Eli Horner

Mrs. Weathersbee
AP Language and Composition
9 December 2014
Persuasive Speech
Good morning. The topic Im going to talk about is why we should stop cutting NASAs
funding. Now I know youre probably thinking something like this right now. Why should
people like us care about whether our government is funding NASA? I mean, why does
exploring space even matter?
Space exploration matters because of its scientific value. One of the goals of International
Space Station is to prepare humans for extended stays in space. They conduct experiments about
both people and plants to learn about what it takes to live in space. And thats just one example
of the research being conducted through space exploration. Space is also a status symbol in
the world. Only 10 countries have ever had a citizen in space, and of those, only 3 (Russia,
China, and the United States) have the capabilities to launch manned missions today. NASA
allows the United States to remain at the pinnacle of space technology and exploration, as well as
gather important and meaningful data.
Not everybody sees it this way, however. Opponents of NASA and space exploration give
many reasons why they are against it.
They claim that its too expensive.
But this is not true. Before the 2010 budget cuts, NASA had cost the United States
Government a total of $830 Billion (adjusted for inflation, in 2014 dollars) over its 52 year
existence. That may sound like a lot, but its nearly $26 Billion less than what the government
spent on Social Security payments this year alone. In 2010, $18.2 Billion was spent on NASA.
About twice as much money was spent on the Foreign Military Sales Trust Fund, which pays for
the government to sell weapons to foreign nations. That year, NASA spending accounted for a
tiny 0.52% of the nations budget. In fact, spending on NASA has not accounted for more than
two percent of the governments spending since 1969.
The opponents might respond to this by saying that even though NASA is relatively
cheap, its useless. They claim that it isnt useful to go into space, to go to the moon, or to go to
Mars. They claim that nothing beneficial has come from this exploration.
But this is not true. Hundreds of useful spinoff products have come from NASA and
their missions. These products include: LEDs, Improved Firefighter Gear, Scratch-proof Lenses,
Cordless Vacuums, Solar Panels, and Artificial Limbs. Most people use these one or more of
these spinoff products every day.
So, while space exploration is expensive, it is not nearly as expensive as many of the
other expenses that the government has. It also provides us with many useful inventions and

innovations that people use all of the time. In conclusion, NASA is a worth-while investment for
this country that, if funded, will continue to pay great dividends in the future.

References
Budget of NASA. (2014, October 12). Retrieved December 4, 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_NASA
This source provides data about the amount of money adjusted for inflation spent on NASA over
the course of the organizations existence.
Chantrill, C. (n.d.). Government spending in the US. Retrieved from
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/
This source provides data on the spending of the United States government by year and category.
Garcia, L., & Johnson, A. (2014). What we pay for. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
This source organizes publicly-available federal budget data into a format that is easier to
visualize and understand.
Jones, J. (2008). NASA technologies benefit our lives. Retrieved December 7, 2014, from
http://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2008/tech_benefits.html
This source provides a list of spin off technologies that were created from NASA research.