The National Aeronautics And Space Administration

A major sign of the public’s opinion of the space program by the time Apollo 13 had launched could be found in the cancellation of their live broadcast. This cancellation helped to show that the media and public no longer put as much relevance on the American space program once they had already reached the moon. The media figured that we had already beat the Russians, why waste the resources and risk the lives to do anything more. The space program lost its luster in the public eye and its symbolic influence on American life was diminishing. Importance and attention was placed upon the space program and the Apollo 13 mission once again only because there was an explosion on board and lives were at risk.

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.

The Apollo Program (1963-1972) was a series of missions with a goal to land humans on the moon. The program’s objective, set by President Kennedy in 1961, was achieved nine short years later (The Apollo Missions). Of the program, six were successful in doing so, Apollo 11 being the first to achieve that goal (Williams). The crew contained Neil Armstrong, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin Jr. , and Michael Collins.

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.

The cold war served as a catalyst for the Space Race. The United States and the Soviet Union ran neck and neck to launch their way into Earth’s orbit. The launching of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union placed them in the lead of the race. No sooner than a decade later, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, making it one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments. The Apollo program (source B) opened up the vault of a billions of dollars investment.

The Apollo program conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1969 to 1972. Led by Dwight D. Eisenhower administration, the goal was to put mankind into space. Later turned over to John F. Kennedy, who stretched for a greater goal of putting the first American on the moon moreover bringing him back safely to Earth. This amalgamation, caused from the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States after World War II. Apollo 1 planned to be the first manned mission for NASA. The goal was to go into low Earth orbit to sufficiently test the Apollo Command Module. However, on January 27, 1967 a fire erupted during a launch test within the capsule resulting in the death of Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger

Shepard Jr. is the first American man to be launched into space. He was in the Mercury space capsule in a 15 minute suborbital mission (meaning it reaches the atmosphere and falls back on Earth). John H. Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit Earth on February 20, 1962. After Project Mercury, Project Gemini started. Gemini 4's, Edward H. White Jr. conducted the first spacewalk (when an astronaut get’s out the space vehicle). Project Apollo began to be NASA’S priority in May 25, 1951. President John F. Kennedy announced the plan of launching a man in space to land on the Moon. He used this as a tool to subtly announce the US’s superiority of the Cold War enemies. It took 11 years to carry out. It took $25.4 billion dollars to achieve. This withstood challenges including lives of Roger B. Chaffee, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, and Edward H. White Jr. Jr. after a fire that took place in the Apollo capsule (January 27, 1967). October 1968 they launched different Apollo missions such as Apollo 7 (orbit earth) and Apollo 8 (orbit moon). July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong steps foot on the Moon after Apollo 11 landed with Edwin E. Buzz Aldrin Jr. Michael Collins remained in the capsule. Apollo 13 almost launched however the oxygen tank exploded. Harrison H. Jack Schmitt was a geologist that was chosen to become an astronaut. NASA and the Soviet Union allied to make the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). It served testing purposes and the crew launched separately,

Therefore, in order to fund a comparable program to Apollo, which put men on the moon, NASA would have to spend over half of its annual budget or over twice its current exploration budget on manned space flight for at least a decade, drastically narrowing their focus, and potentially inhibiting discoveries they will make. Figure 1 below shows that spending on manned space flight today is much lower than it was in the early days of NASA, confirming that there would need to be a major budget overhaul to achieve a comparable program

Gemini was a two manned spaceflight that would orbit Earth for two weeks before landing (two weeks as it was the time for a rocket to make a round trip to the moon). Gemini was a success as all ten of the manned spaceflights had accomplished their goals. The Apollo Program had begun in 1961. With the confident space program at a high, the presence of excitement was expected during the first step in the Apollo Program. Known as Apollo 204, on January 27, 1967, tragedy struck. At 6:31 in the evening, shouting was heard as the command module of the Saturn 1-B was engulfed in flames, killing the three astronauts (Breuer 178). Said to be a short circuit, the capsule was completely destroyed, but the rest of the rocket was unharmed. The tragedy shocked all of America, freezing the space program for months. The time left to land man on the moon had become that much shorter. Many Apollo missions later, on July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 lifted off hoping to finish the Space Race. Four days later, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin were the first men to walk on the moon, defeating the Soviets (“Cold” para. 9). Americans now could say they had beaten the Soviets, showing pride in the country. They who have been behind in the Space Race were now

Along with the Apollo Program, Gemini program was also launched by US in 1961 which helped NASA get ready for the Apollo moon landings such as testing an

Apollo was the NASA space program that resulted in the first moon landing. The program's mission was the goal of the President John F. Kennedy who said, "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." The program had a total of eleven space flights beginning in 1968 and ending in 1972. Four flights were used to test equipment and the rest were used to land onto the moon. However, only six out of those seven actually made it to the moon. The third manned mission to the moon, Apollo 13, never made it. The mission was supposed to land in the Fra Mauro area on the moon's surface. However, oxygen tank No.2 exploded causing oxygen tank No.1 tank to fail leaving the command module 200,000 miles away from Earth without

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.

After receiving all of these organizations they then quickly began working on options for individuals to go through space flight. NASA's first major project that was carefully studied on through NASA’s great team was Project Mercury, trying to see that if people could survive the barren depths most well known as space, which was then followed by Project Gemini, which tried to build up from project Mercury and tried to used its craft to build a two man spaceship. After all these projects NASA decided to take a risk when it funded and ran Project, which tried to expand their outreach and see if they could go to the moon. At its most development in 1969 when the Apollo 11 mission first put humans on the moon

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

NASA soon responded with the Mercury Missions. These Missions put Americans in orbit and many believe was the real start of the America’s space program. This brought one of the biggest changes to the Nation’s space program. Every tool had to either be built or adapted from another tool to fit the requirement needed. The procedures and systems all had to be redesigned. After the 10 missions, NASA moved on to project Gemini, which concentrated on learning the skills to be able to descend onto the lunar surface. This included docking in space and performing EVAs, or extra vehicular activities, more commonly known as a space walks.