The United States government has made space exploration a high priority, but it at a high cost with a high reward. A new 17.5 billion dollar budget established for 2015 has been set in place for NASA to invest in new shuttles and other technologies required for new exploration (Klotz). Until 2017, which is when the first American shuttles are schedule to be ready, the cost for an American to go to the International Space Station on a foreign shuttle would cost nearly 65 million dollars a seat (Klotz). With the shuttle program that had been around for 30 years coming to an end in 2011 by President Obama, a complete overhaul at NASA is underway. The president reflected on the shutdown of the historic program, “The shuttle did some extraordinary work in low orbit experiments, the International Space Station, moving cargo. It was an extraordinary accomplishment and we’re very proud of the work that it did. But now what we need is that next technological breakthrough.” (Malik- “Obama says last space shuttle launch ends one era, but opens another.”). NASA has its eyes set on capturing an asteroid and placing it in high orbit around the moon for astronauts to explore, an unmanned mission to mars by 2017 that also includes a possible manned flyby mission of Mars and Venus by 2021, and a trip to Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, by 2025 (Foust). With these bold goals set for the future, private enterprises do not have the funding for these missions, but thanks to the United States government, NASA will. The Mars mission alone is set to cost around 3.1 billion dollars, the asteroid mission is to cost around 133 million, and the Europa mission already begun budgeting (Leone). President Obama has high expectations for NASA and their missions. The ...
... middle of paper ...
...he Future of the Space Industry Depend on Kickstarter?." Mashable.com 5 Aug. 2013, Indiegogo: NewsBank. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Leone, Dan. "NASA's $17.5B 2015 Budget Would Fund New Science Missions." Fox News. FOX News Network, 04 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Malik, Tariq. “NASA’s 2014 Budget: Space Exploration Experts React” Space.com N.P., 10 April 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2014
Malik, Tariq. "Obama Says Last Space Shuttle Launch Ends One Era, But Opens Another."Space.com. N.p., 10 July 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
“Obama Administration Proposes 17.5 Billion in NASA funding for 2015” NASA’s proposed budget for 2014 to include funds for commercial Vehicles. 5 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014
"Responding to Potential Asteroid Redirect Mission Targets." NASA. NASA, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Tonkin, Oliver. “Daily Nebraskan.” Daily Nebraskan. N.P., 11 Mar. 2014 Web. 12 Mar. 2014
NASA Funding The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was booming in the late 1960s because the U.S. invested over 4.5 percent of the Federal Budget (Bolden). Unfortunately, in the recent years, the Government has slashed funding for many of NASA’s projects in an attempt to cut back on the deficit and boost the economy. Despite the plummet in NASA's budget, the program has proved that it's prominence in the U.S., space programs like NASA continue to face difficulty in increasing its funds. Although, NASA leads evidently, the government doesn’t think NASA is worth more than 0.47 percent of the federal budget.
Bill Nye, the “Science Guy,” asserts, “NASA is an engine of innovation and inspiration as well as the world's premier space exploration agency, and we are well served by politicians working to keep it that way, instead of turning it into a mere jobs program, or worse, cutting its budget.” The United States of America’s government is currently in an economic debt encompassing billions of US dollars. Unfortunately, the government has attempted to balance finances by cutting the funding for most programs, including NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA, in over half a century, has brought the most economic, technological, and social benefits than any other program held here in the USA, as well as any other extraterrestrial program in the world. The last thing this nation needs is the cutting of NASA finances. NASA should be receiving more funding because the Earth will not last forever and humans will need a place to live, there’s a curiosity within humans about the vast universe they live in, there is evidence to suggest life on other planets, the USA’s superpower status will be improved, and the economical income NASA brings is more efficient than any other governmental or educational program.
Dubner, Stephen. "Is Space Exploration Worth the Cost?." Freakonomics: The Hidden Side of Everything. New York Times, 11/1/2010. Web. 18 Jul 2010. .
Are we allotting enough funding for aerospace research? At the present time, significant progress in aerospace research will not be made for a long time. It is sad that we don’t place more urgency on such an important field. Yes, there is still research being conducted in the field; however, limited funding prevents significant advancement. The benefits derived from aerospace research should provide enough justification for investing more money in this area. The benefits are not exclusive to sp...
