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Ryan Coker

Professor Johnson

English 1301

6 December 2012

NASA and the World of Tomorrow

On a mid-Septembers afternoon, little over fifty years ago, a man by the name of John

Fitzgerald Kennedy made an announcement so audacious and ludicrous that even today, long

after his statement has come to fruition, many still deny its possibility. While he may not have

lived to see Apollo and his flaming horses race beyond the horizon, his words served as a rally

cry for innovation and progress. In todays society we have developed a sort of apathy toward

our celestial ceiling, maintaining a been there, done that attitude and stagnating the

development of space-age technology. Today, more than ever, increasing NASA funding is

imperative, as it is one of the most powerful drivers of scientific advancement in the world,

providing numerous, useful spinoff products, creating an innumerable number of jobs, and most

importantly, inspiring people to dream of a better tomorrow.

NASA was founded in 1958 as a reaction to the Soviet Sputnik launch and began

developing human spaceflight almost immediately (Garber). After eleven years of development,

NASA finally achieved its goal of landing a man on the moon in the famous Apollo 11 mission.

In the years following Apollo 11, NASA launched numerous other voyages to the moon. NASA

went on to help develop the space station, Skylab, and in 1991, they launched the space shuttle

program, which would operate until 2012, and frequently serviced the International Space
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Station (Garber). Recently NASA landed the Curiosity rover on the Martian surface, but without

proper funding or public interest, manned flight has been postponed and the last of the space

shuttles have been retired. Despite the importance of NASA, very few people are actually aware

of the NASA budget. Mallory Wyatt, a High School Senior from Southlake, Texas estimated

NASA as representing eleven percent of the federal budget; while in reality it occupies less than

half of a percent. She was also not aware of the name or date of the most recent NASA mission

(Wyatt), displaying the lack of interest the youth of America show toward NASA development.

The majority of the opposition, while small, has remained true to its beliefs ever since

NASA was founded, arguing that we shouldnt be spending money up there when there are

problems down here. Some champions of the anti-NASA cause refer to NASA as a machine

for spending money. citing such things as the Orbiting Carbon Observatory failure and accusing

NASA of being stuck in the 1960s (DeGroot). Others claim that NASA is little more than a

hoax organization designed to fool the citizens of the world and that the moon landings, among

other things never took place. However, in recent times a new group has arisen, arguing against

NASA, not because of a lack of interest in space travel, but rather because they believe that

private organizations, such as SpaceX, are more well suited for exploration and would be more

efficient and more effective at accomplishing their goals.

NASA research and development has contributed massively to the wellbeing and

convenience of the average person, providing huge numbers of spin-off products, as well as

making great strides toward advancements in technology, without which our lives would not be

the same. According to a NASA document titled spinoff, among the products produced solely by

the space shuttle program are surgical LED lights (NASA, 14), vital sign monitors (108), air

conditioner cleaners (113) and spring tires (205). Spinoffs alone can produce multi-billion dollar
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industries that would not normally be developed, due to lack of scientific researchers or the

possibility of monetary failures. While the percentage of money allocated to NASA is very tiny

when compared to the National budget, the amount of money they receive is much larger than

the majority of private companies or individuals have the capacity to obtain, as it is currently

estimated that it costs $10,000 to launch a single pound of material into space (Sylvester),

ignoring the cost of building the launch vehicle, which can be over one billion dollars (NASA).

SpaceX, the only private organization to have successfully launched a vehicle into space is only

capable of doing so as a result of a large, $1.6 billion contract they have engaged in with NASA

(SpaceX). As a result, even the private corporations are entirely dependent upon NASA funding

to function on a comparable level. Beyond the abnormally high cost of engaging oneself in even

low-orbit activities, the majority of financial return is not provided by the mission itself, but is

instead generated by secondary developments, and the high possibility of losing a craft during a

mission makes entering space all but idiotic for private groups.

NASA has historically been a very large employer on its own. At the height of Apollo

development NASA employed nearly 36,000 people. (Library) This number dropped

significantly however, to 24,000 in the 90s and continues to decrease with budget cuts (Library).

