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Stephen Porter
Honors English 138
Kyle King
14 April 2017
Even Distribution of NASA Funding
Introduction
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, is an agency of the
federal government of the United States of America. It focuses on the exploration and
investigation of the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space through its technology development and
scientific research. According to NASA’s website, its mission can be stated most plainly as this:
“What's out there in space? How do we get there? What will we find? What can we learn there,
or learn just by trying to get there, that will make life better here on Earth?” (“What Does NASA
Do?”). In the course of attempting to answer these questions, NASA has landed people on the
moon, provided clues into the origin of the universe, gained a better understanding of
atmospheric processes and how they affect life on Earth, and developed numerous technologies
that the public uses every day. The public benefits of NASA are derived from every aspect of its
mission, thus the funding NASA receives should not only be maintained, but allocated broadly
and evenly so that the benefits can continue.
History
NASA was created during the tenure of President Eisenhower, and its creation replaced
the agency previously in existence, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The
creation of the Agency was a result of Cold-War era tensions with the Soviet Union, who had, in
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the previous year, successfully launched the first human-made satellite, Sputnik, into orbit
around the Earth (“History Program Office”). The “Space Race,” as it was called, was started by
the success of Sputnik and continued because of the United States’ perceived need to better the
Soviets.
The contest was never really an issue of military might, but of intellectual and
technological prowess. NASA was created with this in mind, as a civilian agency that would
focus on the non-militarized exploration of space. The legislation the created the Agency begins
with this language: “An Act to provide for research into the problems of flight within and outside
the Earth's atmosphere, and for other purposes" (“History Program Office”). Despite the wide
scope of this language and the myriad of scientific organizations that were merged into NASA
when it was created, the primary mission of the Agency in its first few years was to best the
Soviets in space.
The United States had managed to orbit its own satellite a few months after Sputnik and a
few months before the creation of NASA, and NASA quickly got to work with continuing
America’s success in space. In just over a decade, NASA operated three manned space programs
(the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo), with the Apollo program culminating in multiple moon
landings by astronauts, the first and still only humans to set foot there. Reaching the moon first
won the Space Race for the United States, and although the Cold War was not yet over, NASA
and its counterpart agency in the Soviet Union recognized their common goals and began to
conduct missions jointly by 1975 (“History Program Office”).
Structure, Goals, and Funding
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​When NASA was created in 1958, the public attitude was, as described by the agency
itself, akin to the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. People were afraid of the Soviets and eager to fight
back against them in space, and thus supported the funding of programs for research and
spaceflight such as NASA (“History Program Office”). A graphic of NASA’s budget as a
percentage of the federal budget illustrates this, showing a sharp rise in that proportion to nearly
four percent by 1967 at the height of the Apollo program and its goal to put a man on the moon,
as John F. Kennedy
suggested in 1961. The
public attitude that led
to
the
creation
of
NASA and led to its
funding spike in its first
decade
faded
away
quickly after the moon
landings, and in recent
years has had to make do with approximately one-half percent of the total federal budget each
year, which equates to $19.5 billion in the current fiscal year. NASA is allocated money by the
government each fiscal year and given directions on how to appropriate the funding. NASA
categorizes its work based on the strategic goals it states on its website (“2011 NASA Strategic
Plan”):
● Extend and sustain ​human activities​ across the ​solar system
● Expand scientific understanding of the Earth and the universe
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● Create innovative new space ​technologies
● Advance ​aeronautics​ research
● Enable program and institutional capabilities to conduct NASA's aeronautics and
space activities
● Share NASA with the public, educators, and students to provide opportunities to
participate
Based on these goals, NASA’s budget is divided into six sections: aeronautics, human
exploration and operations, science, space technology, support and infrastructure, and education.
The proportion of money allocated to each of these areas by the federal government changes
depending on the goals of the current presidential administration and on public opinion.
The newest budget request for NASA, part of the federal government’s proposed 2018
fiscal year spending plan, was made public in March. It cuts NASA’s budget from $19.5 billion
in 2017 to $19.1 billion. It also redistributes the funding between the six sections. Specific details
are not yet available,
but it is evident that
some major changes
are in order. It seems
to skew funding away
from
science
programs and toward
deep
space
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exploration, and eliminates funding for education entirely (“The President’s 2018 Budget”).
