NASA

The best-known NASA field installations are the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center near Houston, Tex., where flights are coordinated, and the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., where all space shuttle launches take place. Other facilities include the Dryden, Glenn, Goddard, and Stennis centers and NASA headquarters, in Washington, D.C. Operationally, NASA is headed by a civilian appointed by the president and has four divisions: the offices of Space Flight, Space Science Programs, Aeronautics Exploration and Technology, and Tracking and Data Acquisition. Despite some highly publicized failures, NASA has in many cases successfully completed its missions within their projected budgets; the total cost of the Apollo project, for example, wound up very close to the original $20-billion estimate. Currently, NASA oversees all space science projects, operates the space shuttle, and launches approximately half of all military space missions.

The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. apollo-1ended tragically when all the astronauts inside died due to fire in the command module during an experimental simulation. Because of this incident, there were a few unmanned tests before men boarded the spacecraft. apollo-8and apollo-10tested various components while orbiting the Moon, and returned photographs. On July 20, 1969, apollo-11, landed the first men on the moon, neil-armstrongand buzz-aldrin. apollo-13did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but did return photographs. The six missions that landed on the Moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments included soil-mechanics, meteoroid, seismology, heat-transfer-1, lunar ranging, magnetic-field, and solar wind experiments

NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth surveys of marsand saturnand studies of the earthand the sun. Other NASA spacecraft are presently en route to mercury-in-roman-religion-planet-nearest-to-the-sunand pluto. With missions to jupiterin planning stages, NASA's itinerary covers over half the solar system.

Managed by the NASA's jet-propulsion-laboratory(JPL) in Pasadena, California, the phoenix-spacecraftmission was launched on August 4, 2008. It will search for possible underground water courses in the northern Martian pole. This lander revives much of its experiments and instrumentation from the failed 1999 mars-polar-lander, hence its name. An improved and larger rover-space-exploration, mars-science-laboratory, is under construction and slated to launch in 2009. On the horizon of NASA's plans are two possibilities under consideration for the Mars Scout 2013 mission.

The best-known NASA field installations are the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center near Houston, Tex., where flights are coordinated, and the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., where all space shuttle launches take place. Other facilities include the Dryden, Glenn, Goddard, and Stennis centers and NASA headquarters, in Washington, D.C. Operationally, NASA is headed by a civilian appointed by the president and has four divisions: the offices of Space Flight, Space Science Programs, Aeronautics Exploration and Technology, and Tracking and Data Acquisition. Despite some highly publicized failures, NASA has in many cases successfully completed its missions within their projected budgets; the total cost of the Apollo project, for example, wound up very close to the original $20-billion estimate. Currently, NASA oversees all space science projects, operates the space shuttle, and launches approximately half of all military space missions.

The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. apollo-1ended tragically when all the astronauts inside died due to fire in the command module during an experimental simulation. Because of this incident, there were a few unmanned tests before men boarded the spacecraft. apollo-8and apollo-10tested various components while orbiting the Moon, and returned photographs. On July 20, 1969, apollo-11, landed the first men on the moon, neil-armstrongand buzz-aldrin. apollo-13did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but did return photographs. The six missions that landed on the Moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments included soil-mechanics, meteoroid, seismology, heat-transfer-1, lunar ranging, magnetic-field, and solar wind experiments

NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth surveys of marsand saturnand studies of the earthand the sun. Other NASA spacecraft are presently en route to mercury-in-roman-religion-planet-nearest-to-the-sunand pluto. With missions to jupiterin planning stages, NASA's itinerary covers over half the solar system.

Managed by the NASA's jet-propulsion-laboratory(JPL) in Pasadena, California, the phoenix-spacecraftmission was launched on August 4, 2008. It will search for possible underground water courses in the northern Martian pole. This lander revives much of its experiments and instrumentation from the failed 1999 mars-polar-lander, hence its name. An improved and larger rover-space-exploration, mars-science-laboratory, is under construction and slated to launch in 2009. On the horizon of NASA's plans are two possibilities under consideration for the Mars Scout 2013 mission.

