NASA has taken many giant leaps in spaceflight since Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon: The International Space Station was built, multiple rovers were sent to Mars, a spacecraft has landed on an asteroid, and we even have pictures of Pluto for the first time. NASA has accomplished some incredible projects that have inspired many and benefited the entire world with the research it has found. Unfortunately, it has recently encountered some setbacks that make it nearly impossible for the administration to continue in these ambitions. Due to cost, interests, and efficiency, it is time for the private sector to take control of the future of spaceflight.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was established on October 1, 1958 as a way “to provide for research into the problems of flight within and outside the Earth’s atmosphere…” (Garber). It originally served the purpose of national defense during the Cold War but soon became engaged in a space race with the Soviet Union. While the Soviet Union was the first nation to send man to space, the United States eventually won the ultimate race when the lunar module landed on the moon on June 20, 1969 (Garber). NASA continued to send man into space using the space shuttle designed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The International Space Station (ISS) was developed to conduct long term research and determine the effects of near weightlessness on the human body (Garber). Their plans include long term or even permanent
Where the World Wars and commercialization allowed aviation to develop from the Wrights’ simple aircraft, to large commercial plane, to extremely complex military aircraft. Today, reorganized to form NASA, its main goal is the advancement of space technology and the human exploration of space. Using the private companies to commercialize low-orbit travel and the development of better rocketry, NASA can focus on deep exploration. NASA believes that commercialization is not only a method to be cost effective, but help raise the number of crew aboard the ISS, provide new economic frontiers in space travel, and brings the frontier to civilians. In the near future, with the aid of space commercialization and NASA research, astronauts and spacecraft will become independent of Earth. Meaning, that astronauts and spacecraft will no longer need to reenter Earth’s orbit for resupplies, but are able to self-sustain their systems. This will enable humanity to push further into the depths of space, beyond the asteroid belt or even
As President Eisenhower once stated, “Every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed” (qtd in DeGroot). According to Jerry DeGroot, a lecturer in the Department of Modern History at the University of St. Andrews and author of the widely acclaimed biography “Douglas Haig”, every year, the United States federal government funds the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with over $17 billion. When Keith Yost, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was asked about government funding on NASA, he replied, “NASA is not only spending money, but also the sweat of our laborers, the genius of our scientists, and the hopes of our children.” As a powerhouse in the work industry, NASA is taking away from the remainder of the country. Before venturing off into space, the US needs to realize the importance of tackling the issues that lie before the citizens here on Earth. As Richard Truly, a retired Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, stated in agreement, “...I didn’t go to NASA for the United States to make international commitments that wouldn’t keep, to design space vehicles that will never be built (or will be then fail), or to make promises to the American people that will never be kept.” It would be in the best interest for the citizens of the United States federal government to cut NASA funding.
The world today revolves around technology and is in an ever upward spiraling path of new advancements. This path is now at what some people call the “final frontier”, or the space age. The discoveries being made on this front are overwhelming in comparison to the technology that the world had only twenty years ago. Space exploration was once left up to the governments, as they battled to be the first country in space, but with national debts raising and the cuts made in response, space exploration is beginning to become new grounds for private business owners. Private companies are already beginning to send off rockets at a fraction of the cost that government does, but if more money was put into the government space program, then they
As a consequence of the tensions between the superpowers, "NASA's birth was directly related to the pressures of national defense." (Garber and Launius, 2005). The launch of the Soviet spacecraft created an idea in the United States that the Soviets were far more technologically advanced. To counter this thinking, the US government created NASA and it marked the beginning of the space race. The reasons for the formation of NASA listed in the National Aeronautics and Space Act differ from the primary reason listed above. In the bill, it states the space program will contribute to the following objectives: "The expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space; The improvement of the usefulness, performance, speed, safety, and efficiency of aeronautical and space vehicles; The development and operation of vehicles capable of carrying instruments, equipment, supplies and living organisms through space; The establishment of long-range studies of the potential benefits to be gained from, the opportunities for, and the problems involved in the utilization of aeronautical and space activities for peaceful and scientific purposes." (National Aeronautics and Space Act, 1958). Though these reasons differed from the primary force behind the creation of the agency, all were factors to decide upon its formation.
“If you wanted to create a diabolical problem, it is hard to imagine doing it better than releasing CO2 into the atmosphere” (Newell and Pitman 1007).
In July of 1958, President Eisenhower passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as a response to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik nine months earlier. That administration, now known worldwide as NASA, has become an icon of space exploration and mankind's accomplishments. Who would have thought that fifty years later, NASA's future would be so uncertain? Congress has recently proposed a bill that would significantly cut funding from the NASA's Constellation program. These budget cuts are unnecessary and are counterproductive to the original idea of the space program.
