Themes In Destination Moon

Many critics believe that NASA and space exploration should not be the main focus of the government. However, NASA is not just about flying rockets and putting men into space. There is science and engineering that is being developed to push humanity forward in life. This space program is essential to answering philosophical questions, creating new technology for practical everyday use, the international collaboration with other countries, and the long-term survival of the human

Although it is true that there is no concrete outcome “for using taxpayer money” to fund space programs, it does not mean in any way that the money is not being used to help our society grow (Source H). The bulk of the money funded to space exploration goes towards the incomes of thousands of skilled employees who create such successful space missions. It can be assumed that less than one percent is being used from the federal dollar on manned space programs, as space exploration falls under the “All others” category which spends six percent of every federal tax dollar (Source C). Space exploration programs have the potential to discover new technologies and expand on what we have here on Earth, but in order to succeed, there needs to be slight altercations with how each federal tax dollar is spent. National defense gets nineteen percent of each federal tax dollar – a proportion that is too extraordinary considering the United States has access to a nuclear arsenal which is far less expensive and just as effective as maintaining conventional forces (Source C). The United States is pretty much the military for half the world, so instead of collecting all the money from our tax payers here in America, we should collect from other counties that we protect as

To support the ideas space exploration brings, one must look at where the people’s taxes are going and if these ideas are worth the financial trust the citizens put into their government. Source A explains where the taxes from salaries

And with that comes the conflict of whether or not that quest holds so much importance that a nation’s citizens should fund it without explicit consent. That scenario has occurred for almost all of the frontiers of the United States, especially Westward Expansion and space exploration. Furthermore, an entire frontier can fall apart if the money is taken midway through the mission. If the government had not bought new territory for the United States, it would prove to be difficult settling new land for our nation. And if the government pulled the funding from NASA, or ceased to fund research for new technologies, many companies would rely on donations to push on, which, although it might prove challenging, could help them to progress

When thinking about America being the first to go to the moon one should also address the program that was formed to make that dream possible. In 1958 the NASA program was organized in America to work on winning the “space race”. America was the first country to reach the moon and now is determined to be the first country to reach another planet. The U.S. is currently working on projects to be able to reach Mars, which means that they are making NASA focus on Mars, causing a decrease in funds for other projects. While going to space is not going to solve Earth's issues, the NASA program deserves more funding because the program explores other planets for medical purposes, receives less than other budgets, and provides protection for the planet.

“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.

Space has always been an unknown to the humanity, and therefore humanity has in insatiable desire to know as much as possible about the area beyond the Earth's atmosphere. Exploring space can lead to many new and exciting discoveries such as (see hubble, planets, kepler, moon rocks etc). When the United States first entered the realm of space in the [1960s], NASA had much funding. However, the motivation of this funding was not for science – it was political, as the government was determined to beat Russia in the Cold War Space Race. Today, as there is no political motivator as great as the Cold War, NASA is faced with a lack of funding and must make hard decisions. They must decide between the adventure and excitement of sending manned missions

The American government and the people of the world have always been fascinated and dreamed about going into space. The United States of America was first to land on the moon. But the US went to the moon to beat the Soviet Union due to the US and the Soviets being enemies in the Cold War. During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union fought together as allies against the Axis powers. However, the relationship between the two nations was a tense one. Americans had long been wary of Soviet communism and concerned about Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s rule of his own country. The war among the US, and Soviet Union was called the Cold War which neither the United States nor the Soviet Union wanted to openly fight each other and they were afraid of each other’s power. Since the US went to space in 1969, why haven't we gone farther, it is 2016. But, if the United States never of went to space in the first place, the world as we know it would not be the same.

When Sputnik 1 had launched, many looked upon Dwight D. Eisenhower, the president at the time, to see how he’d oppose. Sputnik allowed Eisenhower to show his leadership as he created NASA and The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to work alongside each other. This along with many achievements following Sputnik showed Eisenhower’s tenacious attitude towards the Space Race, satisfying his nation (Herbert para. 6). On May 5, 1961, John F. Kennedy publicly announced the goal for America to have man landing on the moon by the end of the decade, clearly setting the finish line to the space race (“Space” para. 5). With this bold statement, it shocked many Americans including the ones in the space program as they were months to years behind the Soviet’s space program. With his goal set high, JFK feared that Americans would lose interest in the race, therefore wanting the Soviets to increase their productivity with the program sparking the interest back for Americans. Also fearing the high amounts of funding needed to launch rockets to space, in order to prevent being criticized by the American people thinking it was just a waste of money, he needed the people to believe in the program (Herbert para. 3). Consequently, President Kennedy, at Rice Stadium on September 12, 1962 gave his “We choose to go to the moon” speech.

On July 21, 1969, the United States rocket Apollo 11 landed on the moon, marking a monumental and unprecedented feat of mankind. Culminated as the product of breakthrough innovations in engineering and physics and overwhelming government support (which granted NASA over 4% of the federal budget), the moon landing was the crowning moment of NASA’s accomplishments. At that time, a new era of space exploration seemed to be on the verge of occurrence. However, fifty years later, NASA has seemed to have fallen from its old glory, with the United States Federal government spending only 0.5% of the nation’s federal budget on its space endeavors. With increased concerns of NASA’s

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.

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”-Neil Armstrong. This quote was stated by the first man on the moon, imagine what famous words could be stated by the first person on a new planet. The government should continue space exploration because of jobs, low resources, pollution, and for educational research.

The world today revolves around technology and is in an ever upward spiraling path of new advancements. This path is now at what some people call the “final frontier”, or the space age. The discoveries being made on this front are overwhelming in comparison to the technology that the world had only twenty years ago. Space exploration was once left up to the governments, as they battled to be the first country in space, but with national debts raising and the cuts made in response, space exploration is beginning to become new grounds for private business owners. Private companies are already beginning to send off rockets at a fraction of the cost that government does, but if more money was put into the government space program, then they

Space has been considered to be the common heritage of all humanity, from the time of the first launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957. This common heritage This is reflected in the landmark the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (‘Outer Space Treaty’ or ‘OST’), which affirms that all have a right to access space for peaceful and scientific purposes, and prohibits the sovereign appropriation of outer space. In 2015 the US Congress passed the Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act (‘US Space Act’) , which provides for the ‘commercial exploration for and commercial recovery of space resources by United States citizens’. Some commentators

In the early 60s, President John F. Kennedy led America into a space race against the Soviet Union. American men and women across the nation backed this goal, allowing NASA to take great leaps in advancing its space exploration programs. This unified nation fulfilled its goal, and Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. However, since then, America’s space exploration has only declined. Funding for NASA has been drastically cut, thus greatly limiting the opportunities for exploring the cosmos. Understanding and exploring the universe is detrimental to the advancement of the United States and opens the door for vast possibilities. If the government chooses to limits its own advancement, then that responsibility must fall