Significant Programs and Outcomes
The money allocated to each of the six categories of NASA results directly in a wide
range of benefits for the country, humanity, and the planet as a whole. The following sections
give an overview of NASA’s past accomplishments and current projects in five of the six
categories in its budget, excluding Infrastructure and Support. Changes in the amount of funding
allocated to each category would result in the continuation of some projects and the cancellation
of others based on the priorities of the administration in the White House.
Aeronautics
NASA plays a significant behind-the-scenes role in developing flight technology that is
adopted by the general public. According to the NASA Aeronautics website, “every U.S. aircraft
flying today and every U.S. air traffic control tower uses NASA-developed technology in some
way” (Gipson). NASA focuses its aeronautics research dollars on developing, among other
things, more environmentally friendly aircraft, supersonic jets, and unmanned aerial systems. An
example of advancing green flight technology due to this research is NASA’s Pathfinder craft, a
remote-operated, single wing, passive craft that is powered entirely by the sun and is capable of
storing enough energy for use during nighttime that it can fly continuously. Its applications
include storm and crop monitoring from high altitude (Dunbar). The proportion of the budget
dedicated to aeronautics research would be significantly reduced in 2018, dealing a blow to the
development of more environmentally-friendly air travel technology.
Human Exploration and Operations
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Since the end of the Apollo program, NASA-sponsored human activities in space have
centered around the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. The Space Shuttles, first
launched in 1981, were NASA’s primary vehicle for the 30 years that the program was in
service. Shuttle missions contributed to the construction of the International Space Station, the
installation and
servicing of
numerous satellites
(including those for intelligence,
communication, atmospheric and weather prediction, and deep space telescopes), and scientific
research programs. Also, many probes designed to explore far reaches of the solar system were
launched by the Space Shuttle, including the Magellan probe that mapped the surface of the
planet Venus. Much of the International Space Station (ISS) was constructed with help from the
Space Shuttle, and the ISS continues to operate in cooperation with several other countries to this
day. It is used to conduct scientific experiments in areas such as biology and biotechnology,
earth and space science, educational activities, and many other areas (Rainey). It is also the
major stepping stone to sending humans to Mars, helping NASA to understand and contend with
the challenges associated with long-duration spaceflight, including the psychological and
physical health of humans, communications delays, and food production and product fabrication
(Rainey). NASA is currently developing a new generation of space vehicle, the Orion, capable of
transporting humans into deep space. The newly proposed budget would allocate more money
toward this project, making it an official goal of the Agency that humans reach Mars by the
2030s.
Science
The science that NASA conducts can be divided into two categories. The first is Earth
centered, described by NASA as monitoring Earth “from land, air and space with a fleet of
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satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns” in order to
“contribute to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such
as weather forecasting and natural resource management” (Wilson). One of the most significant
examples of the benefits of NASA’s Earth science is the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite
(ERBS), launched in 1984. The ERBS was built to measure radiation striking the earth and
aerosols such as CFCs in the atmosphere, which contributed to the depletion of the atmosphere’s
protective ozone layer. The resulting data from the satellite “was key in the international
community's decision-making process during the ​Montreal Protocol Agreement, which has
resulted in a near elimination of ​CFCs in industrialized countries” (“ERBS”) and helped to heal
the hole in the Ozone Layer. Four ongoing Earth Science programs are due to be eliminated if
the new budget is enacted, as the focus shifts toward planetary science. The eliminated programs
include the PACE satellite, built to study the oceans and how they are affected by climate
change, and the OCO-3, which measures the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The second category of NASA’s science mission is focused on the universe as a whole.
The science conducted in this category is epitomized by the four Great Observatory Satellites.
The four (the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Spitzer Space
Telescope, and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory) have contributed vast quantities of
knowledge about astronomical phenomena including an understanding of black holes and clues
about the formation of the universe. Additionally, the images retrieved from the Hubble Space
Telescope in particular are captivating and act as effective ambassadors for NASA’s work. The
Hubble Telescope continues to operate today (well beyond its expected lifespan) and will be
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replaced in the next few years with a far more advanced instrument, the James Webb Space
Telescope (“Great Observatories”).
