Against Space Program Funding Essay

Opening Statement: The government uses approximately 17.6 billion dollars of the taxpayers money to fund NASA every year. We shouldn’t be funding NASA that money when our economy is the worst it’s been since the Great Depression; we need to focus and spend our money on the problems here on Earth. NASA hasn’t done anything significant in space in years. And it’s incredibly risky and dangerous going up there. Arguments: 1)Our economy is the worst it’s been since the Great Depression, why are we even considering funding NASA 17.6 billion dollars when we have big problems here?! Barack Obama, our soon to be President, agrees. We elected him so he must be doing something right with the changes he wants to make. Millions of Americans die from preventable diseases all because they don’t have healthcare, and millions more go to bed hungry at night because they can’t afford to eat. If we took that 17 billion dollars and used to help people get health insurance at least our world would be a better place. Also, global warming & issues like that are happening. If those NASA scientists used their knowledge to figure out a way to better help the earth instead of space, we’d be so much better off. 2)NASA hasn’t made any kind of discovery in recent years that’s been of any kind of use to us. Sure, finding out Pluto doesn’t really count as a planet is cool and all, but how does that help us in anyway?! It doesn’t make a difference if we know how many planets there are right now, what matters is that we use our money to help stop destroying the Earth & try to fix the damage we’ve done. It’s great that we have the technology and skills to travel into space, but it’s becoming unaffordable and we have bigger expenses on our hands. 3)Its incredibly risky and dangerous traveling to space. Remember the space shuttle Columbia tragedy? Also, the radiation on Earth and Space is very different and the radiation in space can cause damage to human cells and possibly cancer. Osteoperosis is another risk. Because of microgravity, bones become brittle and a full recovery when arriving back on Earth may not occur. Space travel can also cause temporary and sometimes permanent hearing loss. And the biggest danger while in space? The debris that is constantly orbiting earth  travels at high speeds and can be deadly if collided with. Closing Statement: Before we continue any more exploration in space, we need to focus on exploring the ways we can help the Earth. We don’t need to spend 17 billion on NASA to find out facts that aren’t of great importance, to put the astronauts and people on the launch site in danger, and when we have so much work to do on Earth. The money will be better spent on fixing the economy and making the Earth a better place.