ISS, sending astronauts, probes and satellites into space, astrophysics and planetary science research, maintaining and developing NASA’s space telescopes (the Wide Field Infrared Survey telescope searching for dark energy and exoplanets, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope) and developing spacecraft2. Space exploration is an incredibly expensive process with one shuttle launch costing $450 million4 however NASA’s colossal budget benefits the USA greatly; the agency employs 18,000 people5 as astronauts, engineers, scientists and teachers and G. Scott Hubbard, former director of the NASA Ames Research Center estimates that every dollar spent on NASA returns $8 to the economy6.While this figure is an estimate, it demonstrates NASA’s worth and capacity for money making. NASA works on pioneering research and as its patents and licenses return to the US treasury, it

To conclude my argument I can definitely say that space exploration is worth the cost. It generates wealth for America and can broaden the knowledge of many people across the country. As Kennedy said in his speech, “...we shall climb this wall with safety and speed and we shall explore the wonders on the other side.” With all the progress that has been made, humans can decide that space is indeed a

In the past 50 years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sent out many planned space exploration missions which have lead to numerous advantages in society and culture. NASA’s technologies benefit American lives with the innumerable important breakthroughs by creating new markets that have spurred the economy and changed countless lives in many ways. NASA is a federal agency and receives its fundings from the annual federal budget passed by the United States Congress. However, there are conflicting opinions that consider whether or not funding for NASA is a waste of government spending.

How would you like to explore a never-ending frontier filled with endless potential and possible benefits for humankind? When put this way, space exploration sounds like an enticing adventure. However, is it all that it’s chalked up to be? We’re here to answer that question. There’s a specific issue that we need to consider when referring to space exploration; should we continue to fund NASA? We acknowledge that some people may already have strong opinions on this, and we ask you to keep an open mind and try to avoid bias. After all, we’re discussing our future.

NASA has been around for 50 years, and they already sent over 200 missions into space. Each mission has its own discoveries and its own flaws. They all changed the way we look at our solar system, galaxy, and the universe. Some of them were successful and some were not. These missions have helped NASA a lot. Curiosity, Apollo 11, and Hubble have helped the world by discovering new things, making spinoffs, and successfully completing their mission.

Although it is true that there is no concrete outcome “for using taxpayer money” to fund space programs, it does not mean in any way that the money is not being used to help our society grow (Source H). The bulk of the money funded to space exploration goes towards the incomes of thousands of skilled employees who create such successful space missions. It can be assumed that less than one percent is being used from the federal dollar on manned space programs, as space exploration falls under the “All others” category which spends six percent of every federal tax dollar (Source C). Space exploration programs have the potential to discover new technologies and expand on what we have here on Earth, but in order to succeed, there needs to be slight altercations with how each federal tax dollar is spent. National defense gets nineteen percent of each federal tax dollar – a proportion that is too extraordinary considering the United States has access to a nuclear arsenal which is far less expensive and just as effective as maintaining conventional forces (Source C). The United States is pretty much the military for half the world, so instead of collecting all the money from our tax payers here in America, we should collect from other counties that we protect as

According to a pie chart called, “Federal Spending for United States - FY 2015” from the NASA Data Charts, the budget for space in 2015 is not a percentage significant enough to have its own section. Instead, it is a subsection of the heading Other Spendings, which is given 2% of the federal budget. Also, in the Neil deGrasse Tyson article, it is said that the American government only gives a 7/10 cent of a tax dollar to space exploration (Tyson 2). He gives a brilliant resolution by saying, “ I’d prefer that it were more, perhaps 2 cents on the dollar.” even though we used to “. . . peak NASA spending amounted to no more than 4 cents on the tax dollar”. One of the most important technological advance was the invention of the Hubble Space

While many people support funding NASA and agree with the organization’s goals, there a good number of people who do not. A common reason for this is that they believe that the space program should focus on discovering things that can benefit us immediately, not in the future. This is a valid argument because there

The Columbia mission, STS-107, was interesting because the public was more aware of the risk that was being taken upon re-entry. During the launch a piece of insulating foam broke away from the external tank surface, striking the left wing. In previous missions there had been evidence of this occurring which to engineers was seen as minor. In the case of the Columbia craft failure, it was more serious because the damaged section of the wing was damaged to the extent of which it allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate the structure of the wing, pulling it apart, rendering the craft unstable.

