NASA: A Penny For Your Thoughts

With the not-so-pending-(or-is-it?)-end-of-the-world coming up on Friday, along with the triumph that is the Mars Curiosity Rover, it’s not too far-fetched to say that the final frontier has regained a small spot in the public eye.

John Zeller would agree, and is the reason why he started the Penny4NASA campaign.  The mission is to get the US Government to allot more spending for NASA by increasing it’s funding from .48% of the budget to a full 1%.

When you break it down, they’re simply asking the Government to give NASA 1 penny of the tax dollar instead of the .48 of a penny they are already receiving.  They’re basically the kid in the convenience store asking their “Pa” for a little extra so they can get the Twix bar instead of the measly Almond Joys. Dating back to the early 1900′s, candy hasn’t averaged less than 2 cents. So really, Penny4NASA will settle for Dots.

DOTS, PEOPLE!

The Mars Curiosity Rover, The Hubble Telescope, the now-retired Shuttle Programs, all of it was paid for on nearly HALF a penny of your tax dollar. The opportunities and possibilities that NASA could do with a FULL penny get science nerds everywhere (including this one) to go supernova in their space diapers.

Zeller and Co. claim that not only will NASA be able to do cool stuff in space with a penny, but the effect of a more endowed NASA will be beneficial to the future of the country:

“…doing so will provide America with a stronger economy and new careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.”

In the big picture, NASA’s annual funding from the government is $7 Billion. The move to a penny would increase the funding to $14 Billion.

When you look at the numbers that way, most probably take a step back and figure that much money could be better used elsewhere. Which is a reasonable reaction. Until you learn that the funding for the “war” in Afghanistan is $10 Billion A MONTH.

There are also lots of other statistical comparisons to show just how little NASA gets compared to other “ventures” the government funds, but it’s much more fun to hear Niel Degrasse Tyson say them over a moving score and fantastic images:

 

By: sourcefednews