Student Surname 1 STUDENT NAME INSTRUCTOR NAME COURSE TITLE DATE The problem with NASA funding 66 million years ago a 6 mile wide rock slammed into the face of the earth and the resulting cloud of dust blotted out the sun for over a year as well as killed 75% of life on earth, including the dinosaurs (How to Defend Earth from Asteroids). The dinosaurs died because they didn’t have a space program, capable of deflecting asteroids, one of the most important elements if a strong space program. Up until the 1950’s, the human race as a whole didn’t have any sort of space program. However, advances in the field of space exploration came from competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the space race, which ended in 1969 when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Since the height of the space race, the funding for NASA has been decreased to its current funding of 0.5% of the federal budget (Steinberg). NASA’s lack of funding limits the number and types of missions it can conduct, thereby limiting our understanding of space and stunting technological advances in the space exploration field. Creating interest in space exploration and research among the general public in the United States through various forms of media could arouse public support for increasing the funding of NASA. The increase in funding leads to an increase in research of the universe and our planet’s surroundings, which would have benefits to mankind in the form of technological advances, greater knowledge, and increased safety in the event of a dooms day like scenario like that of the dinosaurs. Student Surname 2 Although it is unlikely that a comet or asteroid will hit the earth in the years to come, problems such as the earth being destroyed in some sort of cosmic event are real threats. The ability to deflect an asteroid or comet, or, should the need arise to leave the planet earth in search of a new home are important solutions to problems involving the destruction of life as we know it on earth. According to Stephen Hawking, the future of the human species relies on our ability to colonize other celestial bodies, as eventually our planets resources will be gone or our planet will be in danger of annihilation from a cosmic threat (Carpenter). The problem however remains that, should such an event happen relatively soon, the current state of space program is not advanced enough to tackle such a problem. The problem stems from the lack of funding given to NASA from the Federal Budget, which has currently left NASA underfunded to the point of canceling the Shuttle Program to cut costs. The solution to this problem is to increase the funding of NASA by arousing interest in space exploration in the public who in turn will support the funding of NASA. At the height of the space race, NASA received 4.41% of the federal budget, and with that money they used it to put men on the moon, launch p.

1. Student Surname 1
STUDENT NAME
INSTRUCTOR NAME
COURSE TITLE
DATE
The problem with NASA funding
66 million years ago a 6 mile wide rock slammed into the face
of the earth and the
resulting cloud of dust blotted out the sun for over a year as
well as killed 75% of life on earth,
including the dinosaurs (How to Defend Earth from Asteroids).
The dinosaurs died because they
didn’t have a space program, capable of deflecting asteroids,
one of the most important elements
if a strong space program. Up until the 1950’s, the human race
as a whole didn’t have any sort of
space program. However, advances in the field of space
exploration came from competition
between the United States and the Soviet Union during the

2. space race, which ended in 1969
when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Since the height of the
space race, the funding for NASA
has been decreased to its current funding of 0.5% of the federal
budget (Steinberg). NASA’s lack
of funding limits the number and types of missions it can
conduct, thereby limiting our
understanding of space and stunting technological advances in
the space exploration field.
Creating interest in space exploration and research among the
general public in the United States
through various forms of media could arouse public support for
increasing the funding of NASA.
The increase in funding leads to an increase in research of the
universe and our planet’s
surroundings, which would have benefits to mankind in the form
of technological advances,
greater knowledge, and increased safety in the event of a dooms
day like scenario like that of the
dinosaurs.
Student Surname 2

3. Although it is unlikely that a comet or asteroid will hit the earth
in the years to come,
problems such as the earth being destroyed in some sort of
cosmic event are real threats. The
ability to deflect an asteroid or comet, or, should the need arise
to leave the planet earth in search
of a new home are important solutions to problems involving
the destruction of life as we know
it on earth. According to Stephen Hawking, the future of the
human species relies on our ability
to colonize other celestial bodies, as eventually our planets
resources will be gone or our planet
will be in danger of annihilation from a cosmic threat
(Carpenter). The problem however remains
that, should such an event happen relatively soon, the current
state of space program is not
advanced enough to tackle such a problem. The problem stems
from the lack of funding given to
NASA from the Federal Budget, which has currently left NASA
underfunded to the point of
canceling the Shuttle Program to cut costs. The solution to this
problem is to increase the funding
of NASA by arousing interest in space exploration in the public
who in turn will support the

4. funding of NASA.
At the height of the space race, NASA received 4.41% of the
federal budget, and with
that money they used it to put men on the moon, launch probes,
and advance our understanding
of the universe. After winning the space race by landing men on
the moon the NASA budget has
been reduced over the years to its current value at 0.5% of the
federal budget (Steinberg). The
lack of funding to the space program and the high cost of space
exploration has forced NASA to
make decisive decisions about missions that they conduct.
These decisions have limited the
knowledge and understanding we have of the universe. The lack
of funding to NASA from the
federal budget comes from a perceived lack of necessity of the
space program since the federal
government uses most of the money from the federal budget to
pay for Medicare, Medicaid,
Student Surname 3
social security, and defense. The public also perceives that
NASA funding is much higher than it

5. truly is, making the public unlikely to support an increase in
NASA funding.
The consensus remains that the public is unaware of the lack of
funding to NASA
projects and are equally unaware of the benefits mankind will
receive should NASA be granted
increased funding by the federal government. According to Alan
Steinberg, as the public support
for NASA increases, so will the actual support for the funding
NASA. Although Roger Launius
found that the public supported NASA, he also found that the
public was unaware of NASA’s
objectives and that they felt the money funded to NASA could
be spent on more important
programs (Launius). The objective then should be to foster in
the American people an interest in
the universe, science, and space exploration in the hopes that
public support for NASA funding
will encourage the federal government to increase NASA’s
funding.
Human spaceflight and Innovation often go hand in hand; it is
necessary to innovate in
space to tackle the harsh problems that come with living in the
vacuum of space. Although the