There are also many educational benefits to funding NASA. By funding NASA, one can promote future interests in the field of science and engineering by inspiring students to dream about changing the way space is looked at by the world. Students are pushed to pursue knowledge in STEM subjects so that eventually they can help “push the future forward.” People might say that it is better to fund education though sending money to schools, but the problem is that no matter how good the education is at schools, if students are not motivated then the schools will not succeed at teaching

According to Chamberlain, a mere six cents out of every federal dollar spent is distributed among the “all others” category comprising of “community and regional development; administration of justice; international affairs; natural resources and environment; agriculture; general science; space and technology; general government; commerce and housing credit; energy; and undistributed offsetting receipts.” On the other hand, ten pennies of each federal dollar spent goes toward health. A large amount of money can make a vast difference both economically and environmentally. NIH-supported research led to several achievements including a decrease in AIDS-related deaths, a decrease in infant death syndrome rates, lower rates of heart disease and stroke, vaccines to protect from infectious diseases such as rubella, whooping cough, and pneumococcal pneumonia, and more. These achievements were caused by money. The reason that money is limited is due to other funds. Health, defense, security, education, transportation, and so on. These other funds are the explanation behind the controversy of whether or not space exploration should be implemented. Space exploration has so many possibilities and opportunities for achievements. The United States has already landed two men on

American citizens have to pay taxes and some of that money is going towards space exploration. With a 12.7 trillion national debt and high unemployment in the United States, Americans simply aren’t willing to invest in human spaceflight right now (Naeye). America is not in a financially stable place and people feel the money should be used to do more useful things such as funding schools and repairing roads. However, American citizens are only having to pay 33 dollars a year to fund these programs (Life’s Little Mysteries Staff). Also, exploring space is very useful because exploring space has helped scientists learn many facts about all the planets, suns, and moons in the solar system plus about the other systems out

Outlasting the Soviet Union that launched it into space, Mir became one of the most glorious spacecrafts to ever launch into space. It set the highest stage for precursors to today's international space station. Launched on February 1896, Mir represented the longest human occupation in space; being the foreground for all other space shuttles. Mir’s(It’s?) complex system includes the ability to “ recycle air and water, maintaining optimal heat and humidity for human comfort, and food storage and waste disposal systems” being the reason it was able to hold six astronauts for a three week period (wisegeek CITE). Additionally, it was the first space station that raised “The first crop of wheat to be grown from seed to seed in outer space” (NASA 1st CITE). Seeing as no man had ever even been on space before, this was a big deal to the astronauts because it gave them an outlook on what exactly can be done in space. ADD MORE 2-3

Then it came time for the Apollo missions. Eleven manned launches into space, 6 of which landing on the moon, carried man farther than ever before. Apollo 1 was scheduled to be the first in the series. Just 4 days before the launch, there was a problem. During a test flight, a fire broke out inside the sealed capsule from faulty wiring. The fire suffocated the 3 astronauts inside. NASA launched a full investigation (Aldrin 3). “It exposed deep flaws in our capsules and procedures”, said Gene Kranz, the retired chief flight director at NASA during the Gemini and Apollo missions (When).

One of the greatest tragedies in history occurred on January 8, 1986. Shortly after it was launched, the space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing seven astronauts, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire schoolteacher chosen to be the first teacher in space (“Challenger Disaster, n.d.). The explosion was caused by a failure of the O-rings of the solid rocket boosters. The O-rings were unable to seat properly, causing the leaking of hot combustion gases, which burnt through the external fuel tank. The malfunction was not any one person’s or organization’s fault; it was caused by many factors including the decision to launch despite the cold weather, the poor communication between management levels of the National Aeronautics and