NASA’s Budget and Space Exploration Program of USA

Since the early 1990s, NASA’s portion of the United States’ federal budget has been steadily declining to a mere 0.4%. In its prime of the 1960s Space Race, the branch received 4.4% and was able to accomplish what was once thought impossible [4]. The public no longer sees the relevance of looking up at space while there are more pressing concerns present in their lives. Although this is a common opinion, the importance of space exploration cannot be understated. Funding the space program has led to numerous advantages of modern society which are taken for granted every day.

The space agency also has a proven track record for providing a great economy investment—estimating every dollar spent on its budget, returns ten dollars to the economy [3]. The phrase “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.” is taken both literally and figuratively by NASA. The importance of the program is not necessarily its extraterrestrial goals but rather the means of meeting their goals which has led to immense technological advancements and services which have gone unnoticed by Americans. About a third of all cameras implemented in phones have been from their need in the 1990s to develop a small enough camera to fit on a spacecraft with scientific quality [1]. Safety grooves are the tiny cuts along highways to help alert anyone drifting off the lanes from entering a fatal accident while creating a surface of better traction in wet conditions originally used for NASA to guide their shuttles upon landing on wet runways. When the grooves proved to be successful it was implemented to the public and has since reduced highway accidents tremendously. Even the insulation of your home is developed from the necessity of surviving in the brutal harsh conditions of space and now provide homes with appropriate temperature for hundreds of millions of people.

While the idea of sending people to Mars when currently there are people struggling to stay alive in the country sounds outrageous, the development and growth of the nation will dictate its future. The endeavor for space missions has resulted in many services to the country and their efforts for continuous research may also improve the way we live. The Climate Impacts research group working for the organization seeks to improve the understanding of how climate may affect human society for various reasons [2]. With global warming becoming a problem in the near future, the concern for maintaining a healthy generation arises.

With the technology to observe Earth and all its traits, the pattern of how humanity impacts the world we live in is made fairly apparent. Using the same technology also improves societal conditions and living by being able to predict the weather and track our systems in this world. The national space program is understandably not the priority for the federal budget, but its share should not be annually decreased for its contribution to how the United States of America functions. NASA also contributes to what is undoubtedly the priority of the discretionary budget: the United States Military. The Senate, on the summer of 2018, has voted to give the military $716 billion for the 2019 fiscal year. This will account for about 17% of the entire federal budget and with the intent to improve its ability to respond to international crises.

In 2015, the global military spending is estimated to be about $1.6 trillion with the American military holding the top spot with a share of 37%. This has been consistently more than the next seven countries combined. Of those seven countries, most are viewed as reliable allies. Developing a powerful military is crucial for the United States not only for its global presence but also for the societal norm due to decades of propaganda promoting their military. However, the amount by which America leads the spending race is a bit absurd, with plenty of allies to assist in times of war, the priority should be placed into helping its citizens instead [5]. The last time that the United States was in a time of war was in World War 2. Every global military action taken since has been considered as extended military engagements. The goal for these international policing actions has been to promote world stability and to aid foreign countries with their affairs with the implication that it aligns with the United States’ agenda.

Unlike the common belief and saying that the military fights for your freedom, it is fighting for other country’s freedoms and well-being. While this is a benevolent action, it does not directly correlate to how the budget should be spent. American citizens are currently at their lowest risk of dying in a war in history, most of which is accredited to military spending. While this is important, the threat of war should be small enough for the military to decrease its foreign aid and start helping internal matters more. The United States Military is not the only department which receives higher funding than NASA, and they should all be important, but the military does account for majority of the discretionary budget when there does not seem to be a pressing need for. With the capabilities of returning ten times the amount spent on the space agency back into the economy from commercial products and services, NASA should be funded better for the benefit of American society. All the things NASA has contributed to the public have been with an unimpressive budget, the agency has a significant potential to achieve impossible goals as they did in 1969. The strive for the objectives will lead to more comfortable lives and improve the rate of advancements in technology.

References:

1. NASA. [Online]. Available: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/infographic.view.php?id=11358. [Accessed: 03-Nov-2018].
2. NASA. [Online]. Available: https://www.giss.nasa.gov/projects/impacts/. [Accessed: 03-Nov-2018].
3. K. Amadeo, “How $1 Spent on NASA Adds $10 to the Economy,” The Balance.[Online]. Available: https://www.thebalance.com/nasa-budget-current-funding-and-history-3306321. [Accessed: 03-Nov-2018].
4. S. Rogers, “Nasa budgets: US spending on space travel since 1958 UPDATED,” The Guardian, 01-Feb-2010. [Online]. Available:https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/feb/01/nasa-budgets-us-spending-space-travel. [Accessed: 03-Nov-2018].
5. J. Stein, “U.S. military budget inches closer to $1 trillion mark, as concerns over federal deficit grow,” The Washington Post, 19-Jun-2018. [Online]. Available:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/19/u-s-military-budget-inches-closer-to-1-trillion-mark-as-concerns-over-federal-deficit-grow/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fd8d65b6bb4c. [Accessed: 03-Nov-2018].