6. public may be unaware of what NASA is actually doing in
space, the mass majority of the public
have at least been exposed to the technological breakthroughs of
NASA’s spinoff technologies,
or products designed for use in space that been since been
commercialized for use in by the
public and for the public. These technological innovations range
from, computer chips and
robots, to medical imaging technology used in hospitals (Doris).
According to NASA these
spinoffs have generated “over a billion dollars in revenue”
(Dunbar). NASA technologies have
had profound impacts on the lives of people whether or not they
were fully aware of what NASA
does; increasing public perception and interest in NASA, and
highlighting the technological
advances that came from NASA could increase the public’s
interest in supporting NASA with
the goal of advancing consumer technology.
Student Surname 4
In order to address the lack of funding to NASA, the public

7. needs to be aware of the
actual lack of funding that NASA has. Astronomer Neil
deGrasse Tyson is an avid proponent of
increasing the NASA budget by citing the benefits to the field
of science and engineering, as
well as increasing the jobs surrounding the space industry
(Chow). Neil deGrasse Tyson rose in
popularity through his use of various media outlets such as
Reddit.com and Twitter.com as well
as answering questions on his radio show star talk and recently
helping to produce and promote
the television show Cosmos. His hope is to spark an interest in
space and space exploration and
in turn gather support for increasing the funding to NASA.
Similarly motivated, Canadian
astronaut Chris Hadfield, who rose to prominence by posting
videos of life aboard the
international space station, hoped to inspire a public interest in
space exploration and gain
support for NASA (Schilder). Raising awareness for NASA’s
budget issues, and inspiring public
interest could have profound effects for scientific advancement
and job opportunities.
A common argument against the increasing of NASA’s budget is

8. that the money used to
fund NASA could be better spent elsewhere, which is a claim
that Roger Launius found was
common amongst the American public (Launius). People often
feel that money spent on space
exploration is wasted on scientific discovery that has little or
nothing to do with their lives.
These issues stems from the general publics lack of
understanding about what NASA does and is
trying to achieve in exploring space. An effort must be made by
NASA to broadcast the
importance of the organization’s work and the technological
breakthroughs that have had a
massive impact on our lives, as well as educating people about
the opportunities created by
NASA.
Neil deGrasse Tyson has adamantly advocated for the increase
in NASA’s budget stating
in his address to congress that beyond the breakthroughs in
scientific research Space is a “$300
Student Surname 5

9. billion industry worldwide” (Chow). Increasing the funding to
NASA would increase job
opportunities, for engineers, scientists, and astronauts which
would have a trickledown effect
impacting a large portion of the American economy (Tyson).
Tyson also suggested inspiration
gained from successes of human spaceflight would inspire the
next generation of astronauts,
engineers, and scientists, as well as encourage innovation
throughout the United States that
would have a positive effect on the American economy (Tyson).
Beyond the need for a space
program to help advance our scientific knowledge and protect
our species from disaster, the
practical benefits of increasing the budget of NASA like
increasing jobs throughout the US,
which would in turn help the economy.
NASA is seriously underfunded to the point where we have
canceled the American
shuttle program, because of a lack of public support despite the
fact that the public views NASA
as a whole as an important organization. The public doesn’t
understand exactly what NASA does
day to day or what it wants to discover. And so they feel that

10. the money could be better spent. In
order to increase the funding for NASA, the public opinion
needs to reflect that the American
people feeling that NASA is important enough to warrant
funding. Prominent figures such as
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chris Hadfeild have tried to foster an
interest in the public regarding
the field of space exploration through use the popular internet
websites and other media outlets
in the hopes that increased interest in space will gather support
for the increase of NASA’s
budget. The public needs to be informed that the space agency
is underfunded, and that NASA as
a whole is an important organization which when funded will
produce results that are beneficial
to mankind in multiple areas.
Student Surname 6
Works Cited
Carpenter, P.A. P.C. Bishop, “The seventh mass extinction:

11. Human-caused events contribute to a fatal
Consequence.” Futures, Volume 41, Issue 10, December 2009,
Pages 715-722
Chow, Denise. "Boosting NASA's Budget Will Help Fix
Economy: Neil DeGrasse Tyson."Space.com.
Tech Media Network, 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Doris J. Rouse, Daniel L. Winfield, S.Catherine Canada, NASA
spinoffs to bioengineering and medicine,
Acta Astronautica, Volume 25, Issue 2, February 1991, Pages
103-110,
Dunbar, Brian. "NASA Celebrates Spinoff Technologies from
the Space Shuttle Program." NASA.
NASA, 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 02 May 2014.
How to Defend Earth from Asteroids. Perf. Phil Plait. Phil Plait:
How to Defend Earth from Asteroids.
Tedx, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Launius, Roger D. Public opinion polls and perceptions of US
human spaceflight, Space Policy, Volume
19, Issue 3, August 2003, Pages 163-175

12. Schilder, Jana. "Chris Hadfield Could Teach PR Companies a
Thing or Two." The Huffington
Post. Huffington Post, 15 May 2013. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
Steinberg, Alan. “Space policy responsiveness: The relationship
between public opinion and NASA
funding,” Space Policy, Volume 27, Issue 4, November 2011,
Pages 240-246
Tyson, Neil D. "Past, Present, and Future of NASA - U.S.
Senate Testimony."Hayden Planetarium.
Hayden Planetarium, 7 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.