intro/background:(Ainsley)
History of funding
Prior space exploration
Going to space is not a novel concept in the 21st century. In fact, as of 2020, more than 600 people have been to space. Of that 600, about 150 of those are Americans. Why haven’t there been more? Well this is a complicated question. Space travel is very physically grueling, but it is also extremely expensive. That leads to another interesting question– where is that money coming from and where SHOULD that money be coming from? The answer to that is complicated and depends on who is asked. Some people believe groups such as NASA should be publicly funded and some believe they should be privately funded.
As of right now, NASA is publicly funded. In the fiscal year 2020, NASA had a budget of about $23.3 billion from the government, which was 48% of the federal budget. In 1963, NASA’s budget was 2.29% of the federal budget. It rose to the highest it’s ever been at 4.41% of the budget in 1966. Both of these budgets were during a time known as the Space Race. The Space Race was when the US and Russia were in competition to travel to space. This included human travel to space, satellites, space probes, and aerospace capabilities, and lasted from 1955-1975.
While the US is not currently in a situation such as the Space Race, space exploration is still extremely important. Whether funded publicly or privately, most can agree that this is a field worth exploring.
Economy section:(Nolan)
When the average American hears that NASA’s budget is $23.3 billion dollars, they might be shocked and annoyed that so much money is going toward space exploration. After all, so much needs to be done here on earth. Why should we be putting money toward going to space?
Youtuber, and former NASA scientist Mark Rober explains how much of the US budget really does go to the NASA budget (insert clip). When it comes down to it, that is less than $9 per year for most Americans paying taxes.
Despite the budget of NASA not being that large in comparison to the rest of the US budget, $23.3 billion dollars is still a lot of money. It is important to understand where that money is going. (Show background image of pie chart showing funding) About 45% of the budget goes to human spaceflight each year. That is around $10 billion dollars each year going toward a select few individuals going to space. That is where some people think space flight is outrageously expensive. After all, it currently cost the US $81 million dollars per seat on the Russian Soyuz to send astronauts to the International Space Station. Before during the Space Shuttle program it cost around $450 million dollars and in the future it is expected to be cheaper at $58 million dollars per astronaut on the new SpaceX and Boeing rockets.
That is a very large amount of money for one human to simply go up into space and do research. This is not including the fact that all the supplies they need are ultra expensive. For example it costs over $10,000 for a water bottle to get to the space station. The espresso machine cost over $1 million dollars to get up there. You get the point. And this is only the cost to send supplies and people to the space station in Earth’s orbit. I can only imagine the cost of missions to the moon or Mars or beyond.
Despite the mere cost so spending people and supplies to space as a part of the space budget, the overall economic benefit of the NASA budget as a whole is impressive. In a report on the economic impact from 2019, NASA was found to support more than 312,000 jobs nationwide and generate $64.3 billion dollars in total economic output. Given a budget of $21.9 billion dollars for the year 2019, this economic output is very positive. The NASA budget for that year generated around 3x the money that was put into it.
On top of that, the Moon to Mars mission that is NASA’s newest goal that might be seen as a waste was estimated to provide 69,000 jobs and generate $14 billion dollars in total economic output. That is a tremendous return for a project that might be seen as impractical for our society.
A lot of this economic output and job creation comes from the research side of NASA.
Scientific Research:(Owen)
One of the most common reasons given to continue nasa funding is the scientific research they uncover. A significant area of research they contribute to is an understanding of climate change. NASA holds a primary seat at the UN climate conference, where they share their observations and findings. Two programs that they have that help them observe the earth are the Earth Observations and Eyes on the Earth. Earth Observations allow for the monitoring and addressing of extreme heat events, landslides, pollution, and flooding. Eyes on the Earth program allows for anyone to track the earth’s vitals, including carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide levels, the sea level, and soil moisture levels.
According to Britannica, science learned in space is generally divided into 5 categories. The study of Earth from space is what is used to better understand climate change. Solar and space physics can be studied far easilier in space. Obviously, the exploration of extraterrestrial bodies can only be done in space. Uranus and Neptune have barely even been explored (only visited once) The origin of the universe and all things requires research in space. The study of humans, other living, and nonliving things in low gravity can be done in space. With this being a public venture, the information collected is freely available.
However, the direction NASA is heading may inhibit that. With our reliance on these private companies to bring our guys to space, they have the choice not to conduct any research or share any information gathered with the public (thus we’d be paying for space travel but not gaining research). Additionally, the moon has already been visited, so just putting people on the moon will provide no advancements. This leads to another issue with space exploration, a fair portion of it is just doing things to do them. Put a man on Mars for us to say we’ve put a man on Mars. On the contrary, these types of missions do inspire the young to explore and discover in a time when most discoveries are not visible.
Risk:(Jaxon)
While the high probability of new discoveries and relatively low cost of funding Nasa are compelling arguments for funding Nasa, we need to ask ourselves; are the risks worth it? And, should the global environmental issues we face on our planet receive more funding before we fund trips to discover new ones.
NASA itself has uncovered risks, some life threatening, that come with space exploration. The radiation produced from space is detrimental to our health. Once we leave the protective atmosphere that Earth provides, we are subject to cancer, central nervous system damage, and even our motor function could be inhibited. As humans, the effects of isolation are inevitable. Astronauts would have to spend years living with their potential crewmates in conditions they would find in space. And even that training is not certain to ensure that the mental health of the team is strong enough to withstand the challenges that come with space isolation.
Other issues lie within the fact that we are not certain that the ships we sent into space will leave Earth. Between 1983 and 2003, we saw the demise of two space shuttles, the Columbia and the Challenger. Not only did these accidents lead to the death of 14 astronauts, but we lost over 200 billion dollars worth of equipment on those dreadful days. (Will make additions to this section.)
Conclusion:(Ainsley)
Uniting of people across world
While it is debated whether NASA should be funded publicly or privately, there is no doubt that space exploration unites people across the globe. Most people are hooked on the common goal of discovering new science to aid in bettering the earth. Whether that be through an American astronaut, a United Kingdom satellite, or a Russian rocket, the whole world has the common goal of going to space. There may be debates in the US about if space exploration should be funded publicly or privately, but all agree that space exploration should definitely be funded and endorsed in some way. This unites people across the country and across the world.