4 ms·
> Before going into the galaxy, we have to fix ourselves and our society Space exploration, i.e. NASA, takes up 0.6% of the federal budget, and decreasing. The
by zeteo 15y ago
> Before going into the galaxy, we have to fix ourselves and our society
Space exploration, i.e. NASA, takes up 0.6% of the federal budget, and decreasing. The Great Society programs, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, take up 54% and increasing.
So, be happy: as a society, we've decided that an extra 1% on grandma's pension is worth more than a Moon colony and humans on Mars (quite likely to have been achieved with double the space exploration budget).
- Rastafarian 15y agoYou've made an interesting point, but budget is a very poor measure of effort. Grandpa's pension mostly circulates on Earth, while NASA budget throws extremely hard to design and produce stuff into space.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- highriseo 15y agoI don't think you can argue that the money that NASA spends does not circulate here on earth, NASA spends all there money on things like salary materials and other services that all exist here on earth. Sure its largely a different sector than grandma's pension gets spent on but it still positively impacts our economy.
- bff 15y agoNot really - a lot of the technology that NASA builds ends up being used in other areas, from materials science to computer engineering.