Space Politics : The National Security Approach And The Commercial Approach Essay

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

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.

For centuries, people have been gazing at the night sky, and asking the same question; what is out there? While we may never get a concise answer, we are learning more and more information everyday thanks to public organizations like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA is the go to organization when talking about space research, however there are numerous other groups who focus on the same thing that NASA does. There are also private entities that are consistently making breakthrough discoveries as well, with the most widely known one being SpaceX. Since there are so many organizations doing exactly what NASA does, is NASA worth our tax dollars? In order to set up a solid foundation to answer this question, we

As President Eisenhower once stated, “Every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed” (qtd in DeGroot). According to Jerry DeGroot, a lecturer in the Department of Modern History at the University of St. Andrews and author of the widely acclaimed biography “Douglas Haig”, every year, the United States federal government funds the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with over $17 billion. When Keith Yost, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was asked about government funding on NASA, he replied, “NASA is not only spending money, but also the sweat of our laborers, the genius of our scientists, and the hopes of our children.” As a powerhouse in the work industry, NASA is taking away from the remainder of the country. Before venturing off into space, the US needs to realize the importance of tackling the issues that lie before the citizens here on Earth. As Richard Truly, a retired Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, stated in agreement, “...I didn’t go to NASA for the United States to make international commitments that wouldn’t keep, to design space vehicles that will never be built (or will be then fail), or to make promises to the American people that will never be kept.” It would be in the best interest for the citizens of the United States federal government to cut NASA funding.

With the threat of Congress cutting NASA 's budget, the United State 's sixty year preeminence in space exploration is in serious peril..

By using extensive internet based research, I plan to investigate the decrease in NASA’s funding. My primary question is; why is the U.S. government reducing the funds? and why are they saying they can't afford it?. When in reason I think they chose not to. I think NASA should be viewed as an investment, because it does not drain nearly enough money as it contributes. NASA pays for itself, they give us inventions that can apply to our daily lives, and with enough research we may be mining asteroids or pure limitless solar energy in the future, but most of all they give our species itself a way forward.

　　President Ronald Reagan inherited the space policy of his predecessor, Jimmy Carter and was not satisfied with its current objectives and lack of direction (Logsdon, 1995). He put together a transition team to draft a new chapter for NASA which was left in an “untenable position” by Carter’s lack of direction for the agency. The NASA transition team leader, George Low, remarked that NASA can be “the best in American accomplishment and inspiration for all citizens” (Logsdon, 1995). The team provided input to Reagan that would drive space policy during his eight year tenure.

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.

“There is perhaps no better a demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world.” Carl Sagan said this after seeing a picture of the Earth taken from the Voyager 1. In the image there is a tiny little speck that is barely noticeable unless it is pointed out. That little speck is our planet.Government spending on NASA has helped to achieve this and it allows us to see things about our universe that we would have never have had been able to see before. NASA funding can be beneficial because it shows us things about our universe that we have never known and things we would have never thought to explore.This is what NASA is trying to accomplish. However NASA funding can be detrimental because it costs more and more each year and it pushes us into even more debt than what we are already in. This can contribute to the downfall of the economy and the nation as a whole because of the increase in spending, and will lead to cuts in other more crucial parts of the government and the economy where the money would be better spent. Government funding for NASA is a benefit to society but, it is also a detriment to society as well.

In the beginning the national space program and initial introduction of space policy coalitions where not that big of a deal since the program fell under one organization NASA. Bosso and Kay point out that during this time being in favor of space was to be in favor of NASA and expensive, massive highly technical programs like the Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo. (Bosso & Kay, pg 49) These coalitions encompass personnel in different areas of the political forum that have a common focus on which direction to try to shape policy.

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

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is one of the programs that the government has decided it cannot continue to finance at its current rates, and the money being put into NASA has been cut back. This is definitely not a smart place to make spending cuts and, at least for the near future, this trend of lessened government support needs to be reversed. By using budget cuts as a possible solution to

The debt in America is increasing every year, and our government has decided to cut one of the most profitable organizations – NASA. The profit NASA receives is

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

In the 1970s NASA concluded their shuttle program with their last manned trip to the moon. This does not mean that NASA is no longer doing space missions. They are simply refocusing their efforts in areas such as Mars and deeper space missions to make sure their funding is being used properly. As NASA is refocusing, private companies have the goal of providing people with Jupiter-sized banks accounts travel to low-orbit Earth and by exploring areas closer to Earth, such as the moon (Felton). It is very interesting in seeing how the United States goes from getting a man on the moon, exploring outer space, to private companies looking to take regular people to outer space for a price.