The best-known NASA field installations are the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center near Houston, Tex., where flights are coordinated, and the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., where all space shuttle launches take place. Other facilities include the Dryden, Glenn, Goddard, and Stennis centers and NASA headquarters, in Washington, D.C. Operationally, NASA is headed by a civilian appointed by the president and has four divisions: the offices of Space Flight, Space Science Programs, Aeronautics Exploration and Technology, and Tracking and Data Acquisition. Despite some highly publicized failures, NASA has in many cases successfully completed its missions within their projected budgets; the total cost of the Apollo project, for example, wound up very close to the original $20-billion estimate. Currently, NASA oversees all space science projects, operates the space shuttle, and launches approximately half of all military space missions.

The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. apollo-1ended tragically when all the astronauts inside died due to fire in the command module during an experimental simulation. Because of this incident, there were a few unmanned tests before men boarded the spacecraft. apollo-8and apollo-10tested various components while orbiting the Moon, and returned photographs. On July 20, 1969, apollo-11, landed the first men on the moon, neil-armstrongand buzz-aldrin. apollo-13did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but did return photographs. The six missions that landed on the Moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments included soil-mechanics, meteoroid, seismology, heat-transfer-1, lunar ranging, magnetic-field, and solar wind experiments

NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth surveys of marsand saturnand studies of the earthand the sun. Other NASA spacecraft are presently en route to mercury-in-roman-religion-planet-nearest-to-the-sunand pluto. With missions to jupiterin planning stages, NASA's itinerary covers over half the solar system.

Managed by the NASA's jet-propulsion-laboratory(JPL) in Pasadena, California, the phoenix-spacecraftmission was launched on August 4, 2008. It will search for possible underground water courses in the northern Martian pole. This lander revives much of its experiments and instrumentation from the failed 1999 mars-polar-lander, hence its name. An improved and larger rover-space-exploration, mars-science-laboratory, is under construction and slated to launch in 2009. On the horizon of NASA's plans are two possibilities under consideration for the Mars Scout 2013 mission.

The future of space exploration holds a promise of an amazing future for the human species. Complex question, complex answer. This answer is addressing the questions of government expenditure on civilian space programs. First, it is a good idea to identify what "waste" means. In this case, it can be identified as the differences in benefit attained by putting the monies elsewhere.

It is also important how you define "benefit", whether you are defining it solely in terms of GDP, quality of life, and so on. You can always construct an argument that space is a waste of money if your sole definition of benefit is social welfare, for example. Likewise, government space exploration produces a lot of scientific knowledge, most of which has no immediate commercial application. Therefore, GDP may not be the best metric to use if you are concerned with efficacy of the spending of R&D funds, as opposed to spending the money on semiconductor research or biotech.

Last, there is the concept of diminishing returns. Like any production system, increasing spending an extra billion on space exploration will do less than the previous billion spent. The question then becomes, at what point does spending another billion on social welfare, or paying down national debt, or lowering taxes yield more benefit than the equivalent money being spent on a space program?

There is no cut and dried answer, but it should be obvious from the above that -some- amount of spending on a space program is optimal, and it would be fallacious to say that space exploration in general is a waste. The hard part is determining just how much spending on space is worthwhile. It is not a waste of money. It helps in the future but also loses money at the same time. It will be always be a helpful thing later on. We do lose tons of money and gain some at the same time but it is worth it. NASA had a budget of $16.2 billion with human spaceflight division but also other engineering projects and science funds by NASA.

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Additional Answer:

It's only a waste when the funds are abused by coruption or incompatance. Otherwise space Exploration is an investment.

An urgent investment.

But not necessarily for the conventional wisdom reasons, which include

researching new materials and technology, and of course mankind's ferocious curiosity and appetite for knowledge.

Unfortunately our technology is advancing faster then human maturity as a race. Our technology will soon be greater then we are mentally capable to properly steward. This enormous responsibility is already out of control. Much like giving a loaded bazooka to a baby. It has been estimated that within a few decades, even the regular Joe or Jane on the street with have technology enough to destroy the planet as an individual. Lets hope he or she doesn't wake up one morning mad at the world with a hangover or severe PMS.

We need space exploration to colonize off earth, in order to save our race.

Why save the race anyway one might ask? Please consider music, art and love.

Consider literature and history, and the young brilliant loving children yet to

be born. Was it, and will it will all have been a great big waste?

The FY2010 NASA budget is $18.7 billion. How much of that is devoted to "space exploration" is a matter of debate (approximately $5-$7 billion), since NASA's funding is divided into aeronautics, operations, science and cross-agency support.

