Thank you NASA
February 21st, 2010
It’s time for us to say ‘Thank you’ to NASA.
President Obama is attempting to cut the NASA budget with his new budget proposals. This could gravely affect some of the programs NASA has been working on, mainly our manned missions returning to the moon and going on to Mars. We need to support NASA by contracting our congressmen and telling them that we want our tax dollars to continue to support NASA!
Now some of you are asking ‘Why do we need them?’. Some of you are wondering with the state of economy as it is, shouldn’t we be spending our tax dollars elsewhere?
In answer to these questions, we’d like you to consider what NASA has done for us, and the overall impact that they have made to our society.
Look at all the technology that our society has incorporated into our everyday lives; in our homes, offices and hospitals. I can’t possibly list the over 30,000 applications that have come from NASA that affect our lives, but here are a few items to remind you how much NASA has done for us.
In the office and home: Velcro, helmets that our kids wear keeping them safe in sports, dustbusters, smoke detectors, flat panel tv’s, self adjusting sunglasses, solar energy, energy saving a/c units, shock absorbing athletic shoes, invisible braces, Doppler radar along with more precise weather forecasting let us know when storms are approaching, radial tires vs the old studded winter tires (which tore up roads), bar codes get us through check out lines quicker, scratch resistant eyeglasses, wireless technology, cordless tools and let’s not forget about Tang!
Helping improve medical technology: Heart problems? Laser angioplasty is safer than the balloon style and programmable pacemakers. Tissue stimulaters helping those with chronic pain. ‘Cool Suits’ which are helping MS and Spina Bifida patients. Voice controlled wheelchairs making life easier to the disabled. Ultra sound scanners. Automatic insulin pumps, MRI’s. Charge coupled devices (CCD) imagining which can detect the difference between a malignant or benign tumor.
Going green? What has NASA done to help: Hydroponics and plant research, pollution measuring and controlling devices, air purification systems, Gasoline vapor recovery systems. Improved aircraft engines creating cleaner, quieter, and more economical commercial planes. Electric cars. Technology to aid in cleaning up oil spills. Air quality monitors used for smokestack emissions. Water purification systems. New fertilizer that avoids runoff pollution.
Now figure how many business’s and jobs are created from this small showing of what NASA has affected our lives. This all adds to our struggling economy. How do we put a price on the lives saved? How about the money saved out of ours and the insurance company’s pockets with better technology, shorter recovery times from less invasive procedures, and less down time from the workplace.
Now what has NASA asked from us? Less than .08% of our budget! If you figure that percentage into a typical American family’s budget….that’s less than what we pay for our cable bill each month! Now take into account what NASA is putting back into the economy! Not only from NASA, but from the secondary applications (a very small percentage which is listed above), our government receives corporate and personal income taxes.
Now is the time to say ‘Thank you’ to NASA for all that it’s done for us. Think about them every time you pick up your cell phone, pick up your kid after wiping out on their bike and was protected by their helmet, or have to go the hospital! Contacting your congressmen and tell them we need to support NASA, not cut their funding!
