Reflection
While it may not be on the front
covers of every newspaper, the NASA budget debate is still a hot topic in
today’s politics. Over the past few years, the unveiling of NASA’s new space
project, the “Space Launch System,” which is being developed and constructed
with the hopes of carrying man to the moon, and eventually Mars, has renewed
some hope into the previously desolate government agency, but the fight is far
from over. NASA only receives a small fraction of the money received by other
government sectors, and with a budget that comes out to be only .5% of the
federal budget, the awe-inspiring new project has had trouble getting started
because of financial restrictions. If NASA is going to remain a central part of
Americas identity, as it has come to be over the years, we can no longer sit
idly by and slowly let the life drain out of the once proud agency.
When
formulating my approach to this essay I wanted to directly speak towards the
very people that have the power to do something about the budget: united states
politicians and lawmakers. I also came to realize, however, that this “issue”
is has a much larger scope than just politicians. I think in many ways, the
American public has come to be misinformed and misguided about NASA over the
years for a variety of reasons, and if NASA is going to make a run at a return
to prominence, it is the general public of America that is going to put it
there, not the few people who work in Washington or Albany. For this reason, I
tried in my essay not only to push my opinion onto others, but I also tried to
educate all readers, whoever they may be, about NASA and America’s current role
in the space frontier in general. In another way, since the focus of our class
is the broad subject of technology, I also wanted to tie all my research and
opinions back into something that anybody can relate to: the technology that
takes a part in each and every one of our lives. In addition to influencing my
readers into believing in the mindset that something needs to be done about the
current budget of NASA, I also wanted to show them that there are larger and
more important sides to evolving technology than the smartphones and tablets
that consume our lives.
Initially,
I wasn’t sure if the topic I chose was going to be a good one because I didn’t
really know how much the general public really cared about space exploration
these days, but to my surprise, the internet, and everyone I talked to, had a
ton to say on the subject. In the first activity of the unit, where we were
supposed to ask people questions about a topic, I was somewhat surprised by how
opinionated most people were on the subject. Most everyone I asked had strong
feelings either one way or the other on whether more taxpayer dollars should be
devoted to NASA, and even those who weren’t extremely knowledgeable on the
details of the argument still had reasons why they felt one way above the
other. I also found that, in general, people were more interested in the whole
topic of space and space exploration than I would have thought. Likewise, the
internet was also somewhat ablaze with opinions and useful facts on the
subject. No matter what obscure question I typed into the google search bar, there
were dozens of quality responses there to help me strengthen my argument. Even
though I didn’t directly include them into my argument, I was extremely
impressed that highly acclaimed scientists in the industry, like Bill Nye and
Neil Degrasse Tyson, have actively fought for the same principles I pushed for
in my own essay. If any more research is to be done, I think the argument could
only be strengthened by finding out exactly what a raise in budget of 10%, 20%,
etc. would mean for NASA and the quality of product they would be able to put
out.
In
regards to my original pitch, I remain in waiting for a response from
representative John Katco, who I sent my pitch to, however, this isn’t
completely unexpected. In my particular case, I think a better reflection of my
original pitch is the responses and interest I received from the people I
questioned. The fact that the questions I asked and the subject I brought up
stirred a lot of opinions in people shows that people do still have at least
some level of interest in Americas Space program. What I am pushing for isn’t
something that is going to happen overnight, and NASA will probably never
return to the level of prominence they one once had, nor should they. All I can
do is continue to shed light on the true facts behind what NASA means to America,
and who knows, maybe one day I will live to see men on planets I never thought
possible. 
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