Federal Funding for Mars
Exploration
With only a very small chance of landing successfully and an
estimated $2.5 billion price tag, the rover coined Curiosity
touched down on Mars on August 6th, 2012.
Essentially, the rover’s mission is to prepare for future human
exploration and even the probability of human habitation. During
the “seven minutes in hell”, an overwhelming number of people were
able to watch the event live either via NASA’s website, YouTube or
even live in New York City’s Time Square. For now, the $2.5
billion project is a success.
But was Curiosity really worth $2.5 billion in funding from the
federal government? Is NASA and the government-run space program
an essential aspect of America’s economy, the next frontier or the
future of humans? Or is NASA still even worth funding when other
parts of the economy are struggling and even if some NASA programs
have failed miserably in the past?
Make sure to discuss both sides of the argument in your essay.
History of NASA/Space Race
http://www.history.com/topics/space-race
http://history.nasa.gov/factsheet.htm
Curiousity
http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/to-boldly-go-curiosity-on-mars/
http://www.usnews.com/science/news/articles/2012/08/27/can-curiosity-mars-mission-inspire-like-apollo
NASA Cost and Budget
http://www.space.com/15595-nasa-budget-cuts-president-obama-veto.html
http://www.nasa.gov/news/budget/index.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0730/Curiosity-s-Mars-exploration-Is-it-worth-the-money-video
News about Curiosity and other programs
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/07/us/mars-unmanned-versus-manned-exploration/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/science/space/curiosity-rover-lands-safely-on-mars.html
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/08/failure-to-reach-mars/
http://www.economist.com/node/410285