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Brandy Bolton

Ms. Hunter

English II

4 February 2020

Literature Review

What is the purpose of NASA and going to the moon/space now? The last time an

astronaut was on the moon was in 1972. NASA plans to send astronauts back to the moon by

2024, but why now? What more can we learn?

NASA was founded by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958. It was created after the launch of

the satellite Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957. NASA is a civilian agency created to work

peacefully with other nations. In the 1960’s President John F. Kennedy and Vice President

Lyndon B. Johnson wanted to put the first man on the moon by the end of the decade. Kennedy

and Johnson asked congress to fund NASA’s mission to do just that. In 1969 NASA launched

Apollo 11 after many tests and successfully put three men on the moon, Neil Armstrong,

Michael Collins, and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin (Evan’s).

After Apollo 11 NASA launched 6 more space crafts to the moon. In the 1970s NASA

suffered from budget cuts and had to abandon the remaining Apollo missions. NASA began to

focus more on the science aspects of space exploration rather than human exploration (Evan’s).

In 2005 President George W. Bush talked of developing a new space craft by 2008 and

doing a manned mission but 2014(Bush). He talked of completing the International Space Station

by 2010 and returning to the moon by 2020(Bush). Those plans were set back when in 2011 The

Obama Administration shut down the space shuttle program (Evan’s). Since 2011 the U.S. has
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been paying around 80 million dollars per seat aboard a Russian space craft to get U.S.

astronauts too the International Space Station(Chang).

To reignite the space program NASA signed contracts with Boeing and SpaceX to make

more affordable rockets. The Falcon 9 will be attached to the Crew Dragon capsule and is

planned to take two astronauts to the space station later this year(Chang). NASA’s plan is to put

astronauts back in the moon by 2024(Dunbar).

The purpose of going to space is for scientific economic benefits and national

security(Wallace). Going to space has helped create new technology’s, some of which are used

in CT and MRI machines now. “It has also helped with weather forecasting, communication,

computing, and search and rescue”(Bush). “Space travel is the epitome of scientific exploration

and the necessity of curiosity”(Chang).

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Works Cited

Bush, George W. "The United States Must Make Space Exploration a Priority." Space

Exploration, edited by Daniel A. Leone, Greenhaven Press, 2005. At Issue. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010356202/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=a6a15a98.

Accessed 4 Feb. 2020. Originally published as "speech at NASA Headquarters," 2004.

Chang, Kenneth. “SpaceX’s Explosive Test May Launch Year of Renewed Human Spaceflight”

The New York Times, 19 January 2020,

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/19/science/spacex-launch.html Accessed 4 February

2020

Dunbar, Brian. “What's Next For NASA?” NASA, NASA, 26 Jan. 2015,

www.nasa.gov/about/whats_next.html. Accessed 31 January 2020

Evans, Kim Masters. "Space Organizations Part 1: The National Aeronautics and Space

Administration." Space Exploration: Triumphs and Tragedies, 2012 ed., Gale, 2013.

Information Plus Reference Series. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ2065100102/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=a8081f2f.

Accessed 4 Feb. 2020.

Wallace, Erin. "The United States Should Reignite the Space Race." Space Exploration, edited

by Michael Ruth, Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010989217/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=8b963fe9. Accessed 4 Feb, 2020. Originally published

as "Opinion—Wallace: US Must Reinvigorate Space Exploration,

" Dailytoreador.com, 11 Nov. 2014.

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