National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA)

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

Stars, mankind has been staring up at them for thousands of years. Over those many years dreams and mythology have been created to explain those lights in the heavens. Mankind grew sick of just staring, and decided to find ways to discover more about it. Eventually over hundreds of years mankind has, been able to send men to the moon, launch satellites into space, and even send rovers to Mars. These feats of science would have been unimaginable hundreds of years ago, and to others that heard of it was only science fiction. With all these accomplishments, it seems humanity has a bright future of further discovery, but a recent development has surfaced regarding Space Exploration. That debate regards the future of space Exploration, and whether or not It should be continued through NASA or private companies. Various opinions have come from all over the scientific and astronomy concerned world. Others side that NASA should continue its lead into the future, because of its contributions to discovery and the scientific world. Others blame that NASA’s lack of progress in previous projects has lead to a disbelief of Nasa, and a turn to Private industries due to their smaller budgets and recent success. Even some see a balanced future of NASA working with private companies, and even healthy competition that will allow a faster progress into the future. Mankind has always had the desire to reach the unreachable, and it cannot go forward

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.

In 1957 the first successful being put into outer space was a chimp, named Laika. The early 1960s brought the first man and woman in space, and eventually by the end Armstrong walked on the moon. The 70s brought asteroid belt voyagers, space stations, and the golden record. The 80s and 90s delivered the Hubble Space Telescope, talk of civilizing anything but earth, and in the early 2000s came the idea of privatizing space travel. The debate is, what have we done in the last ten years? Has NASA’s endeavours been to our liking? How should we pay for this exploration, should it be taxes, the government, private endeavours? And what benefit does it give us? There are varying perspectives with varying motivations. Some see NASA space exploration as a not so pressing matter, and so a waste of time and money. Others disagree, and view NASA as an

Imagine you are a father of four children. Your wife passes away from cancer and your family is in desperate need for food. Your family lives in a dilapidated apartment and you work your fingers to the bone to pay the taxes. You want the money that you paid the government to be used efficiently in a way that will affect you directly, such as healthcare, food, or education, not to reach the moon. Yet the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) used about $18 billion in 2014 for their budget. NASA was created by the United States for the research and development of spacecrafts. The United States and the Soviet Union engaged in the Space Race during the Cold War with the development of technology. Achieving human spaceflight enabled them to discover and explore outer space and the rest of the universe. NASA, however, has outlived its original purpose and has cost more than its worth by misusing its time and resources.

On January 28, 1986, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the space shuttle Challenger. The launch was held in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the Kennedy Space Center. The Challenger shuttle carried seven crew members, including pilots, aerospace engineers and a citizen. Unfortunately, after it launched, the space shuttle broke apart and hit the ocean. The failure of the mission traumatized the whole nation. In fact, millions of people watched the shocking tragedy on television. This incident saddened the nation, and President Ronald Reagan appointed some persons from different areas, such as engineers, pilots, politicians and astronauts, to find the cause of this disaster. Although the investigation revealed that the main reason for the disaster was because of technical issues. In actuality, the disaster was caused by the decision to launch, which was driven by political pressures. The focus on political interest over hard science was the reason for the Challenger disaster.

For over fifty years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, has studied the outer space and how to get there. NASA was founded in 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. NASA basically branched out from another administration which was called the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, or NACA. There are different bases spread out throughout the country, but the NASA headquarters are in Washington. NASA has an administrator who handles giving speeches and informing the press on new information. The administrator of NASA is Charles F. Bolden (About NASA).The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has many purposes that have resulted in various missions that require the unique skills of astronauts.

While Russia holds the title for sending the first human into space, Project Mercury was a success and Alan Shepard became the first American to be sent into space. NASA continued on with Project Gemini to further their space flight capabilities in March of 1965. Following this was the famed Apollo mission which would lead to the first manned spacecraft to orbit another body in Apollo 8 and of course the moon landing made on Apollo 11. These giant leaps in human spaceflight would be trailed by the nearly 40-year long Space Shuttle Program. This essential time period brought with it both technological breakthroughs and tragedy. The Challenger space shuttle suffered a failed launch in 1986 that ended in disaster and the loss of all seven crew members. Pushing past this catastrophe, NASA aided in the construction of the International Space Station which combined NASA’s Freedom space station with the Russian Mir-2, European Columbus, and Japanese Kibō.  The ISS is the largest artificial satellite in Earth’s orbit and is a prime example of how far NASA has come since Project Mercury back in

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government dedicated to space research and exploration. Since its launch by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958, the world has come to owe a great deal to NASA for its advances in human curiosity and discovery. NASA requires research and collaboration on a global level, and employs highly-skilled people from a diverse range of backgrounds, including the military, medicine, and various science and engineering fields. It has been esteemed for decades as a leading authority on space science, making breakthroughs including exploring the geology and meteorology of planets and moons, viewing star clusters and neighboring galaxies, participating in the International Space Station, and providing compelling insight on the Earth’s climate in the face of climate change. Recently, the United States federal budget plan for 2017 has been released that significantly lowers NASA’s funding, and it is very problematic. This cut in spending will halt some of the agency’s finest efforts that will benefit the world in a remarkable way. Upon understanding the great work that NASA has achieved, not only should the government not cut spending on the space agency, but increase spending as one of the smartest investments the country has made.

"The entire earth is but a point and the place of our own habitation but a minute corner of it". This quote is not attributed to an esteemed astronomer, nor is it the mantra of a well-known philosopher. These were the words of Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, circa 170 AD. The yearning to understand that which exists beyond the human perspective is engraved throughout history. From stargazers to navigators, priests to scientists, the trend is evident. But, in light of recent events and advancements, the need for humans in space has appeared to dwindle. With technology as it stands today, unmanned missions have become increasingly prevalent. The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) has run multiple unmanned missions with great

Once upon a time there was a kid named Weasel. It was winter with a lot of snow

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

Things alter in the 21st century when two presidential administrations made fateful decisions based on NASA. The first was in 2004 during President George W. Bush announcement on the “Vision for Space Exploration“. This involves the retirement of the Space Shuttle and developing a new class of launchers that could take humans back to the Moon by 2020 – known as the Constellation

Many discoveries are still to be made in space and NASA has many new projects. They are designing technology to send people to Mars or even asteroids. Therefor, a lot of money is being spent on these projects. NASA is also developing new robots to launch up into space. However, the technological advances will further our knowledge in the space world.

Space privatization can be helpful in some ways, for example it could give jobs to some people but according to Borenstein, “..former NASA officials worried about safety and from congressional leaders worried about lost jobs”(par.3). NASA will just be another customer to companies, for example, when NASA had to pay Russia. This topic is important because, it will determine what our future generations will know about space. This mean that in the future, if the become private it could only turn about flight, and the research will not be important