NASA Today...
Many people of the United States believe that NASA is a lost, unproductive, and expensive part of the federal government. Due to dramatic cost cuts in the federal budget NASA is given less and less money each year. Many believe that NASA is completely gone, part of this is true. The famous Space Shuttle Program, which has been the staple program of NASA for the last 20 years, has ended. The International Space Station built with the Space Shuttle Program is now seemly a wasteful piece of space junk. This website will discuss the problems that NASA faces, and how they plan to overcome these challenges. We will also discuss current and future options for NASA and what we can expect form them in the next few years. Hopefully this website will show the true form of NASA and how many projects still exist and are necessary to the human race. Also how the future of NASA may look very different, but space exploration and the American idea of exploring the unknown still lives on.
The Purpose
In 1958, President Kennedy announced the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). During Kennedy’s administration the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space and followed with the first man into space. Responding to the “Space Race” of the 1950s, President Kennedy and NASA sent the first man into space to orbit the earth. Since that moment in space exploration history, the United States led the industry worldwide with technological developments and industry firsts continuing to the present day. President Kennedy embodied the true American spirit in exploring an unknown frontier, a spirit that still continues to the present and until recently, has been an important part of American society. Due to the recession in the American economy and necessary budget cuts to the federal government, NASA downsized its operations to fit an $18.7 billion dollar budget for the fiscal year of 2012. A key cut to operations was the Space Shuttle Program founded for $1.6 billion in 2011; it received an estimated $600 million in 2012. The original purpose of the Space Shuttle Program was the development of the International Space Station, which funding received of $2.8 billion in 2011 alone. There are several options that NASA has to stay within budget and continue all current projects. In order to survive budget cuts and provide transportation to the International Space Station, NASA should create a commercial enterprise to replace the Space Shuttle Program.