NASA Is A Waste Of Money

The landing of the man on the moon is the 7th biggest event in human history according to The Most Important Events of the Century from the Viewpoint of the People. It helped encourage ingenuity and creativity both for which NASA stands. But, maybe, it would be more reasonable to instead focus on more earthly problems that are an issue right now. Some of these current problems could be finding a cure to cancer or preventing world hunger. There are many other uses for the money being put into NASA, however, it deserves the money it gets. Science has progressed immensely since the creation of NASA. It has improved the daily lives of everyone and proven its worth but is commonly overlooked. Landing a man on the moon, getting rovers to mars and
creating an International Space Station are just a few of NASA’s many accomplishments.
Some people today believe that NASA is a waste of money that should be used on earthly problems; however, NASA should continue to be funded because it helps the United States and the rest of the world advance in technology and improve the daily lives of everyone. It is a common thought of the opposition that NASA is just a waste of money. NASA has accomplished some amazing feats but many of those feats have come from continued failure. An example of this success through failure can be found in the attempted launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory. DeGroot, the author of Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent Madness of the American Lunar Quest, stated that he observatory was a massive investment costing them $278 million. That $278 million would soon after launch crash into the Pacific. That’s a ton of money right down the drain. Many would argue that money could be used for so many other things and that’s why others think that the money used to fund the US space program should be used for something else other than looking at stars and giant rocks. NASA costs the government more
than $17 billion a year while MIT costs only $2.5 billion a year to keep itself running. This means that the US could have 6 additional schools such as MIT. (Yost) That is a huge increase in research and amount of school for students to learn and prosper. This money could also be used for more earthly problems like “incurable diseases, crime, poverty, pollution, climate change, unemployment, terrorism and war.” (Evans 167) Scientists could be curing cancer with the money that is used towards a robot that picks up rocks. Americans could be saving the lives of so many African children but that money is used for fun space exploration looking for something that might not even be there. Even if a habitable planet was found and had a spacecraft which flew at a million miles per hour which is 20 times faster than Apollo, it would take 4,000 years to get to the planet because it’s in a whole new star system. (DeGroot)Some people today think that NASA isn’t worth the money it is given and is taking a valuable resource for saving lives. However there are still many reasons to maintain NASA funding. NASA helps with the creation of many daily items we all use today.
There are many technologies that developed from NASA space missions that have found their way into the daily lives of everyone else. The Apollo Lunar Landing mission helped create cordless tools. (Miozzi) Useful powerful screwdrivers and battery operated toothbrushes were evolved from the Apollo Lunar Landing mission run by NASA. The ear thermometer evolved from 30 years of learning about the measurements of the temperatures of the stars and planets. (Miozzi) There was also the soft, squishy memory foam mattress which was developed from increased protection of airplane passengers. (Miozzi) The comfortable insoles in athletic shoes were created from technology in moon boots designed for shock absorption. (Miozzi) According to Kim Evans, an environmental engineer and writer of scientific and educational publications, “improvements based on NASA technologies have been incorporated into diverse products such as memory foam mattresses, medical imaging devices, eyeglass lenses, golf balls, baby food, pacemakers, and life rafts.” Life would be extremely different without all these creative inventions, and they all derived from NASA. However inventions aren’t the only way NASA shows its
usefulness. Funding NASA is not a burden on the US government or even us citizens. While many think that it costs a fortune to keep NASA up and running it doesn’t cost much at all. In 2014 it was found that NASA received only roughly .5% of the massive $3.1 trillion dollar US budget. That is merely half the funding of the Department of Justice, and also one fifth the budget of the Department of Transportation. (Miozzi) There are so many different areas where the government can reduce the amount they give and NASA shouldn’t be one of them. When calculated out that’s about $15.5 billion just to NASA. But how does it impact the American population? $10.(Miozzi) It costs $10 from your annual paycheck to keep NASA going. With such a minimal amount of money that is taken there shouldn’t be a question as to whether funding NASA is an issue. NASA is also important in the way it shapes lives. NASA inspires intuition and creativity for future generations. Accomplishing amazing feats and missions activates the imagination of children. It inspires the new generation to come up with their own creations and inventions. For example, the landing of the man on the moon inspired many kids to become astronauts.( Apollo quote )Also the original telescope was a curiosity creator. It eventually evolved into the new Webb telescope which is being created by our generation. NASA does more than look at stars and gander, they make and inspire things to happen. The program also “benefits our nation by spurring development in new innovative technologies and advancing our scientific understanding of the Earth, sun, solar system and the rest of the universe in ways we can hardly fathom today, but which inspire us to learn more.”(Griffin) Although it is a thought that the money used for NASA can be used for many earthly problems, NASA deserves the funding it receives and should continue getting its paycheck. It is one of the most important programs in the world shaping our daily lives and impacting the way we live. NASA’s creations are all around us and for only just a few measly dollars from our paycheck we continue the intuition and creativity NASA has that many of the newer generation will be a part of. There are many programs to fund in the world, but continuing to fund NASA is a priority.