Return on Investment

Although I rarely have time to participate in the conversations (I have what is quaintly called a “day job”), I do read most of the comments posted to this blog. A few days ago, one commenter, in an aside to the point being made, suggested that the US should stop “wasting” money on space exploration.

I disagree, because I think the evidence is overwhelming that money spent on exploration and research is invested, not wasted. And the return on that investment has been impressive, as articles from Investopedia and elsewhere have documented.

Leaving aside the benefits that cannot be monetized– satisfaction of our human urge to explore, to understand, to seek out new life and new civilizations (okay, I’m a Star Trek fan)–here are just some of the very concrete returns on America’s investment in NASA:

  • Aircraft collision-avoidance systems
  • Cordless power tools
  • Corrosion resistant coatings for bridges
  • Digital imaging
  • Ear thermometers
  • GPS (global positioning satellites)
  • Household water filters
  • Hydroponic plant-growing systems
  • Implantable pacemakers
  • Infrared handheld cameras
  • Kidney dialysis machines
  • LASIK corrective eye surgery
  • Memory foam mattresses
  • Scratch-resistant sunglasses
  • Safety grooving on pavement
  • Shoe insoles
  • Virtual reality
  • Weather forecasting
Space exploration has also expanded human knowledge and contributed to research in education, healthcare, pollution control, rain forest protection and transportation. These and many other NASA-inspired advancements have a profound effect on life on Earth by improving health, safety, comfort and convenience. Entire industries have been built on space technology, including personal computers and natural resource mapping. As one of the nation’s strongest industries and an employer of nearly one million Americans, the aeronautics industry uses NASA-developed technology on nearly all aircrafts.

These benefits have been produced by an agency with the smallest budget of any of the major agencies in the federal government. NASA’s share of total U.S. Federal outlay has consistently remained below 1%, and during the past five years, closer to 0.5%.I think we get our money’s worth. We surely get more value per dollar than we get from our extravagant defense spending.

And unlike money spent on weapons, we are enhancing rather than degrading our humanity.
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