RainierRadkowski Mrs.Noone English003 March26,2014 The$17BillionQuestion Spacehasalwaysbeenapointofinterestforthehumanrace.Sincethebeginning ofhistory,peoplehavelookeduptothemoonandthestarsandaskedquestions.Onlyin thelastfiftyyearshastechnologyadvancedenoughtoallowustobeginansweringthose questions.However,thoseanswerscomeatacost,andagreatcostatthat.Now,withthe currenteconomicdifficultiesfacedbymanycountries,peoplearenowaskingif governmentfundedspaceprogramsinAmericaareworthourtime,ormoreimportantly, ourmoney. AmericasspaceprogramwasjumpstartedfollowingtheSovietUnionslaunchof theSputniksatelliteonOctober4th,1957thefirstmanmadesatellitetoeversuccessfully orbittheearth.

Nottobeoutdonebycommunists,Americaimmediatelybeganaserious overhaulofitsspaceprograms.Aftersomeinternaldebateastowhetherthisnewspace programshouldbetaskedtoamilitaryorcivilianentity,aconclusionwasreachedto createacivilianoperatedspaceprogram.ThisprogramcametobeknownastheNational AeronauticsandSpaceAdministration,orNASA,whichopenedonOctober1st,1958 (WhyWeExploreDick). Followingitsformalopening,NASAwasquicklytaskedwithcompetingwiththe SovietUniontoreachvariousachievements.Thisinformalinternationalcompetition

betweenthetwosuperpowers,morecommonlyknownastheSpaceRace,culminatedin NASAsuccessfullyplacingthefirstmanonthemoon.Followingthisachievement,NASA continueditsexplorationofspaceinavarietyofways,includingthespaceshuttleprogram, andcooperationinthecreationandcontinueduseoftheInternationalSpaceStation(Why WeExploreDick). However,inrecentyears,especiallyfollowingthe2007financialcrisis,theneedfor NASAhascomeundersignificantfire.TheargumentsagainstNASA,uponfirstglance, appeartobedamningofitscontinuedoperation.KeithYost,astaffcontributoratThe Tech,MassachusettsInstituteofTechnologysofficialnewspaper,laidforthheavy criticismsoftheprogram. WithapologiestoDwightEisenhower,thecostofonemodernspaceshuttle isthis:oneandahalfmillionliveslostforwontofantimalarialbednets.Itis electricitytopoweraU.S.cityoftwomillionpeopleforayear.Itis ninehundredbilliongallonsoffreshdrinkingwaterproducedbydesalination. Wepayforasingleshuttlelaunchwithfiftymillionbushelsofwheat.We houseahandfulofmeninspacewithayearsworthofhousingformorethan tenmillionU.S.citizens.NASAisnotjustspendingmoney.Itisspendingthe sweatofourlaborers,thegeniusofourscientists,thehopesofourchildren. YostalsodirectlyobjectstothecommonnotionthatNASAiseffectiveindevelopingnew technologiesandinnovationsforpublicuse. Thinkaboutitthisway:MIT,fromamixtureoftuition,governmentfunding, andendowmentpayouts,spends$2.5billiontokeepitselfrunning.NASA

costsmorethan$17billion.Overthepastfourdecades,insteadofNASA, wecouldhavehadatleastsixadditionalMITs.Consideralloftheresearch thatoursingleMIThasproducedduringthatperiod,allofthestudentstaught andleadershipprovided.ForallthegainsthatNASAhasmade,its opportunitycostsarefargreater. YostalsorefutesclaimsthattheresearchNASAdoesisfundamentallygroundbreaking, andotherwisewouldhaveneverbeenaccomplished.WhileheagreesNASAhasmade significantscientificdiscoveries,heproposesthattheseideaswouldhavebeen discoveredbytheprivatesectorinareasonabletimeframe(ShouldWeCutYost). TheclaimthatNASAsinventionswouldhavebeeneventuallydiscoveredis technicallycorrect,butmassivelyflawed.ManyofthetechnologiesinventedbyNASA requiresuchhighlevelsofresourceinvestmentandpersonnelthatitisunreasonableto believethattheywouldbeattemptedbytheprivatesector.Forexample,todays telecommunicationsnetworksandglobalpositioningsystems(GPS)devicesareheavily reliantonorbitingsatellitesfortheiroperation.Researchintothecreationofsatellite operationwasperformedbygovernmentfundedspaceagenciessincetheirinception. Eventoday,themanagementandcontinuedoperationofthesesatellitesisheavily dependentuponNASAscontinuedsupportandcooperation.Veryfewprivatesector companiesarecapableoffundingthelaunchofsuchsatellites,andthosethatdorelyupon researchalreadydonebyNASAtosuccessfullyperformthoseactions.Withsuchhighcost ofdevelopmentbeforeanypotentialforfinancialreturn,itisunreasonabletobelievethat

