ENG Proposal Final Draft.

Student Surname 1 STUDENT NAME INSTRUCTOR NAME COURSE TITLE DATE The problem with NASA funding 66 millio n years ago a 6 mile wide rock sla mmed 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 t hey 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. S ince the height of the space race , the f unding 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 su pport 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 s afety 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 o f cosmic event are real threats. The ability to deflect an asteroid or comet, or , should the need arise to leave the plan et 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 plan et 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 give n 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 probes , and advance ou r understanding of the universe. A fter 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 a bout missions that they conduct. These decisions have lim ited 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 p rogram since the federal government us es 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 truly is , making the public unlikely to support an increase in NASA funding. The consensus remains that the public is unaware of th e 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 actu al su pport for the funding NASA. Although R oger 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 obj ective 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 public may be unaware of what NASA is actually doing in space, the mass majority of the public ha ve 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, c omputer chips and robots, to medical imaging technology used in hospitals (Doris ). A ccording 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 n ot 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 techn ology. Student Surname 4 In order to address the lack of funding to NASA , the public 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 questi ons on his radio sh ow 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 Chri s 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 pub lic interest could have profound effects for scientific advancement and job opportunities. A common argument against the increasing of NASA’s budget is that the money used to fund NASA could be better spent elsewhere , which is a claim that R oger 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 unders tanding 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 scientif ic research Space is a “$300 Student Surname 5 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 econ omy (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 eff ect 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 p ublic doesn’t understand exactly what NASA does day to day or what it want s to discover. A nd so they feel that the money could be b etter spent. In order to increase the funding for NASA , the public opinion needs to reflect that the American people feel ing 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 m edia 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 Work s C ited Carpenter, P.A. P.C. Bishop, “The seventh mass extinction: 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 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.