(see the related NASA link)

Other agencies also spend money on space, notably the National Reconnaissance Office, Department of Defense, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, and the US Geologic Survey, but that money comes out of their own budgets.

The total worldwide cost is roughly equal to $35 billion dollars, which includes advanced programs in Europe, Russia, China, India, and Japan. This does not include satellites (many commercial) that provide services from orbit.

NASA's budget for Fiscal Year 2010 equates to a little over one-half of one percent (0.53%) of the total U.S. federal budget of $3.1 Trillion. In comparison, at the height of the Apollo moon landing program in the mid-1960s, nearly four percent (4%) of the total U.S. federal budget went into that endeavor. Even if NASA's budget were to be doubled overnight to $37 billion dollars, it would only amount to 1.2% of today's federal budget.

$18.7 billion for NASA works out to about $60 dollars a year which breaks down to $5.00 a month, or $1.25 a week, or $0.18 cents a day out of the $4,000 to $8,000 in taxes the average American pays every April 15th. That's less than what someone would spend for a Cheeseburger or a Double Mocha Latte at your neighborhood coffee shop.

For those who question the size of NASA's operating budget, in 2009 the US budget is split as follows:

National Debt Payment: $10.2 trillion (580 times larger than NASA's budget)
Department of Defense: $515.4 billion (29.3 times larger than NASA's budget)
Global War on Terrorism: $189.3 billion (10.8 times larger than NASA's budget)
Health & Human Services: $68.5 billion (3.9 times larger than NASA's budget)
Department of Transportation: $63.4 billion (3.6 times larger than NASA's budget)
Department of Education: $59.2 billion (3.4 times larger than NASA's budget)
Department of Housing & Urban Development: $38.5 billion (2.2 times larger than NASA's budget)
Department of Energy: $25.0 billion (1.4 times larger than NASA's budget)

If the above numbers are unsettling, consider the following: in 2009, the U.S. Congress passed a "stimulus" package of $787 billion for the Banking, Mortgage and Automobile industries for one year. That same amount of money could operate NASA for the next 42 years.

According to a November 2003 report by Barna Research Group and the Baptist Press, Americans are spending -- in ONE year -- an average of:

$586.5 billion on gambling;
$80 billion on illegal drugs;
$58 billion on alcohol consumption;
$31 billion on tobacco products, and;
$250 billion on the medical treatment for the above related issues

Additionally, during 2003, Americans also collectively spent:

$224 billion to eat out;
$191 billion on personal water craft;
$67 billion on frozen dinners;
$25 billion on gardening;
$22.1 billion on hunting;
$21.3 billion on extravagant pet products, and;
$15 billion on junk food snacks

All things relative -- even in the financial meltdown and economic retrenching of 2008-2009 -- the cost for space exploration in the United States is neither a significant tap on social programs, nor a drain on the overall $3.1 Trillion Federal Budget or $14 Trillion U.S. economy.

Nevertheless, trying to estimate the economic value of the space program to the U.S. is surprisingly easy. A 1971 NASA study by the Midwest Research Institute concluded:

"The 25 billion in 1958 dollars spent on civilian space R & D during the 1958-1969 period has returned $52 billion through 1971 and will continue to produce pay-off through 1987, at which time the total pay off will have been $181 billion. The discounted rate of return for this investment will have been 33 percent."

This statement is plausible since those were the years when NASA's spending on the Apollo program was at its height, but NASA also invested in other programs and they are included in the mix, so the conclusion is not as definitive as one would like.

Also, a 33 percent return on investment is not really big enough to make the normal venture capitalist go wild -- but for a government program, however, a 33% ROI is quite respectable.

A short article in the prestigious British science journal, "Nature" (January 9, 1992, pgs. 105-106), reported:

"The economic benefits of NASA's programs are greater than generally realized. The main beneficiaries (the American public) may not even realize the source of their good fortune..."

Some other statistics:

Confirmation that "Space pays" may also be found in the 1989 Chapman Research report, which examined just 259 non-space applications of NASA technology during an eight year period from 1976-1984 and found more than:

- $21.6 billion in sales and benefits;
- 352,000 (mostly skilled) jobs created or saved;
- $355 million in federal corporate income taxes

Other benefits, not quantified in the study, include state corporate income taxes, individual personal income taxes (federal and state) paid by those 352,000 workers, and incalculable benefits resulting from lives saved and improved quality of life.

