Funding For NASA Essay

Space exploration is a subject of much debate in regards to its funding. There has always been a divide in opinions on space exploration. Many people, usually engineers or those in the field of science, have been in favor of space exploration and the innovations it could bring. Other people, such as politicians and businessmen, see space exploration as a waste of funding that does not result in profit or benefits. However, aerospace engineers are currently planning several space programs that could bring many benefits to the United States. Investing in space exploration will benefit the U.S. in the future by contributing knowledge, providing resources, and possibly finding another habitable planet.

When most people think of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and its Space Program, the first image that can come to mind is a giant rocket and outer space but far more is involved. NASA’s space program, and the need for major innovations to get man to space directly sparked a large number of spin-offs of space technology into some of todays important advancements, such as: water filtration, fuel cells, and technology that provides doctors a better way to scan patients for breast cancer. Modern water filtration for instance, would not be what it is today if not without the need to provide clean water to astronauts in outer space. What most people do not realize is, NASA benefits the everyday lives of people here on Earth

Today, the world is very competitive. To provoke the lead in space exploration causes and creates an obstacle between the opportunities beyond exploration. Although we are in debt, there are many inefficient uses between our economy. For example, according to President Obama’s NASA Budget Should Not Be Approved, “There are billions of dollars spent on climate research, and NASA doesn’t need to duplicate those efforts.” In addition, another statement made in the article President Obama’s NASA Budget Should Not Be Approved is, “And the idea

NASA has accomplished many things in the last fifty five years of it’s existence, such as the Apollo programs, Mars missions, developing the proficiency in which aircraft flies, etc. NASA has tremendous benefits towards the future expansion and development of the United States and even the world. The NASA budget should be increased.

In 2011, the budget for NASA was $18.4 billion. While that sounds like a lot, and it is, that amount of money was only 0.5% of the United States total budget, which is $3.4 Trillion. Nevertheless, NASA’s budget compared to the total budget for the government is miniscule. The space programs use this money for good. Stated before, space programs send out a mission to explore the small sliver of the universe that people live in. Using this information people have learned about where they are in the vast universe. At NASA there over 18,000 employees. If the government reduced the budget of space exploration, many people would lose their jobs. This would affect many families and people who have careers in astronomy and engineering. While exploring space, space programs have used the money to invent objects that can help people. They have invented prosthetic limbs, which help individuals that have lost an arm or leg. NASA also invented solar panels that are a clean and efficient way of energy. If people convert to solar energy, we can reduce emissions of toxic gasses and clean up the environment. Space programs have helped people by using the currency they receive for good useful

Despite claims that space exploration is waste of money because we have too many problems to be solved here on Earth, space exploration program and NASA are completely worth every penny spent under them because of jobs it has created and advances it has led to in field of science, technology, safety, transportation,

One would think that sending humans or technology into space would cost a fair amount of money – in reality, the price may far exceed what one might expect. The price is so high, in fact, that it may make you question why so much money is spent on space programs when it could be used to fund education or health care, which arguably is of greater use to us on Earth. Substantial amounts of money have been spent on space exploration from the 1960s well into the twenty-first century. This was evident during the Cold War. When national pride and international power is at stake, the cost of space exploration may seem like just a number. During the Cold War era, the United States squared away approximately five percent of their federal budget in an

government funds about a trillion dollars a year to all the different departments. The government tends to go overboard and invest a lot, but NASA's productivity over the years has lacked the intangibles needed to be able to find NASA funds necessary. NASA funds range in the billions, and each space shuttle is equivalent to enough “electricity to power a U.S. city of two millions people for a year”(Yost 4). It’s the hard working people that pay to fund NASA, in return the common people get little or nothing because NASA is unable to pay back to the people. Remembering, NASA not only spends money, but “ the sweat of our laborers … genius of our scientists… hopes of our children” (Yost). There are many children that dream about going to the moon, but those hopes are crushed because few people are able avoid getting cut in the last stages, and still NASA is receiving high funds to do nothing. Abundant funds to NASA are not needed, and instead should be used to pay for the countries debt and the future of the common

“Space is a $300 billion industry worldwide, NASA is a tiny percent of that. But that little bit is what inspires dreams.” – Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. NASA or The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is one of the more popular government funded programs. NASA has inspired whole generation to believe that they can do anything and continue to show kids that anything is possible. NASA currently has a budget of 19.3 billion dollars and coming 2017 it will be reduced to 19 billion dollars. NASA’s budget is usually slashed every few years because the government believes it is better spent elsewhere. I believe that NASA’s budget should be increased and here are three reasons why.

