The Pros And Cons Of NASA Budgeting

1769 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History of the American Space Program

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, is a key aspect to the United States and the world in so many more ways than people realize. They help protect the us with satellites to monitor the Earth and what is going on with it that we can not see, they help out our country as well as the rest of the world and the everyday lives of the people, and they help inspire and grow the minds of the youth in our world today. They do this all and much more with a miniscule budget, think of what they could accomplish if given double or triple their current budget. This may seem a little overkill and it may be argued that they would never use this and the budget should even be lowered, but that is not the case at all. Currently NASA's budget …show more content…

For comparison, 16% goes to the military and 60% goes to social programs like Social Security, unemployment, Medicare and health care.” (Rober) In the recent years there has been occasional increases in NASA's overall budget but these are so small they really aren’t doing much to help out this government program. NASA has variety of purposes like protecting the U.S. as well as the Earth as a whole. First off NASA helps with protecting not only our country but also the Earth as a whole. NASA has multiple satellites that are used for monitoring weather here on Earth as well as watch for outside threats that we may not even realize how dangerous they could be. NASA has 26 different Earth observation satellite systems that are currently in operation (Platnick). These 26 are a part of NASA's Earth Science division. Each one of these has a different purpose meant to monitor Earth, and to help protect and preserve things on it. The purpose of these satellites range from monitoring polar ice caps and how they are shrinking, to being able to measure soil moisture …show more content…

For many of NASA's projects the technology known at the time wasn’t always good enough, or might not have been as cost effective as they needed. Because of this NASA would then invent new technology to suit what they need, and a lot of this is being used in the world around you. Many people don’t even realize this. The number of things they have made that we use everyday is a lot more than some may think. A few inventions that came out of NASA’s work include cameras on phones, scratch resistant lenses, LEDs (Light-emitting diodes), water and air purification systems, memory foam, wireless headphones, and much more (Nelson). People may argue that we would have invented these things sooner or later, so why is it such a big deal that NASA invented them. This could be considered a valid argument, but there is no way of really knowing when it would have been invented, and we could be much less technically advanced than we are today. Not only that but the work NASA does can help underdeveloped countries with their daily lives through things such as water purifiers or with programs such as SMAP. Clean water is essential for life and yet many countries around the world and mainly in Africa do not have easy access to it. An article found on NASA's website states “a deep-water well failure in the tiny Kurdish village of Kendala, Iraq,

Show More
Related

  • NASA Apollo 11: Neil Armstrong

    1345 Words  | 3 Pages

    "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," said by Neil Armstrong as he took his first steps on the moon during the NASA Apollo 11 expedition to the moon. No man has ever been to the moon before and NASA, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was the first to get someone to land on the moon. NASA has had many great accomplishments in exploring the "new frontier" that have affected the United States ever since it was first created in July 1958. The idea for NASA first started when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite on October 4, 1957. United States started up its own space travel program and started to work on its own projects that would be better in than the Soviet Union's. This all started the great space race. It was a big race between the Soviet Union and the United States to see who could learn and discover the most. The United States and Soviet Union started building and sending satellites and space ships. Then they tried to see who could make a suit and ship that would be able to allow a living thing to go up in space. They tested out all of the equipment with monkeys and dogs, seeing what would work. Many animals did die in the process but by the results of their testing they were able to build suits and ships that allow human beings to go up in space. Even though they were able to create these machines, that doesn't mean that they didn't have their difficulties and dangers. Two space shuttles were crashed or blown up. There were many key factors that they had learned to fix that resulted in the crashing of those ships. They have made many discoveries and accomplishments like having the first astronauts walk on the moon.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of NASA Funding On NASA

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    history. It managed to send the first human into orbit and to the moon. The discoveries, NASA have made in the recent decades have enabled us to have more knowledge of planets and stars, and resources way beyond this planet. In another hand, reasons as to why the U.S. Government should continue to fund NASA 's space program is a huge deal today. With the ideals that American tax dollars should be spent on more important things and that companies are now able to construct their own rockets that are able to send people on excursions into space, really is what challenges government support and true betterment of

    Read More

  • Federal Budget Dbq

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is because if we let them, another country can one-up us which in the end can lead to major problems for the U.S. The NASA program also gives us a whole new insight to how we see things and how we live our lives daily. For example Google Maps, which is used by many people, uses satellite that we get from having this program. However, some of the money used for this category can be taken and put into another category such as the FBI. “The FBI is the Federal Bureau of Investigation which operates field offices in 58 cities to combat terrorism and crime” (Document E).

    Read More

  • NASA vs. Public Schools

    1525 Words  | 4 Pages

    An article on NASA's website shows me a testimony by NASA Administrator, Dan Goldin, who spoke before the U.S. House of Representative's subcommittee after the NASA budget received an eleven-percent reduction in funding. Mr. Goldin feels outrage that the space program would be expected to function on such restricted funding. Goldin states this kind of cut would "gut space exploration." With closures of NASA centers and significant layoffs, Mr. Goldin predicts this budget cut will affect employee morale. Mr. Goldin poignantly states, "Perhaps most sadly, we will lose the opportunity to inspire a future generation of children." (http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/Goldin/2000/testimony) Goldin's issue is the reduction in his budget. In my experience with budgets, reduction of the budget means, Goldin and his team are going to have to cut costs. Reading between the lines of his argument, I presume the eleven-percent are costs he does not want to cut. It must be his beli...

    Read More

  • Should the Government Fund NASA?

