We’ve boldly gone where no man had gone before, but now it’s looking more and more likely that we won’t be going any further for a while.
Budget cuts to NASA are threatening to cripple our space program and undermine our position as the leading nation in space exploration. Missions and programs designed to broaden the scope of human knowledge are being scrapped in the name of saving money, and these cuts may end up harming us in the long term.
The most recent example is the cancellation of a pair of missions to Mars. One, set to launch in 2016, was purposed with measuring gases in the Martian atmosphere. The other would have launched in 2018 and was designed to give us the ability to bring Martian rocks back to Earth for further study.
Meanwhile, the Mars Exploration Program has been completely restructured.
Many argue that cuts to the NASA budget are necessary and desirable. Opponents argue that these programs don’t produce any tangible results and that taxpayer money could be allocated toward more fruitful ventures.
But if there is one federal program that should not be cut, it’s NASA.
NASA only costs taxpayers a fraction of a penny every year, and it represents only a tiny fraction of our country’s total spending. For instance, compare the NASA budget with that of the Department of Defense. NASA’s 2013 budget is $17.7 billion, while the Department of Defense is slated to receive $525 billion.
In other words, we are spending 30 times more money per year on missiles and other military equipment than on exploring the cosmos and learning about our place in the universe. Take a second to imagine the implications a reversal of this trend would entail.
Instead of throwing money at military projects (that admittedly protect us from threats), we would be investing in a future that would allow our species to progress into the far reaches of space. This would lead to increasing advancements in scientific knowledge and technology.
The benefits of NASA are twofold: cultural and economic.
Culturally, space exploration has a way of bringing a country together around a common goal. An increase in NASA’s influence could unite the country around something other than the vengeful invasion of foreign countries in the name of security.
Science and technology could again become an important part of the nation’s consciousness, and space exploration could fuel a national zeitgeist of discovery.
Of course, the most compelling argument for NASA funding is the possibility that it will lead to economic gains.
The United States’ position as the economic powerhouse of the world has been threatened in recent years. Reinvigorating NASA could produce the type of innovations that would allow the United States to keep its position as the leading world economy.
Many technological innovations that we are accustomed to today are the result of NASA research.
The miniaturization of electronics, for example, came about because electronics on space probes and shuttles needed to be as small and light as possible. GPS technology and cordless tools are just a couple other examples that were created as a result of NASA research.
Cutting funding to NASA could possibly harm the rate of innovation in the United States and affect our position as a world leader.
European countries are already looking to Russia and China to replace the United States in missions that NASA had to abort because of its new budget.
NASA was created as a reaction to the Soviet Union’s ambitions for space and the threat posed by their advancements. Funding NASA today as a reaction to our economic decline could benefit us in the long term.
David Scheuermann is a 20-year-old mass communication and computer science sophomore from Kenner. Follow him on Twitter at @TDR_dscheu.
 
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Contact David Scheuermann at [email protected]