Dr. Dick Covey played an integral role in the very beginnings of NASA’s missions and space exploration. Below we can see a bar graph that visualizes the allotted budget for NASA since its inception in the late 1950’s. It’s clear that due to the national attention on the space race, NASA's budget was at its peak. In fact, the 2021 budget proposed by President Joe Biden will be the highest allotted budget since the early 1970’s, when the budget’s steep decline began.
Che a column for a budget breakdown
NASA has never been underfunded compared to other countries with their focus on space exploration. The United States’ budget for Space Exploration is much larger than all other countries of the world. The next largest budget comes from China, who has become increasingly interested in space travel in recent years. China became only the third country to send humans into space in 2003, over four decades after the United States and Soviet Union accomplished this during the Space Race.
• Historical Budg1tts • FV20 Enact1td Budg1tt
Along with international competition in space exploration, several private corporations have extended their resources Apollo (1961-1 972) $390m to this frontier. In recent years, many would likely say that Space Shuttle (1981-2011) I I $17om NASA’s primary competition is not a foreign nation, but the Mercury (1958-1963) $142m I I U.S. based company, SpaceX. In recent years, SpaceX has Gemini (1961-1966) - $1 17m garnered the attention of the American public for its Boeing Starliner - $90m comparatively inexpensive spacecrafts and clear goals for Soyuz - $80m the future of exploration. Namely, the potential to “ferry SpaceX Dragon 2 - SSSm people to Mars for permanent habitation” (The Planetary * Estimations for historical spacecraft adjusted for inflation. Soyuz estimate based on 12 seats contracted after 2017. Society). Sources: NASA, The Planetary Society
Cross-Agency Educatio Support, 0.8% 16.8%
, 0 .2%
It’s not too much of a stretch to assume that without NASA’s pioneering research and expeditions in the 20th century, private corporations and foreign nations would not have the knowledge or drive to make the giant leaps they are making today. A third of NASA’s current budget does not go towards space travel, but towards further research in aeronautics and planetary science. SpaceX has no interest in studying non-habitable planets, as it would not produce a profit, so NASA is an essential part of humanity’s space exploration. This is why it may seem that SpaceX is making larger strides than NASA in recent years, as their entire focus is space travel. Along with this, it’s very likely that SpaceX would not exist in the same manner it does today without previous support from NASA, who began investing in private companies in 2006 hoping that private companies could soon provide cargo to the International Space Station (The Planetary Society).
References: Direction, C. O., Sciences., D. O., & Council, N. R. (2012). NASA's strategic direction and the need for a national consensus. In NASA's Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus (p. 37). Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. McCarthy, N. (2020, June 04). Why SpaceX is a game changer For NASA [INFOGRAPHIC]. Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2020/06/04/why-spacex-is-a- game-changer- for-nasa-infographic/?sh=3270bcc61656 NASA astronauts ride a commercial rocket. (2020, May 30). Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.planetary.org/space-images/nasa- astronauts-ride-a-commercial-rocket The Planetary Society. (2020, November 12). Why do we need NASA when we have SpaceX? Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.planetary.org/articles/nasa-versus-spacex Roberts, T., & Harrison, T. (2020, May 20). History of the NASA Budget. Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://aerospace.csis.org/data/history- nasa-budget/ Seminari, S. (2019, November 20). Op-ed: Global government space Budgets Continues Multiyear rebound. Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://spacenews.com/op-ed-global- government-space-budgets- continues-multiyear-rebound/