The National Academies Press (2012) NASA’s Strategic Direction and Need for a National Consensus retrieved from http//www.npa.edu/openbook.php?record_id=18248&
When talking about the current space program, Neil Degrasse Tyson once said, “I got angry with America, because advancing is not just something you do incrementally. You need innovation as well, so that your advances are revolutionary, not merely evolutionary” (Tyson 3). America used to have the top space program in the world. Being first to the moon excited the country and gave everyone a sense of pride and fulfillment. Lately, though, we have been falling behind in space exploration. A successful space program is needed in America, and here’s why: we are losing our grip on the title as the world superpower and a new age of economics and politics is coming faster than we are prepared for. To be prepared for this new age we need the funds,
It is within man’s blood and nature to explore, and space is our next New World. Man’s first achievement in space travel was the launch of the Sputnik on October 4, 1957. For the next decades, space travel was roaring like a rocket, fueled by man’s desire to explore, man’s desire for knowledge, and man’s desire to beat his enemies. However, these impulses have died out as the well of government funding has been diverted to wars and debts, and the interest of the American people has been diverted to wars and debts. Amidst all these issues it is debated as to whether or not space travel is worth the money and the attention of scientists, particularly since humanity faces so many issues on earth currently. However, because of the past inventions, current services, and future benefits, space travel is indeed worth the money and attention of governments and people. It is within our hands to control man’s advancement, and space travel is the next venue to do so.
According to Space.com the Federal Government approved a budget of $16.6 billion for NASA in 2014. Approximately 1/3 of that will be spent on space exploration.
----------. Space 2000: Meeting the Challenge of a New Era. New York: Plenum Press, 1987.
...fe, with the inventions they have produced and by learning what they have done I think the budget should be increased. I am a firm believer in that science holds the answers to our problems in the world. If NASA and other scientific organization continue their research I think issues and problems in the world will fix themselves. For example, if NASA or another organization finds a way to effectively convert salt contaminated water to fresh drinkable water, our problem regarding water shortage will subside. Maybe NASA found a way to have cars or some other found of transportation run on soil, sand, or grass (very unlikely but it is possible). NASA would need workers to build these devices, which would create many low education jobs across the country. Continued funding for NASA and other scientific organizations will fix the social injustice problems of the world.
People have been venturing out into the universe for many years now. In addition to satellites, both women and men astronauts have traveled into space to collect data about the universe. The first human being, the first animal, and the first spacecraft in orbit, were all achievements of the Soviet Union.
Detractors of public sector space agencies like NASA frequently argue that expending money and resources on sending humans into space is wasteful and irresponsible during shaky economic times. After all, in 2010 the U.S. Census Bureau in recorded 46.2 million people in poverty, the largest number in the 52 years the figure has been published. Putting tax dollars into a shuttle and sending it on an extraplanetary voyage is uneconomical in the eyes of many. However, beneficial developments of the space program can be found in airports, hospitals, laboratories, and homes around the world. Foam created for protecting the outside of a shuttle passing through the harsh atmosphere has found use as a durable, light-weight molding material for artificial limbs. Research and development for NASA'S programs has parented a network of hundreds of communication satellites used around the world on a daily basis and monitored by NASA. Robotic arms used for repairs, maintenance, and hazardous labor in sp...
Most people think that the costly downside to funding space exploration is a reason to avoid spending money on sciences and instead spend it on problems here on earth, but such funding for space exploration actually promotes economical as well as scientific benefits. Space exploration is an important expenditure for the high cost because of the potential for numerous benefits such as the possibility to find useful resources to cultivate, space exploration and satellites produce many thousands of jobs in our economy, and it creates and discovers newer and better technologies through research and development.
“Sheltered as we are by Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field, which deflect lethal radiation from space, we are like coddled children who have never ventured into a tough neighborhood” (Folger 2). Humans have been fascinated with space since the beginning of our time. Just like children and rough neighborhoods, we have tackled obstacle over obstacle to make it home again. In the end, we have a better knowledge and strength than before. The future of space exploration can assist us in answering the everlasting question of how the universe came to be. The more we explore the infinite galaxies, the more we can scientifically discover and create new technologies as science advances. As we continue to discover, we can create new fields and occupations for aspiring young students like myself.
An Astronomy topic that has always been intriguing is space travel. The ability to rocket into space, look down on Earth, and “…explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before” (IMDB) is an adventure that people dream of experiencing. On July 20, 1969, an estimated six million people watched Neil Armstrong become the first man to walk on the Moon (Nixon Library). Presently, people are paying Virgin Galactic $250,000 to reserve a seat on a spaceship that is expected to tour suborbital space in the near future (Virgin Galactic). Although space travel continues to be of interest, there is also some controversy. Controversies include: the allocation of government resources for space exploration, government verses commercial spacecrafts, and the need to colonize other planets for the survival of humanity. The intrigue and the controversy of space travel are the reasons for this Astronomy conversation.