NASA is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. They are the U.S. government agency responsible for science and technology related to air and space(Dunbar, NASA.gov). NASA was created in 1958 at the beginning of the Cold War with the goal winning the Space Race (Sandra, NASA.gov). The Space Race started in 1957, when the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite. They won the Space Race by getting a man to the moon first (Barry, history.nasa.gov). After Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, NASA did not stop going into space and researching. Today, NASA still wants to research, but they do not have enough government funding to do so (airandspace.si.edu). NASA wants to send astronauts to Mars, but they need to perform more research
…show more content…
The annual budget received was about .1 percent of the total federal budget for the year. By 1962, only 4 years later NASA was receiving 1.18 percent of the budget. The year they were funded the most in history is 1966. The program received what is worth 43,554 million now or 4.41 percent of the government 's annual budget)(Rodgers, theguardian.com). They received such a large amount is due to the fact that in 1965 a critical task that would have to be mastered before landing on the Moon was completed during the Gemini IV. It was the second piloted Gemini mission and it stayed aloft for four days and astronaut Edward H. White II performed the first spacewalk by an American (Barry, history.nasa.gov). All through the 1970’s and 80’s the budget dropped between about .10 and .01 percent year. Then during the early 1990’s the annual budget rose to above 1 percent, but quickly dropped to around .85 percent. In 2000 NASA was receiving .75 percent of the government 's annual budget and by the end of the decade it had dropped by .23 percent. For the first couple of years in the 2010’s the budget only dropped .01 each year, starting at .52 percent and ending at .49 percent)(Rodgers, …show more content…
1, 2003, the other NASA space shuttle disaster occurred. The space shuttle Columbia broke up as it returned to Earth, killing the seven astronauts on board, Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, William McCool, and Ilan Ramon. During the crew 's 16 days in space, NASA was investigating a foam strike during launch. About 82 seconds after Columbia left the ground, a piece of foam fell from part of the structure that attached to the external tank to the shuttle. Video from the launch showed the foam striking Columbia 's left wing. Within NASA, people pushed to get pictures of the damage wing in orbit, but NASA officials in declined an offer to use the department of Defences spy cameras to get a closer look. When the shuttle made its landing approach to the space center, abnormal readings showed up at Mission Control and quickly after, they lost contact with the shuttle. NASA suspended space shuttle flights for the two years following as they investigated the disaster (Howell, Space.com). In 2003, the budget was .68 percent of the government’s funding, but when the investigation wrapped up in 2005 the budget was down to .63 percent (Rodgers,
The annual budget received was about .1 percent of the total federal budget for the year. By 1962, only 4 years later NASA was receiving 1.18 percent of the budget. The year they were funded the most in history is 1966. The program received what is worth 43,554 million now or 4.41 percent of the government 's annual budget)(Rodgers, theguardian.com). They received such a large amount is due to the fact that in 1965 a critical task that would have to be mastered before landing on the Moon was completed during the Gemini IV. It was the second piloted Gemini mission and it stayed aloft for four days and astronaut Edward H. White II performed the first spacewalk by an American (Barry, history.nasa.gov). All through the 1970’s and 80’s the budget dropped between about .10 and .01 percent year. Then during the early 1990’s the annual budget rose to above 1 percent, but quickly dropped to around .85 percent. In 2000 NASA was receiving .75 percent of the government 's annual budget and by the end of the decade it had dropped by .23 percent. For the first couple of years in the 2010’s the budget only dropped .01 each year, starting at .52 percent and ending at .49 percent)(Rodgers, …show more content…
1, 2003, the other NASA space shuttle disaster occurred. The space shuttle Columbia broke up as it returned to Earth, killing the seven astronauts on board, Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, William McCool, and Ilan Ramon. During the crew 's 16 days in space, NASA was investigating a foam strike during launch. About 82 seconds after Columbia left the ground, a piece of foam fell from part of the structure that attached to the external tank to the shuttle. Video from the launch showed the foam striking Columbia 's left wing. Within NASA, people pushed to get pictures of the damage wing in orbit, but NASA officials in declined an offer to use the department of Defences spy cameras to get a closer look. When the shuttle made its landing approach to the space center, abnormal readings showed up at Mission Control and quickly after, they lost contact with the shuttle. NASA suspended space shuttle flights for the two years following as they investigated the disaster (Howell, Space.com). In 2003, the budget was .68 percent of the government’s funding, but when the investigation wrapped up in 2005 the budget was down to .63 percent (Rodgers,