For decades, NASA has been just about the only organization that comes to mind when people think "space". A response to the rapidly improving technology of the Soviets during the Cold War, NASA has remained the most important 4 letter acronym in space travel since its inception in 1958. Since then, some of the greatest accomplishments in aerospace engineering have come courtesy of the organization, including the Space Shuttle program and, of course, landing the first human on the moon. How about reliving that historic moment one more time?
NASA has captured the imagination of people all across the world - children and adults alike. While the organization has done wonders for space exploration and will continue to be an important player as we push the boundaries of our capabilities…things need to change.
Things need to change NOT because NASA is incapable of taking us deep into the solar system. Things need to change because it is very likely that, moving forward, NASA just won't have enough to do it by themselves. Why is this the case? Well, it's mostly because they are a governmental organization that is run by an oft-dsyfunctional Congress. Here are just a few of the problems:
Decreasing Funds - NASA needs money. If we want to spend people to Jupiter and through stargates like 2001, NASA needs large sums of money. However, since they are a governmental organization and supported by the American public through taxes, their funding is directly tied to how people feel about NASA and space flight in general. Here's a gran showing NASA's budget as a percentage of the United States' federal budget since its inception:
So, it looks like people only really want to give NASA money during war time, when they can use the organization to show off to the world. Now, while that's unfortunate in and of itself, the greater tragedy is that we shouldn't expect NASA's budget to be increasing any time soon. With several problems in the United States, more and more of the public is losing sight of NASA's importance and are looking towards focusing on "real problems". Of course, when budgets need to be cut, seemingly frivolous expenditures (ie. NASA) will be the first to get looked at (but obviously, they won't touch defence spending, which makes up over 50% of the budget in most years…but I digress).
Government Bureaucracy - In addition to lacklustre (and declining) funding, NASA has to deal with Congress…and that has never made anything run smoothly. The organization does not have complete freedom to spend their budget in any manner they want. Instead, Congress decides how much of their funds they spend on each area…which would be okay if it wasn't for the scientific ignorance that plagues most of Congress. Instead of trusting the science with the NASA people, decisions are made mostly on whatever yields immediate benefits/profits. Space exploration, typically, does not fall into the immediate benefits category.
Privatization
So, what does privatization mean anyways? Basically, its this new trend in the space industry where private companies (i.e. not run by the government) are getting involved in space exploration. The he benefit here? Well, there are actually quite a few:
No Red Tape - Private companies don't have the government on their backs forcing them to spend in specific areas. Within the bounds of what is reasonable, private companies can spend their money on just about anything they want. You want to send a satellite to Pluto? NASA may not be able to convince people to get it done but a private company can start the project tomorrow.
No Restrictions on Funds - Again, within the bounds of what is reasonable, a private company can put forth whatever funds they wish for projects. Long term, short term…whatever floats their boat, really!
Competition Drives Innovation - This principle is at the root of capitalism: when you open up the space industry to possible profits and to the free market, private companies are going to be competing with each other. And that's a good thing! At the moment, the only incentive for NASA to really do well is curiosity and a thirst for knowledge - they employ amazing people who love what they do. In the private sector however, we get new, stronger incentives, like profit. While curiosity is great, there's no better way to get a bunch of rich companies to invest in new technologies and innovations than to dangle a fat cheque above their heads.
This is already happening. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, is filthy rich and he's next in a line of very wealthy people to invest in space travel. He's a business person looking to do something cool with his money and from that, he gave birth to SpaceX - a company that has already successfully launched rockets into space and has had a few deals with NASA already. Musk has already expressed his interest in getting humanity to Mars and the company also has tentative plans (at the moment) to work with Google to make internet in space.
On top of that, we may also see the a rise in asteroid mining (for rarer minerals, metals, etc.) and perhaps even space tourism…it should be very interesting to see whether companies will continue to look outwards into space for profit.
And this is absolutely NOT to say that NASA is going to die anytime soon. NASA is an incredible organization and I love them for everything they've done and will continue to do…it's just that, despite being awesome, there's no harm in giving them some help so the human race can continue to step out into the universe.
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