Let's NOT reach for the stars...

This is not a secret..

I think NASA is a bogus waste of money.

I hate it.  Do I think its worthless? Not totally....here are some great things that I will admittedly say that I enjoy that we have gotten from NASA.

1) Memory Foam Mattresses:

First of all, let me preface this with the fact that I cannot afford a memory foam mattress.  I am too busy surviving and pouring senseless amounts of money into my dying vehicle to buy memory foam....but I must say that I love it.  I've slept on a memory foam bed and that is what I dream about when I'm laying on my normal springy mattress at night.  LOVE.

2) Tang:

Classic orange flavored glass of sugar....wasn't invented by NASA...but they tested it out and made sure it was edible.  Gotta give props where props are deserved.

3) Scratch Resistant Glasses:

Clumsy people like me deserve a second chance at $400.00 eyeglasses.  Thank you NASA for that second chance.

But do I think it is an enormous and embarrassing waste of tax payer's money?  Certainly.  

NASA just announced today that they are seeking to develop a new successor to the Shuttle program that will allow missions beyond the Earth's orbit.  It basically involves this SUPER ROCKET that will allow for potential missions into deep outer space, with the hopes of something that I can't quite decipher.  Are they hoping to find life?  Are they hoping to establish our lives out there?  What are the goals of NASA aside from exploring areas of existence that I'm not even sure were meant to be explored?  

NASA has a $17 billion budget...on average.  $17 billion dollars is being spent to feed the obsessions of space nerds everywhere.  $3 billion of that budget is funded by US tax dollars. $3 billion dollars that essentially is being wasted on abstract hopes and dreams. Not that we really have $3 billion dollars to spend a year on stuff like this....but say we actually did....say we weren't in debt up to our eyeballs....couldn't that money be used better to actually keep people alive?  I can't believe that no one else is looking at that?  

I've heard the defense that NASA provides jobs and allows some of the great minds of this world a place to benefit humanity.  I'll give you something to work on.  How about finding a way to get clean water to EVERY single person on Earth.  Can you put your rocket scientist brains to work for that?  No one else seems to be able to figure it out...you guys give it a crack!

I've also heard it said that in the grand scheme of things...$3 billion isn't that much.  It's true...it is less than 1% of the total budget of the United States.  However...it has been estimated that basic levels (worldwide) of clean water and sanitation would cost approximately $9 billion per year.  That is 3 years of NASA budgeting....just three....with one year, we could contribute 1/3 of the necessary funds needed for that.  

Ridiculous.

I'm heated.  

Can you tell?

Don't try to win this battle with me...it will never work and it will make me want to launch you up in the next rocket that they will most certainly fly out of here....