To Infinity and Beyond

I will be taking a look at space space expeditions. Due to some recent budget cuts by congress to NASA ( National Aeronautical and Space Agency), I will be taking a look to see if it would be more beneficial for mankind to have any future space expeditions be funded by private funds or public funds (funds to come from the government).

John F Kenny once said “Man and his quest for knowledge and progress is determined, but cannot be deterred.” He said this during a speech called We Choose to go to the Moon. In this speech JFK was talking about how important going to space really was for the world. What he was saying still holds true today. We as a Nation and as the world need to look to space for the betterment of Earth. We as human have always been curious; going to space is the logical step in our evolution. But who should pay for the resources need to go to space? Should private companies pay for all the expenses to go to space or should the government keep paying for space expeditions? I am going to answers these questions. So put your spacesuits on because we have T-10 seconds until liftoff.

T-9 Seconds

There are many pros and cons to each side of the argument on who should fund space expeditions. My thesis is that for now since space travel is relatively young that the government should continue to provide most of the funding for space expeditions with programs like NASA. While maybe sometime in the future private funding will be a better option with still some government assistance but for now public funding should cover most of the cost for space expeditions.

T-8 Seconds

There are three main arguments for privately funded space expeditions. The first main argument for private spending is that there will have a positive impact on the economy, that will create a lot jobs, and overall it will reduce the cost for space expedition. An article printed by CNET made these arguments for private funding for space expeditions. It points to the fact that congress has been reducing NASA overall budget for a number of years. It states that the space industry is already moving towards being privately funded.

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This is true that space expeditions programs will have a positive impact on the economy; it will also create jobs, and reduce the cost for space expeditions. However, I think NASA now can do all of these things better than the private sector. NASA has over 20,000 jobs right now and that is with the budget cuts they have been experiencing. As you can see NASA is having a positive impact on the economy and is creating jobs. They are also doing more with less with the budget cuts.

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The second main argument for private funding is that private budgeting is more efficient than public budgets. The private budget will be able to use their resources more efficiently than the public resources. The private sector doesn’t have the constraints like the public sector so that is why they can set the budget better. In The Spacereview article it lays out how the private sector would use the budget they have better.

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This is probably the only point I would agree with on the side of why space expeditions should be funded by private funding. However I do not think this point alone can justify private funding. I think if congress can get its duck in a row they can omit this argument. If we look to Bart Chapman article Waste and Duplication in NASA Programs: The Need toEnhance U.S. Space Program Efficiency. We can see ways NASA can improve their budget.

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The third and final main argument for funding space expeditions with private funds instead of public funds is that private companies will be able to develop better ideas for space expeditions than NASA. They say that private companies will be more ambitious to receive higher rewards with space expeditions. While NASA will have limits on the things they can do with space expeditions.

T-3

I don’t believe this is true at all. I think NASA time and time again has proven how innovated they can. They were the first person to put on man on the moon. So many great things have come from NASA like solar panels and memory foam to name a few (here is a list of top inventions). I think saying that the private sector better ideas is preposterous.

T-2

There are several reasons why public funding for space expeditions is better now than private funding I am going to talk about the two main reasons. The first reason is if we allow private funding for space expeditions then it will destroy any presents and competitiveness the United States would have in space. If we look another time when humans went to explore strange and new lands which was age of discovery. When Columbus explored the new world he was not funded by private companies but by governments. Because even back then they know that that privately funded trips would be beneficial and cause major problems for the future.

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The second main point for why public funding is better than private funding for space expeditions is that NASA already has the infrastructure for deep space expeditions. It also has more experience with space expeditions then any private company in the world. NASA was founded in 1958 so if we do some quick math that means NASA has been around for over 57 years. No other companies comes close being around that long and having that much experience with space expeditions. This also means if we stay with public funding it will be a lot safer right now to go to space. There will also be laws and rules to govern in space because if we let private companies govern themselves in space it will not work out the best for everyone involved. This is why it is so important to keep public funding for space expeditions. If we take a look at Mike Wall article and Bart Leathy article we can see just how far ahead the public sector is than the private sector

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John F Kenny once said, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” I think at very least we as mankind should still reach for the stars. I think space expeditions will become very important in the future for mankind as it did when we as humans were discover the new world. Like discovering the new word we should let the public funded the exploring because of the infrastructure and for the safety. I am not the only one that feels this way. If we take a look at a very famous scientist by the name of Neil deGrasse Tyson he feels the exact same way. In his recent speech when he was a keynote speaker at South by Southwest. He talks about a lot of same issues and has the same views I do. So if you don’t believe me you take a look Neil deGrasse Tyson who has years and years in this field and he will say the same thing I am. That for now public funding should be the source for space expeditions. Solid rocket booster ignition and liftoff!