Human beings at one time looked up at the night sky and gazed upon the moon, and thought it impossible to ever visit our closest neighbor.  At one time man looked up at the sun and felt its energy on their skin, but never dreamed of harnessing that power. At one time men viewed our Milky-Way as the entirety of the universe, and saw our planet home as our permanent habitat. Many things once seemed impossible, yet have become reality or proven viable. Perhaps no other organization in human history has done more to change the landscape of science than The National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States of America, or as most of the world recognizes it, NASA. Following its founding during the last 1950’s, NASA was the world authority on science and the U.S. government invested heavily in the department. As a result scientific discovery and achievement was spearheaded by th United States. However, times have changed and in the modern day America spends a mere fraction of what it once did on science and NASA, and as a result America has begun to lose it’s authority in science, and the scientific community, the United States, and the world as a whole are hurt as a result. However, this is reversible and in an attempt to change the nation and the global community for the better, in the next fiscal year, The United States government should divert more of the federal budget to funding The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and it’s missions.

In the rest of this paper I will: 

1. Explain Nasa and what it has done

• • Founding/ great accomplishments
    • In the past the scientific advancements out of NASA have been invaluable:
      • Ear thermometers
      • Enriched baby foods
      • Artificial limbs
      • Anti icing for plantes
      • Freeze drying
      • Water purification
      • Solar energy
      • Cordless vacuums
  • I want to make it very clear for the start that NASA is not just space. I want to show the good they do for us on Earth everyday. This is key.

2) Highlight the potential of what they could do!

• • Highlight the importance of NASA for the Earth and not just space exploration
  • 27 missions around Earth dedicated to simply monitoring understanding our planet. This data is crucial for scientists to understand how the world is changing due to global warming and without it we would essentially be reacting blind

• • Talk about other current missions and projects and insinuate that
  • Speak on the budget
    • In the 1960’s during the space race and JFK’s presidency NASA’s budget peaked at 4.41% of US federal spending. Decreased since then to 0.46% of US spending. (stat from the guardian.com)
    • 

Image citation: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/exploration/multimedia/NASABudgetHistory.pdf

• • • Show correlation of what NASA did in the 60’s and 70’s with more money and pull that into what they could do with modern projects today if they still had that funding

3) I will counter the common counter argument that there are more important things to spend money on than NASA… problems now (taxes, poverty, etc) are more important and should be focused on more.

• • Explain that NASA will actually benefit use here and now
    • Neil Degrasse Tyson, president of the Hayden Planetarium was quoted ”“Innovation drives economy” and argues that investing in NASA for it’s an “investment not an expenditure” can help in part to fix the economy through innovation in industry.  
  • Mention back to NASA having 27 current missions specifically for watching this planet
  • Will show the benefits for the nation and the world that this investment would deliver

4) Conclusion

I want to ensure in this essay that I explain that investing in NASA could be an action that will help prepare for the future.  NASA is not just a group of super enthusiastic space nerds, but dedicated group of researchers who collect priceless data and strive for developments that help the Earth and issues we face today such as global warming.  NASA is not an expense, but an investment in science, in solutions, in innovation, and in our collective future as a species and planet.