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, thanks to NASA, today there is nothing to worry about because of the satellites it has launched. NASA already does so much with the little money the government provides, if Congress decides to continue funding the company, its possibilities are endless. The government gives NASA $16 billion every year. That is only 7% of the federal government’s budget, which is $2.8 trillion. To put it in perspective, for every $2800 in federal government budget, $16 goes to NASA.

    Read More

  • Increasing Funds for NASA

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech on Oceanic Exploration

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    The US Government Accountability Office and its website GAO.gov shows that NASA also gets funding from the Department of Defense (DOD), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), and US Geologic Survey (USGS) totaling another $19 billion.

    Read More

  • NASA: Should The Government Fund NASA?

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    Think about NASA and all it's done for the better of humanity. Without it being funded, there is hardly anything to fuel any future interest in the space program nor would our world learn anymore about itself. NASA needs this funding to stay alive, to answer the world’s questions, and show everyone how it important it is to keep NASA

    Read More

  • Space Technology: A Critical Investment For Our Nation's Future?

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    The question regarding the value in financially supporting large American institutions, such as NASA, has indeed generated prevalent debate. Bobby Braun addresses his individual view on this issue in his article entitled “Space Technology: A Critical Investment for Our Nation’s Future,” published on October 27, 2011, in which he argues that the United States government must continue to invest in NASA. Braun strengthens the logic and persuasiveness of his argument by incorporating facts and examples about the benefits of NASA’s contributions to American society in order to support his central claims and by asserting the long-term influence of NASA’s existence as well as a powerful call to action in order to emphasize the significance of the organization to the reader.

    Read More

  • International Space Station Program Pros And Cons

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, due to NASA’s involvement in the International Space Station program they were able to send an astronaut up into space and live there for an entire year, creating a new record for a single person to be living in space. They are currently studying how the astronaut was effect due to living in space for a year. They are comparing his body’s reactions on being back on Earth to the body of his twin brother, who stayed on Earth. It is apparent that NASA is trying to figure out the safest way for humanity to live in space for long durations of time. Another instance where humanity is benefits from the International Space Station program is the use of technology that was developed for the space program can now be used for eye surgery. It helps accurately perform the surgery with almost no malfunctions or errors. Finally, due to the space station, people can observe disasters that happen on Earth. The book International Space Station: Benefits for Humanity explains that this is important because “The SERVIR project [NASA/US Agency for International Development] provides satellite data and tools to environmental decision makers in developing countries and operates” (n.d.). Hence, this demonstrates the idea that we, as a society, can make accurate and helpful decisions when it comes to helping the environment and in turn ourselves. NASA is already in the process of helping humanity even more by creating a plan for the

    Read More

  • Should NASA Persuasive Essay

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 2012, under the Obama administration the total budget was $3.73 trillion and $18.7 billion of that money went to NASA. Now this may sound like a considerable amount of money, but if the U.S budget were to be represented by one hundred pennies, then merely half of a penny would be given to NASA. Since landing the first man on the moon, NASA’s budget has gone down from 4.5% of the Federal budget to 0.5%. According to a survey, most Americans think that NASA receives 20% - 25% of the U.S yearly budget. In reality, they only receive 0.5% of the budget. It is amazing to see how the space agency has benefited people on Earth with this budget, but imagine the possibilities if they received a larger portion of the budget each year. How close would we be to colonizing Mars, or what other types of technology would have been

    Read More

  • Why Should Humans Explore Space?

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    Carl Sagan once said “every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring--not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive... If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds.” The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, is executing Sagan’s words every day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower created NASA in 1958 with the purpose of peaceful rather than military space exploration and research to contribute to society. Just 11 years after the creation, NASA put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, the first humans to accomplish this feat. NASA’s research and innovation looked promising but it came at a cost. Money, resources, and spacecraft accidents most famously Apollo 13 all hindered NASA’s research. In the 21st century the debate between funding for NASA is at its peak since the birth of the organization in 1958 especially when there are numerous problems throughout the world. Is the money spent on space exploration worth the advantages and advances it contributes to society?

    Read More

  • Why Is Space Exploration Worth The Effort?

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even if we disregard the economic value of the space program, the achievements of NASA speak for themselves. The ability to send humans onto the moon, survey the surface of Mars using the Curiosity rover, and even find water on a foreign planet is astounding. Even looking at the International Space Station, it seems abundantly clear that the space program brings more unanimity between nations than the military will ever hope to achieve, while the military has a budget 33 times that of the space program. Hence, blaming the costs of the space program is an absurd argument, as the budget that is put into the program is used very proficiently.

    Read More

  • Spinoff: Benefits Of The Solar System

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    “We see the Space Economy in the lives saved when advanced breast cancer screening catches tumors in time for treatment, or when a heart defibrillator restores the proper rhythm of a patient’s heart…. We see it when weather satellites warn us of coming hurricanes, or when satellites provide information critical to understanding our environment.” -NASA Administrator Michael Griffin (Wilson).This statement explains that the NASA organization does not solely focus on space exploration and studying the solar system but they help people’s lives as well. NASA was established in autumn of 1958. By July of 1969, this program had been the first to land men on the moon’s surface(Wilson). The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration program needs to stay out of the

    Read More

  • The Benefits of Space Exploration

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    By being in a very technologically advanced era, scientists can invent revolutionary devices never thought of. NASA is doing that right now and has been doing that since it began. They are not only climbing the stairs in space exploration but in the medical industry, too. Nevertheless, they are forever changing millions of lives by using all they have discovered. Most of all, they are teaching people a life lesson, to always use the things you have for the greater good. NASA has achieved profound success ever since their start in 1958 and they will continue to make discovery and innovation their first and foremost goal for years to come.

    Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of NASA Budgeting

Open Document