NASA Budget Essay

NASA Funding The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was booming in the late 1960's because the U.S. government invested over 4.5 percent of the Federal Budget into it. Unfortunately, in the recent years the Government has slashed funding for many of NASA’s projects to cut back on the spending and boost the economy. Despite the plummet in NASA's budget, the program has proven its prominence in the U.S., by leading into missions that conclude in ground-shaking results such as the recent water finding on Mars. A space program like NASA continues to face difficulties in increasing its funds; Because the Government currently doesn't think NASA is worth more than 0.47 percent of the Federal Budget.

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 NASA may have once been the leading space organization in the world, the cuts and budget changes are not giving NASA what it needs to succeed. Today, NASA makes up around .5%, or $17 billion, of the national budget. This number is much smaller than the 4.5% in 1966. The United States government is cutting many different organizations and administrations in an attempt to balance the budget. The launching of a NASA space shuttle alone costs around half a billions dollars. Along with research and other things being made by NASA, it is extremely hard for the administration to launch shuttles. The government is being forced to turn its money from NASA, due to the high cost of building and launching rockets, and pay the private companies to take materials and government equipment to the International Space Station. Because of the cuts, various NASA projects are being shut down and abandoned. In 2005, the funding cuts threatened the longest running mission that NASA was running at the time; the Voyager probes. The Voyager probes are two probes that are headed into

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

“The current spending is only 0.4% of the U.S. budget, in 2005 it was 0.7%. This is an important question, not just for me but for the entire concerned human race. Because the NASA program is a key to the defense of not only this country, but the planet and the humans that seclude in it. In addition, NASA has recently discovered signs of water on Mars, and I think this is a valid reason. Also, the NASA funding cuts take a toll by reducing its employment; in which it affects the economy significantly.

In July of 1958, President Eisenhower passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as a response to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik nine months earlier. That administration, now known worldwide as NASA, has become an icon of space exploration and mankind's accomplishments. Who would have thought that fifty years later, NASA's future would be so uncertain? Congress has recently proposed a bill that would significantly cut funding from the NASA's Constellation program. These budget cuts are unnecessary and are counterproductive to the original idea of the space program.

“One small step for man, one giant step for mankind” - Neil Armstrong. Humans have been fascinated by stars and planets from the beginning of time.The human race has made some amazing discoveries; from drawings on cave walls, to putting somebody in space. Discoveries in space include finding new planets, technology, and theories. In recent years, there have been less discoveries due to a cut in NASA’s budget. This is because instead of the money going to NASA, the money goes to other organizations. The U.S should increase NASA’s budget because it helps find planets that could support life, creates more everyday objects, and gives ideas of how the earth might end.

At an operating cost of 6.5 billion dollars per day per deployed carrier strike group (which consists of numerous escort vessels for a single carrier), critics have taken aim at the supercarrier program’s funding as a money pit for the national budget (Hendrix). Some view the current number of supercarriers to be unnecessary, while others believe the US has no defense need to be the only nation with a fleet of large-deck carriers (Thompson). Proponents, along with the Navy, argue that the current number is an absolute minimum to meet the needs of the fleet and the Navy’s overall mission

Aircraft carriers are essentially the backbone of the United States Navy as they are a hybrid warship with the unique ability to provide the greatest projection of power through the aircraft launched off of their 4.5 acre flight decks. Beyond their vital aircraft launching capabilities, they support the largest number of crew members over any other class of ship making them a powerhouse for almost any mission type designated to them. With the aircraft carrier holding the title of being the flagship and most valued asset of the United States Navy also comes the accompanying hefty price tag of production and running costs. All that the aircraft carriers offer may also be their demise as they slowly become too expensive to maintain and consequently

Using the NASA budget provided and my job of using the best materials and keeping the expenses low for a design for a lander, I finally came down to a design. My design choices include a parachute of 100 m. This includes having a surface area large enough that it can produce air friction. A safety cage of a cubic capsule in where the egg has four surfaced sides in which it can land on. Also , includes a crumple zone that has rigid lander legs .This will give a medium rigidity where it can withstand the impact of the force acting against it but doesn't stay rigid in where the legs cannot be used as a crumple zone . This design can offer a safe landing on Mars and support the things inside it in a safe and compact condition.

There are numerous arguments for, and against the Department. Some experts say the Military is too large in peacetime. Some say that it is not big enough if our country engaged in a war. Simply, there is not right or wrong answer. Because of a few certain scandals, faith in the Department has dropped. In the early 2000’s, the “Weapons Waste” was one of these. A F-15 fighter jet that was scheduled to be produced was many years behind schedule, and the price had inflated to almost 40% over the original $100 million dollar price tag. In the same audit, it was discovered that the Navy had ordered four 5.2 billion dollar warships. The first two were already in production, however the last two were canceled because of the cost. Earlier in 2004, during the Iraq/Afghanistan War, NFL star Pat Tillman quit a life of professional sports, and entered the Army. He died in Afghanistan. The country mourned the loss. Only later did his family find out that he had been killed in a friendly fire accident. Finally that same year, after the Marines had taken over a prisoner of war camp, photos surfaced of the Battalion torturing and humiliating prisoners. This caused public outrage towards the troops and their command. After all of these events, it is a major question if the Department has become too large to regulate itself. The controversy has not helped the Department of Defense avoid harsh

Leaders wanted to run the military more like a corporation where bureau chiefs could write their own agendas and have control over their respective departments. The problem, however, was that this marginalized the chief of staff position and left bureau chiefs to focus exclusively on their own departments in lieu of working together for one common purpose. A glaring failure of the bureau system was the

Some citizens believe that NASA is a waste of time. Some would venture to say the program has “no practical use to mankind” and the $17 billion of taxpayers money is put towards failed projects and a hope to get to another planet (Government funding). Every time the program goes into space there is no guarantee they will find something new. Spending money on ineffective trips is pointless for the taxpayers; every time the astronauts go into space they go to the same places making no progress. Since the United States is tied with NASA, the program prevents branches of the government placing space work with another agency, which prevents progress with other space agencies (Government funding). Before going into space, NASA should try to solve problems on Earth first. Such as making a car that doesn’t use gas or pollute the air, finding ways to fix the ozone layer, making less pollution by using renewable resources. Instead of going to Mars, solving issues such as global warming is very important to the Earth. Global warming and climate changes are very important to keeping the Earth a safe, healthy place to live. With the debt America is already in, spending more money to send people on the same missions into space over and over again is just spending more money than the States cannot

NASA contributed to a number of successes in American history. During the past, the organization has rapidly acquired a number changes that has created an opportunity to expand and improve Knowledge Management (KM). Similar to many other important organizations, NASA has frequently pursued ways to capture knowledge into their information systems assuming that it could be managed best when it 's captured in a system for later retrieval. In the past 10 years, the budgets on their missions have been reduced, missions have multiplied ten-fold, and scientists and engineers have been overwhelmed by the extreme challenges. The most important factors that are addressed includes the importance of learning, (FBC) faster, better, cheaper implications, and knowledge management that supports innovation in the future.

Consequently NASA’s strategic plan for space exploration and the ability to improve life is based on making plans to further extend its reach into the Solar System. Essential to continuing the status quo for NASA will be the ability to increase funding and resources from the public.