Many businesses are supported by NASA, including aeronautics and construction industries.

The NASA budget improves the economy of the entire country; in 2005 alone, The space

economy was estimated at about $180 billion, returning about ten dollars for every dollar put

in (Cabbage).

Despite the economic and scientific ramifications, the single factor that outshines all

other benefits is the effect it has on the hearts and minds of people around the world. When

asking a child what they would like to be when they grow up the most frequent answer is
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astronaut, because, long before the spirit of adventure and discovery is stomped out of us by

society, children look up to the night sky and dream(Popular). They imagine going into space,

seeing the universe, landing on the moon, being the first to see something nobody else has seen

before, because just as we were called to the seas many centuries ago, and just as we were called

to the skies merely one-hundred-and-eight years ago, we, as a species are called to the cosmos.

The lack of interest is the result of continuous discouragement from those who believe dreaming

to be impractical and childish, but even the most staunch, anti-space advocate cannot help but

glance up at the night sky when presented the opportunity. One can only imagine the awe that

the passengers of Apollo 8 felt when, on their way to the moon, they looked back, and for the

first time in human history, laid their eyes upon their home, our home, Earth. Having set the

stage for Apollo 11, Apollo 8 returned, with the only real images of our planet as a whole,

without the national borders painted on the globes of the time. Less than seven months later Neil

Armstrong would take the first step on an extraterrestrial object, and as he issued his famous

statement the dreams of a nation and a planet took flight, ushering in an era of scientific

development unlike any the world has ever seen. Beyond that though, the image of national

borders was grievously injured and the people of the world began to see themselves not as

members of a nationalistic group, but as members of one race of people.

Many, including some of the opposition, have provided possible solutions to the

stagnation of space-related technological advancements. While NASAs budget will never

occupy the twenty percent of the federal budget that some believe it should be(Wyatt), increasing

NASAs funding is a necessity if America wishes to stay on par with China and Russia in

economic and scientific fields. The suggestion to double NASAs funding to a mere one percent

of Federal spending has gained huge traction in recent years, being supported by Astrophysicist
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Neil deGrasse Tyson and spearheaded by the organization Penny4NASA. With such a large

increase, NASA would be able to begin plans for missions to Mars and the Earth-Moon

Lagrangian points, ushering in a level of scientific advancement unseen in over thirty years.

NASA promotes the economy, spawning whole industries from its spin-offs and

advancements. While we are not involved in a space-race with a global superpower, just as we

had to then, we must now choose between taking flight to the cosmos that calls out to us, or

staying here and blocking future endeavors with a debris field of broken dreams. When faced

with this dilemma many years ago, Mr. Kennedy made the right choice and in doing so,

beckoned Apollo to break the dawn of yesterdays tomorrow. He chose to go to the moon.
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Works Cited
Cabbage, David Mould/Michael. NASA Administrator Griffin Discusses Value of the Space
Economy. 17 September 2007. Web. 25 November 2012.

DeGroot, Jerry. The US Government Should Cut NASA Funding. 2012. Web. 20 November 2012.

Ellis, Jeffrey. NASA Is on an "Unsustainable Trajectory". 9 September 2009. Web. 20 November

2012.

Garber, Steve. NASA History in Brief. n.d. Web. 20 November 2012.

Library Index. astronauts astronaut shuttle figure. n.d. Web. 20 November 2012.

Most Popular Careers Children Want When they Grow Up. 2009. Web. 20 November 2012.

NASA. Frequently Asked Questions. n.d. Web. 25 November 2012.

spinoff. Development Report. Washington: NASA, 2011.

Service, NASA Procurement Management. "NASA Dollars Boost the Economies of Every State
in the U.S." NASA, 2003.

SpaceX. SpaceX Dragon Successfully Attaches to Space Station. 10 October 2012. Web. 25
November 2012.

Sylvester, Brad. The New World vs. New Worlds in Outer Space. 5 October 2009. Web. 25
November 2012.

Wyatt, Mallory. How Important is NASA to the Average Person? Ryan Coker. 20 November
2012.