Apart spending money, exploration of space has actually boosted the economy by creating more jobs. A study by Midwest Research Institute suggests that space research expenditures and our economy is strongly related, and is mutually beneficial to each other. Each dollar that have been spent on space exploration returns an average of over seven dollars in gross national product over an eighteen-year period following the expenditure. Another study of the macroeconomic impact of NASA research programs involving the relationship between NASA’s Space Shuttle program and employment California conducted by the Space Division of Rockwell International used an econometric model and estimated that the Space Shuttle program had generated an employment

NASA’s space exploration programs should not justify the costs because there’s more cons to the issue than pros. NASA’s programs are really costly. Some people might argue that NASA programs provide opportunities to travel and furthermore they endanger the lives of the astronauts. It additionally causes controversy and disagreements within the

Everyday people stare into the darkness above completely marveled by the bright lights painted across the sky. While the world above us appears beautiful and mystifying, it does not feel pivotal in our daily routine. The main concerns of many people comprise of paying their taxes and picking their children up from daycare; however, most people do not spend hours on end contemplating the urgency of exploring the unknown in the vast universe above. Because many people do not consider the importance of space exploration in their everyday lives, funding the space program seems completely preposterous. Many people wonder why the government should spend billions of dollars exploring the unknown when the United States has a debt ceiling approaching seventeen trillion dollars. The magnitude of space travel feels minuet when ample issues still exist here on Earth. However, the United States Government must fund the space program because it provides thousands of improvements to everyday technologies and provides humans with the ability to someday leave Earth behind.

Space: the final frontier. The opening words to the TV series Star Trek seemed to carry the hopes and dreams of a generation. After all, their generation had done what seemed impossible – land men on the moon and bring them back to earth safely. Anything seemed possible – even sending men to mars. Today, our space program is just a shell of what it once had been. No longer do we have the means to send man to the moon – in fact, we don’t even have the means to send man into orbit anymore. In 2011, President Obama approved a proposal to cut the budget of NASA, effectively shutting down the Space Shuttle Program. This trend is anything but new – the percentage of money we spend on NASA has been decreasing year after year. In 2013, NASA’s budget was $16.8 billion, a paltry 0.49% of our total federal budget (and less than the citizens of the U.S. spend on pizza per year). This is a sharp decrease from even a decade before, when NASA spending accounted for 0.68% of the budget, and incredibly distant from NASA’s all time high percentage of our budget – 4.41%, in 1966. Many argue that the cut in funding is justifiable; after all, the nation is over $18 trillion in debt, and any way to reduce the deficit is helpful, especially for non-vital programs. However, I believe that NASA should receive more federal funding to continue expanding and funding research and space exploration programs, as the benefits of the space program outweigh the amount spent.

NASA has accomplished great things and is planning on doing several more. Unfortunately, NASA’s current budget would slow down the development of several of these technologies. One way to raise NASA’s budget would be to reduce the military's 600 billion dollar budget. Funding NASA is an expensive task, but it will help in the future. Investing in NASA is one of the smartest things we can do, and it will pay off in the

As the increasingly impotent federal government lurches towards the edge of a self-imposed fiscal cliff, the public and politicians alike have largely accepted the inevitability of deep cuts to the nation's massively inflated budget. While there is still rancorous debate over exactly how the proverbial belt should be tightened, with conservatives demanding reductions in so-called entitlement programs and liberals countering with decreased military spending, a consensus seems to have emerged regarding the budgetary necessity of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Considered by many symbol of bureaucratic waste, with billions of dollars being devoted to implausible missions and esoteric experiments, NASA has been universally targeted as an expendable asset during economic turmoil. Indeed, the most recent federal budget request for 2013 made by President Barack Obama "cuts NASA's planetary science funding from $1.5 billion to $1.2 billion, with further reductions expected in coming years" (Wall), and most experts agree that the era of meaningful governmental investment in space exploration has come to an end. This decision to relegate NASA's cutting edge scientific research and manned space flight missions, once seen as shining emblems of America's global supremacy, to the budgetary dustbin of outdated programs represents a disturbing consequence of the ongoing economic recession. By analyzing the available fiscal data, in