Since the termination of the US space shuttle program in 2011, we have been living in the first era after NASA Mercury Mission - 1961, when John Glenn became the first american to orbit the planet in space - in which the USA does not have the ability to put a human in space. Russia and China are currently the only countries capable of doing so. After retiring the shuttle, the US has paid the Russians ~70 million dollars a seat to launch each astronaut into space, and this is
unlikely to change anytime soon due to lack of federal funding.


For more than a year since April 2014, tension in Russian­-American relations prompted NASA to sever most of its ties with the Russian Space Agency. This change in collaboration included no longer supporting “travel to Russia and visits by Russian government representatives to NASA facilities, bilateral meetings, email, and
teleconferences or videoconferences,” ­said Michael F O’Brien, NASA’s Associate Administrator. Notably, the two countries had continued to collaborate and support the International Space Station, since the US remained dependent on the Russian Soyuz rockets to deliver humans into orbit. As of April 5th, 2016 there were two American astronauts on the space station, alongside one Brit and three cosmonauts.

Even though the US and Russia have gradually resumed discussion on joint space exploration projects, the fact remains that US’s inability to support human spaceflight could compromise its sovereign agenda. The development of commercial space flight technology by private companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic may represent the future of the US human spaceflight enterprise. Meanwhile, NASA continues to investigate the concept and feasibility of executing manned Mars exploration by the 2030s.

The Debate

  1. Cut NASA’s funding ​to only design and maintain the landers, orbiters, and fly­by missions but not have the ability to launch anything into space. Instead, the government should encourage this to be done by private companies like Boeing and SpaceX.
  2. Boost NASA’s budget​ to 1% of the national budget and be able to not only have the ability to launch humans into space but to push the frontier of human exploration.

Some Resources:

Public opinion polls about NASABudget-related commentary

Two arguments to crush NASA’s budget to the barebones

An inspiration to double NASA’s budget

A discussion about how expensive NASA really is and what it does for us

Things that have been developed by NASA or other space agencies and how they affect you

Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Keynote Speech at the 28th National Space Symposium