Space Exploration is Important

I’m mad, not as in crazy but rather angry, upset, and quite disappointed. An elderly gentleman that I respect greatly for his wisdom and knowledge said that he felt all the money that the government spent on the space program was an absolute waste. He feels that “all that money could have been put to better use solving problems here in our country”.

This is not the first time I’ve heard someone say this. I know that many people feel this way. However, have any of them actually taken the time to look in to the issue? How much money does NASA get every year? What is that money used for? How much money does the Federal Government put to other programs? How much money have we spent on our latest “war”?

OK, let’s tackle these questions:

Has anybody really checked out the facts? In my opinion, no. If they had, they would see how little goes to NASA, how much the space program benefits EVERYONE, how much useful technology we’ve gotten as a spin-off, and how much more money the Federal Government manages to waste (ever heard of ‘pork-barrel’ spending?) in other areas.

How much money does NASA get every year? Not much, especially compared with the overall budget. Wikipedia has a very interesting article on this. NASA has received an average of $12.681 billion dollars (adjusted for inflation) per year over its forty-nine year history. That’s barely a drop in the budgetary bucket. For comparison, lets look at what the Federal budget spent on other things in 2007:

• $586.1 billion for Social Security
• $548.8 billion for Defense (not including the “war”)
• $394.5 billion for Medicare
• $367 billion for Unemployment and Welfare
• $76.9 billion for Veterans’ benefits
• $33.1 billion for natural resources and the environment
• $26.8 billion for community and regional development

Check out this other Wikipedia article for a full breakdown plus links for additional information. And here’s one fact for you: Americans spent over 19 times as much at restaurants in 1997 as the federal government spent on NASA that year.

What does NASA spend ‘all that money’ on? Well, among other things, NASA has procurements, grants, and awards that go to businesses, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations throughout all 50 United States. Millions of dollars are spread throughout the country. Check out this map showing the disbursements. As for all their space exploration programs, research centers, aeronautical programs, etc., you should check out this site by NASA.

I’ve already addressed the issue of how much money the Federal Government puts to other programs, so let’s look at our “war” spending. Much of the money for the war does not come out of the annual Federal budget, instead it is done as ‘Supplemental Funding’. For example, in FY 2006 $153 billion in Supplemental Funding was added to the base budget of which the War on Terror received $120 billion and a massive $33 billion went to events such as Hurricane Katrina. My source for this information is here. Total estimates for our “War on Terror” go as high as $2.4 trillion. TRILLION. Check out this CNN Money article and be sure to follow their link in the middle of the article.

Right now this lovely little planet is our only home. The environment is not in the best shape right now and many feel the future is only going to deteriorate. Personally, I’d like to see humanity expand beyond Earth. Our future, if we have one, is in space. Check out these folks.

Scotty, where are you when I need you?

Pale Blue Dot

There may be a few folks who remember a scientist by the name of Carl Sagan. Back in 1980 he released the Cosmos series, a show that introduced the concepts of science to people in a way that almost anyone could understand. It was a great series, one that I enjoyed. If you were to view it now it may appear to be a bit dated on some topics, but his widow, Ann Druyan, re-released the show on DVD a while back (don't know when) and included some updated graphics and information. If you ever get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.

I know that many people view science as a nasty, evil thing. It is not. It is what has brought us to where we are today (both good and bad). Do you enjoy artificial light at night? A scientist invented it. Do you every talk to someone who is far away over the telephone? A scientist invented it. What about television, microwave ovens, air conditioning (OK, a doctor created it, but medicine and science go hand in hand), the list goes on and on.

This is not to say that science is universally good. However, anything can be used for both good and evil. You can use a pen to write a love letter and use that same pen to stab someone. The choices we make determine the end result.

My concern is that so many people do not really think about most of the decisions (or maybe I should say opinions and beliefs) that they make. They follow along with "popular opinion" or what someone tells them they should believe. If you went to the doctor and they said you needed major surgery, wouldn't you get a second opinion? I'm trying to offer a second opinion on science to show that it has done good things and can continue to do good things. Please read this article posted at the American Institute of Physics.

As for the title of this blog, when the Voyager I spacecraft was beyond the orbit of Neptune its cameras were turned back in towards the sun and a portrait of our solar system was taken. Earth is only a tiny, blue dot, smaller than a pixel. Click here to view an article about it.

Thanks for listening.