Space Technology
NASA technology development results in the most tangible benefits to everyday life on
Earth. In the course of developing solutions to problems it faces in sending humans and
equipment into space, and as a result of the scientific research conducted during missions, NASA
allows its discoveries to be utilized by entrepreneurs who bring new and innovative products to
market to be used by the masses. NASA does technology development in the following areas:
Space Travel​, ​Living in Space​, ​Manufacturing, Materials, 3-D Printing​, ​Robotics​, ​Science
Instruments, and High-Tech Computing. The results of its work are compiled in a publication
called the Spinoff magazine, and are visible in everyday life. Some of the most notable examples
of technology developed by NASA include scratch resistant lenses for glasses, longer wearing
car tires, memory foam, and more advanced solar cells (“NASA Spinoffs”).
Education
Although it makes up a relatively small portion of NASA’s budget, the Agency does have
an important program for outreach to the public. The goals of the programs are to “strengthen
NASA and the Nation's future workforce, attract and retain students in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics, or STEM, disciplines, and engaging Americans in NASA's
mission” (“NASA Education”). The education budget contributes to summer camp programs in
Science and Technology for young children and to research grants for young undergraduate
scientists, among many other things. The new budget proposes to eliminate this section of NASA
completely, which would take many of its beneficial programs along with it.
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How to Allocate NASA’s Funding
Every area of work that NASA does has benefit for the public, but skewing funding
toward deep space is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, deep space missions, such as the
Mars Rovers or the Voyager probe, captivate public imagination and make for eye-catching
headlines. Such successful high-profile missions boost NASA’s standing and make it more likely
that the government continues to allocate funding at current or even greater levels. The focus on
deep space, though, does bring attention away from programs in areas such as earth science.
Earth science is perhaps the least known and least appealing of all of NASA’s work to the
general public. Still, they have the most potential to consistently contribute meaningfully to
people’s lives, although not necessarily visibly, since they are important to advancing climate
change science, weather prediction, and many other areas.
NASA started out as a conglomeration of many agencies, and its mission continues to be
very broadly defined. Care should be taken to recognize the benefits of taking advantage of the
expertise and past success of all the areas of NASA’s work. It should be mandated that
regardless of politics and public opinion, money be allocated evenly and consistently to each
category of NASA’s work. Decisions about how to shift the allocation of resources should be
based on recommendations from NASA itself and with significant input from trained scientists in
Executive offices such as the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which advises the
President. The office of education should be a fundamental component of NASA’s structure,
focusing on informing the public about the results of NASA’s work and its benefit on their lives.
Conclusion
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The trend evident in NASA’s most recent budget proposals shows that earth science is
given a lower priority than deep space exploration and science. This is politically motivated, in
part, as much of the earth science that NASA conducts focuses on the effects of climate change,
which is a scientific fact but still widely disputed in the general population. That climate science
is irreplaceable, though, as it is not profitable and therefore unlikely to be pursued by a private
organization. Private companies are, however, beginning to explore outer space with the goal of
making a profit. By funding NASA evenly, not only can the organization contribute to and
cooperate with the efforts of private companies to advance the state of space exploration, but
science critical to the continued health of Planet Earth can continue to be conducted by the
agency best equipped to do so. Additionally, evenly funding NASA means that the benefits of
NASA’s work across all sectors can continue to be realized by the general population.
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Works Cited
"2011 NASA Strategic Plan." NASA. NASA, 14 Feb. 2001. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
Dunbar, Brian. "NASA Dryden Fact Sheet - Pathfinder Solar-Powered Aircraft." NASA. NASA,
06 Aug. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
"ERBS." NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
Gipson, Lillian. "Aeronautics." NASA. NASA, 13 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
"NASA Education Program: Overview." NASA Education. NASA, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
"NASA's Great Observatories." NASA. NASA, 12 Feb. 2004. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
"NASA History Program Office." NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
"NASA Spinoffs." NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
"The President's 2018 Budget." NASA. NASA, 16 Mar. 2017. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
Rainey, Kristine. "Space Station Research & Technology." NASA. NASA, 11 Feb. 2015. Web.
14 Apr. 2017.
Rainey, Kristine. "Top 10 Ways ISS Is Helping Get Us To Mars." NASA. NASA, 15 Sept. 2015.
Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
"What Does NASA Do?" NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
Wilson, Jim. "Earth Right Now." NASA. NASA, 15 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.
Image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_NASA