In the article, "NASA seeks $500M budget boost" (link to article) it states that NASA has released its new 2016 proposed budget request of $18.5 billion which is a $500 million increase from this year's budget. The proposal also asks Congress to increase the commercial spaceflight program funding by 50% ($800 million to $1.2 billion). If this funding is not approved, NASA might not be able to launch U.S. astronauts by 2017, like they have planned.
I think that continuing space exploration is a neccessity for the growth of the United States, but I'm not sure if there is enough money to fund all of NASA's projects. I'm not sure that Congress will pass NASA's budget request because of the significant increase in funds that are being asked for. I know that President Obama supports NASA and their upcoming projects, but I am not so sure that Congress will. Hopefully NASA will be able to launch their new exploration projects even if Congress does not approve of their new budget.
I agree with Hanna -- Space exploration is important. I hope, however, that Congress doesn't agree to this crazy budget plan exactly as it is. I feel like there has to be some way to "meet in the middle," whether that means slightly cutting down project sizes or putting off smaller tasks. This is a lot of money to hand over all at once, and with how our debt is so far, we really can't afford it.
ReplyDeleteI think there is plenty of money for NASA and science, but it's all being spent on our massive, expensive, and unnecessary military. If we cut military spending to that of China's or Russia's, we'd have more than enough money for NASA.
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