Borgman 1

Cole Borgman

Professor White

English Composition 1

3 Apr 2019

Why NASA is an Essential American Organization

NASA is one of America’s greatest organizations, doing what was impossible, and

putting a man on the moon. With its past importance some people might believe that NASA has

outlived its usefulness. It hasn’t, in fact NASA might be more important now than it ever has

been, and they need the budget to be useful and show importance. NASA should receive more

funding from the government so that they can create a colony on Mars, invent more

technologies, and expand privatised space companies.

Some people might say that a Martian colony is something we shouldn’t be focussing on

right now, and that it's just a science fiction dream to focus on in the future. That’s incorrect

though, scientists are currently working on ways to make a Martian colony reality and their ideas

are very promising, the most realistic of these ideas is what's known as a Earth-Mars Cycler. The

cycler is a structure that would orbit around Earth and Mars instead of the sun, this vehicle could

be used as a taxi to deliver supplies and personnel to Mars every four years. The cycler would

greatly reduce the cost of each mission, “Additionally the Cycler vehicle would be reused for 14

missions avoiding the construction of 14 transfer vehicles.” (Pelle, 8). Without proper funding

NASA would not be able to create this cycler or have the manpower to create a better, more

efficient way to handle Mars colonization. A Martian colony would open a whole new form of
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space exploration, instead of basing all our missions from Earth, NASA could have some based

on Mars. There is a major benefit to Martian based space missions, NASA can get better images

of distant celestial bodies because there would be minimal atmospheric interference from the air

on Mars.

A Mars colony isn’t just for fun either, there are some more practical uses for the colony,

and that is to improve currently strained relationships between some of the nation's leading in

space exploration. The possibility of just America getting to be the first on Mars without any

help is low, the difficulty of the task would require the cooperation of all the countries leading in

the space industry, mainly China and Russia. A Mars colony could have America cooperate with

the two countries that are traditionally seen as our rivals. NASA working with Russia isn’t

unprecedented either, “...the current international collaboration on International Space Station

and using only Russian space crafts that are needed for American and non-American astronauts

from other countries that cannot provide their own space crafts.” (Szocik, 3). It is not irrational to

think that such a relationship would be impossible with a Mars colony. If NASA doesn’t have

enough funding this whole scenario would become impossible, Russia wouldn’t cooperate with

America if the cooperation just means helping NASA send people to Mars because NASA

doesn’t have enough money to come up with a way to do it themselves. Some political issues

may arise if there is no proper cooperation with Russia and China from NASA. Our lives would

possibly majorly improve with amicable relationships that our nations would have.

Even though NASA could improve our lives with the advent of a good relationship

between rival nations, our lives have already been made better thanks to the help at NASA.
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NASA invented or greatly enhanced many of the technologies we use today, including artificial

limbs, solar panels, and even tires. Current artificial limbs are created using material NASA

invented, providing more comfort, durability, and lifelike aesthetic. Solar panels were not

invented by NASA but their current viability as a home energy source is thanks to NASA

increasing their efficiency by 50%. In the 1970’s, “Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

developed a fibrous material, five times stronger than steel…” (NASA). Goodyear was

commissioned by NASA to create this rubber and later went on to put this material to use in their

tires. Without NASA spurring along technical innovation our lives would be much harder. If we

want our lives to continue to get easier then NASA will need enough money to try ideas that

might not work in space. If the heads of NASA are constantly worrying about funding then they

will only focus on projects that they know would work, they wouldn’t take any risks and have

new technological advancements that would be bad for space but good for Earth.

Private space companies are a big part of the economy and without NASA they would

have a hard time expanding any further. NASA has a relationship with private companies where

if a company reaches a milestone or does something new then NASA will give them a substantial

sum of money for it, and the companies have the full knowledge, and its personnel of NASA to

reference and ask for help if needed. This relationship can best be seen with Elon Musk’s

company, SpaceX, “SpaceX was able to build their Falcon 9 launch vehicle for one-third of what

NASA would have spent.” (Anderson 3). This model of cooperation breeds competition with

other companies and lets the companies focus on what they feel is most important. However, if

NASA’s budget is too small then they wouldn’t be able to afford to pay these companies for their
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achievements. Not to mention they wouldn’t have nearly as much time or people to help the

companies solve any issues that might arise in the development process. Without these benefits

the incentive for private companies to even be in the industry is not really there. Without an

incentive the companies wouldn’t work as hard or even exist.

Some people may wonder why it is even important to have private space companies, and

the answer to that is simple. These companies stimulate the American economy and provide a

similar technological function of NASA. That being that if they create a technology that might

work in space but has good practical applications here on Earth then it would be mass produced

for the everyday person. Technological breakthroughs will happen more often with these private

companies, and without proper funding for NASA they would not exist in their current form.

Mars colonization, technological innovation, and stimulation of the economy are all very

important things that NASA does for the country, and without proper funding from the

government none of that could happen. NASA is a necessary part of what makes America so

great and without it we would be worse off. We need an organization that constantly pushes

boundaries and creates a way to do what was previously thought impossible.