theprivatesectorwouldhavepursuedthisfieldofresearch(10NASAInventions Conger). BeyondthequantifiablebenefitsofNASAsspaceprogram,ithasalsohad significantimpactondevelopingpublicinterestinspaceexploration.Forexample,the numberofPhDsearnedinthefieldofmathematics,engineering,andphysicalsciencesall experiencedsignificantincreasesduringthedurationofNASAsApolloprogram,and experienceddeclinesfollowingsitstermination.Currentscientistsalsonotetheimportant roleNASAplaysinencouragingyoungpeopletoenterSTEMfields. A2009surveyfoundthatfiftypercentoftheinternationallyrenowned scientistswhopublishedintheprestigiousjournalNatureduringtheprevious threeyearshadbeeninspiredbyApollotobecomescientists89percentof therespondentsalsoagreedthathumanspaceflightinspiresyounger generationstostudyscience. Thislevelofinfluenceovertheheartsandmindsofthegeneralpopulationcannotsimplybe dismissedasunimportantwhenevaluatingthemeritsofNASAsachievementsifanything, thecultivationofagenerationofscientistandscholarsshouldbeseenasoneoftheirmost importantaccomplishments.Increasingthenumberofadvancesdegreesinthemathsand sciencesiscriticalinorderforAmericatoremaincompetitiveintheglobaleconomy. NASAsimagedrawstheattentionofaspiringstudents,spurringthemtopursuecareersin fieldsthatresultinthedevelopmentinnewtechnologies,somethingnootherprogram, publicorprivate,hasdonebefore(InternationalSpace).

Itisimportanttonotethatwhendebatingcuttingspendingforthespaceprogram, thegeneralpublicsknowledgeontheparticularsregardingthistopicareparticularlypoor. Forexample,in1997asurveywasconductedinwhichparticipantswereaskedtostate whatpercentofthefederalbudgetNASAreceived.Theaverageresponsewas20%.Were thistrue,NASAwouldhavehadabudgetofnearly$328billion.Instead,NASAonly operateswithroughly0.5%ofthetotalfederalbudgetperyear(SpacePolicy Steinberg). Toputthisintocontrast,theDepartmentofDefensehasspent$20billiondollarson temporaryhousingandairconditioningforsoldiersinIraqandAfghanistanalone.Thatis $1BillionmorethantheannualoperationalbudgetdelegatedtoNASA(Air ConditioningPraetorius).Whileprovidingpropershelterforoursoldiersiscritical,it doesputsomeperspectiveontheactualcostofNASAwhencomparedtootherareasof governmentspending.WhileitisundoubtablethatNASAbudgetwillcontinuetofluctuatein thecomingyearstheywillhavetoplanaccordingly.Howevertotosignificantlycutit,or removeitentirelywouldbeagravemistake(ThiswaytoMarsLandau). NASAisacontroversialtopicwheningovernmentspending.Especiallyinmodern times,withaneverincreasingnationaldebt,manypeoplelooktoNASAasunneeded spending.However,NASAprovidesmanybenefitstoAmerica,bothquantifiableand cultural.TosimplyruleNASAoutasawasteofmoneyisshortsightedatbest,andcould havelastingeffectsonourpositionasagloballeaderinsciences.Instead,weseeNASA forwhatitis:oneofthemosteffectiveusesofthetaxpayerdollarinthe20th,and21st century.

 WorksCited Conger,Christen."10NASAInventionsYouMightUseEveryDay."DiscoveryChannel. DiscoveryNetwork,n.d.Web.05Apr.2014. Dick,Steven.WhyWeExplore.NASA.NASA,01Apr.2008.Web.10Mar.2014. International.InternationalSpaceExplorationCoordinationGroup.Nasa.gov.NASA,n.d. Web. Landau,Damon,andNathanJ.Strange."ThisWayToMars."ScientificAmerican305.6 (2011):5865.AcademicSearchPremier.Web.26Feb.2014. Steinberg,Alan."SpacePolicyResponsiveness:TheRelationshipBetweenPublic OpinionAndNASAFunding."SpacePolicy27.4(2011):240246.Academic SearchPremier.Web.24Feb.2014. Yost,Keith."ShouldWeCutNASAFunding?TheTech."ShouldWeCutNASA Funding?TheTech.N.p.,09Apr.2010.Web.05Apr.2014.