Stars, mankind has been staring up at them for thousands of years. Over those many years dreams and mythology have been created to explain those lights in the heavens. Mankind grew sick of just staring, and decided to find ways to discover more about it. Eventually over hundreds of years mankind has, been able to send men to the moon, launch satellites into space, and even send rovers to Mars. These feats of science would have been unimaginable hundreds of years ago, and to others that heard of it was only science fiction. With all these accomplishments, it seems humanity has a bright future of further discovery, but a recent development has surfaced regarding Space Exploration. That debate regards the future of space Exploration, and whether or not It should be continued through NASA or private companies. Various opinions have come from all over the scientific and astronomy concerned world. Others side that NASA should continue its lead into the future, because of its contributions to discovery and the scientific world. Others blame that NASA’s lack of progress in previous projects has lead to a disbelief of Nasa, and a turn to Private industries due to their smaller budgets and recent success. Even some see a balanced future of NASA working with private companies, and even healthy competition that will allow a faster progress into the future. Mankind has always had the desire to reach the unreachable, and it cannot go forward
America’s funding for NASA during the space race in 1966 was 4.41% of the federal budget yet in modern times this expenditure has fallen to only 0.5% of the federal budget. One might ask why, but the greater question is why isn’t anything being done about this dearth of funding for NASA. America should once again fund the exploration of space with a renewed ferocity because of the various educational, economical, and technological benefits of having well-funded space agencies.
“Sputnik marked the beginning of the "space race," a period of nearly twenty years during which fierce US and Soviet competition spurred both countries to make rapid progress in aeronautic engineering,” (Lee). This period of time birthed a new program from the American government, called the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. NASA has been building rockets, training astronauts, and studying space for the benefit of science, the government, and the people of America since 1958. Unfortunately, many people don't realize how important NASA is, and there have been efforts made to stop the government from funding NASA. This program is essential for increasing knowledge of outer space, protecting planet Earth, and creating
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was designed on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), as the locus of U.S.civil aerospace research and development. NASA was officially established on October 1, 1958 , the creation was directed to the pressure of national defense. NASA is responsible for important scientific and technology accomplishments in human aerospace science that have impacted our nation and/or world all across the board. The founder of this great corporation was our 34th President of the United States the honorable Dwight D. Eisenhower. During the Cold war ,which was a combat over theories and faithfulness of separate nations, in the middle of it there was a major battle of space exploration known as the Space Race between the Soviets and United States of America. Like every other corporation, NASA had a mission which was “to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”and the motto states “For the benefit of All” both mission and motto are correlative to each other.
While Russia holds the title for sending the first human into space, Project Mercury was a success and Alan Shepard became the first American to be sent into space. NASA continued on with Project Gemini to further their space flight capabilities in March of 1965. Following this was the famed Apollo mission which would lead to the first manned spacecraft to orbit another body in Apollo 8 and of course the moon landing made on Apollo 11. These giant leaps in human spaceflight would be trailed by the nearly 40-year long Space Shuttle Program. This essential time period brought with it both technological breakthroughs and tragedy. The Challenger space shuttle suffered a failed launch in 1986 that ended in disaster and the loss of all seven crew members. Pushing past this catastrophe, NASA aided in the construction of the International Space Station which combined NASA’s Freedom space station with the Russian Mir-2, European Columbus, and Japanese Kibō. The ISS is the largest artificial satellite in Earth’s orbit and is a prime example of how far NASA has come since Project Mercury back in
NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA is a United States government agency that is responsible for science and technology related to air space. Space age started in 1957 with the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik and NASA was created in 1958. NASA was created to oversee U.S. space exploration and aeronautics research. NASA’s purpose today is to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind. NASA mainly sends astronauts to orbit conduct scientific research, and many other things help scientists today better understand space. Satellites help scientists learn more about Earth and pace probes study the solar system and beyond that. Today NASA is working
America’s space program is undoubtedly one of its greatest modern achievements. Few people cannot recall the famous quote “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” or do not know where it came from. The story leading up to the moment a man walked on the moon, as well as everything that came after, is just as interesting and important as the moment itself. The significance of the history of America’s aeronautics programs cannot possibly be overestimated, and their story is one that is incredibly important to the modern world of today. It would not be the nation that it is, with the technology it possesses, without its crucial involvement in the “space race”. If the technology that sent a man to the moon did not exist, our daily lives would be impacted and basic tools would be missing. Beginning with America’s first official aeronautics organization, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (or NACA) and continuing through to the present day and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (or NASA), the story of America’s aerospace programs is interesting and extremely important. It is a story that spans many years and giant leaps in technology, and involves important locations like Wallops Flight Facility and Kennedy Space Center. From the early beginnings of NACA and Wallops, and continuing on to the rise and success of NASA and Kennedy Space Center, aeronautics
NASA has seen a declining budget and support for years, despite all of the new discoveries and technologies the world has benefited from. One element of this new space camp is to drum up some additional interest in the program through the country’s future leaders.
The whole world changed the day that space flight became affordable. Instead of being exclusively for the super-rich, the average everyday citizen could take a short trip to space for only a week’s pay. N.A.S.A. and all the other multi-billion-dollar-a-year space agencies made more money from passengers in the first month than they did from government contracts for that year.