After Space Race ended, some wondered is it still worth spending money on NASA, how it is benefiting humanity, and if we should invest in space projects at all, if we have still so many problems back on earth.
But first let’s clear how much exactly NASA gets to complete their objectives. Many people believe it is about 20% of US whole budget, however in reality, in 2022 NASA’s proposed funding is $24.8 billion, which, even though it is more than in previous years, it is still less than 1% of US budget. But even with that, NASA still manages to do things, that would’ve been impossible if we stayed on earth.
Coming back on my previous point about spending money on space, while there are still many problems on earth; space programs can help people back on Earth. Good example is SMAP satelite which, while in space, scans the soil on the whole planet every 2 or 3 days, even through clouds, and sends information, which can be used to predict floods, droughts and other natural disasters harmful to crops. That is expecialy crucial for countries with high poverty level and unstable weather conditions like most of Africa. NASA has a data access policy of making all of the information and knowledge they gather free for anybody. That’s why it cannot be done by private companies with space projects like Spacex. Because companies need to get the money they spent back.
Second thing worth mentioning is a possible extinction threat, like a meteor or other massive object striking the planet. The possibility is extreamly low, however the consequences are enough to make it a necessity to prepare countermeasures. The early meteorite alarm has been set in place, and there are plans to test if hitting a meteor in space with a ship could change it’s trajectory.
Considering that, I think it is still worth spending money on NASA and space projects. Going back on example with SMAP, while of course we could instead help by giving food for these in need, however it makes way more sense to choose a permanent solution, by giving them information about possible dangers to crops, which is their primary food source, and let these people help themselves instead of just helping them once, while spending roughly the same amount of funding.
Sources:
https://www.nasa.gov/careers/our-mission-and-values
https://www.space.com/biden-nasa-2022-budget-request-science-artemis
Hi there, thanks for the interesting article on funding for space. You mentioned the SMAP satellite and how it’s used to predict floods and other natural disasters, I am curious as to what percent accuracy this has? It seems like a well-developed tool if it has a high efficacy rate. I wonder if NASA provides this information to crop growers, I hope so at least. You also mentioned the early meteorite alarm, this is done by NASA? If so, I would say that it is definitely worth the spending to keep that in space, up to date and any necessary maintenance to be completed.
Cool article. I think NASA is a really important organization and many things they do can also be used to solve some problems we have on Earth. They have some great engineers and specialist working on new technologies and discoveries. Space for sure has a lot of opportunities for us so it is important to keep discovering it. You never know what you’ll find. And 1% of the budget is not a lot especially compared to US military budget.
Interesting article you got there. NASA is an extremely important company in terms of space travelling and discovering new scientific stuff. It also made a history back in 1969 by sending a man to space and actually setting his foot on a strange, grey surface which was obviously moon.