These 259 applications represent only 1% of an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 space program spinoffs. These benefits were in addition to benefits in the space industry itself and in addition to the ordinary multiplier effects of any government spending.

In 2002, the aerospace industry contributed more than $95 billion to U.S. economic activity, which included $23.5 billion in employee earnings, and employed 576,000 people -- a 16% increase in jobs from three years earlier (source: FAA, March 2004).

Our nation can afford whatever it values enough to pay for. All rose-colored glasses wishing aside, social welfare and other desirable programs have to win congressional support on their own merits; they will not necessarily be given NASA's $18.7 billion budget for FY2010 if the agency was completely terminated tomorrow.

For one final comparison, one can look to a report on NBC Nightly News (Saturday, Nov. 24, 2006). Americans collectively spent $8.9 billion in ONE day during the post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping event known as "Black Friday".

That's half of what NASA's budget is . . . for an entire year.

$457.4 billion in retail sales were rung up by shoppers during the 2006 holiday season, buying 42-inch plasma/LCD HDTVs, Sony PS3s, Nitendo Wii's and other extraneous items -- supposedly all in the name of "Brotherhood and Peace on Earth." Another $25 billion in gift cards were also sold in that holiday season alone.

Despite an economy struggling to emerge from a recession, according to a recent report in the Baltimore Sun newspaper, Americans are still projected to spend about $6.9 billion for Halloween in 2009. Nevertheless, critics will still insist on saying "we should stop spending on space exploration" because "it's a total waste of finances or resources," or "we can't afford it," or that we're "wasting our money."

The real value of space exploration to our nation's economy will be a subject of debate among experts for many years to come. Like the Apollo program, its impact will be hard to measure, but will be evident in the new industries that will spring up around it.

The politics of a technological project with a clear goal and self-evident success or failure are much simpler to deal with than any plan to conquer poverty, rebuild the cities, or clean up the environment.

Supporters of space exploration have long known intuitively that the investments America has made in space technology have helped maintain the country as the world's number one technological superpower.

The infinitely complex nature of economic decision-making in a free market system may mean that no one will ever be able to show a direct cause and effect relationship -- but that does not mean that it is not there.

Military service is a requirement for the Astronaut Corps if you want to be a pilot or mission commander. Most are chosen from the ranks of the Navy and Air Force, and typically have been prior test pilots. They also generally have degrees in Aeronautics or Astrophysics, or other science degrees.

For other NASA jobs, a 4yr degree is required, regardless of military service, and typically they look for those with degrees in areas relevant to space exploration and technology.

For example:

• Aeronautical Engineering
• Astrophysics
• Thermal Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Electronics Engineering
• Materials Engineering
• Planetary Sciences
• Bio-sciences
• Metallurgical Sciences
• Chemical Engineering
• Laser & Optical Technology

Many NASA employees also have prior experience working in their respective fields before joining NASA. While not a requirement, NASA is picky about employing those who have already proven themselves capable working for contractors that have contracted for NASA missions.

The Saturn V contains 5 rocket engines, each of which had a diameter of 33 feet (if I recall Apollo 13 correctly). So at it's widest point, the rocket would have to be over 100 feet in diameter, creating 7.5 million pounds of thrust--enough to put the spacecraft into orbit along with the next set of engines which would push it off to the moon.

If you mean rockets used in wars, then the rocket that would have been a precursor to the Saturn 5 would be the Nazi Vengence rockets, specifically the V2 and the not widely used V3 which I don't think actually got used before they were rendered useless due to the war ending. The V2 had the capability of reaching near space, well out of reach of fighter planes of the time which had the job of trying to shoot them down before they got too high.

There have been six shuttles, the first being the Space Shuttle Enterprise (OV-1). Although the Enterprise was never intended for use in for orbital missions, its primary use was as a test vehicle for in-atmosphere flight tests of the 747 aircraft "taxi" system that moved the shuttle from Edwards AFB or other alternate landing sites to Kennedy Space Center in those cases where the shuttle couldn't land at KSC. It was also used to test the shuttle's glide and landing capability.

The original 4 space-capable orbiters are:

• OV-099 - Challenger (originally STA-099)
• OV-102 - Columbia
• OV-103 - Discovery
• OV-104 - Atlantis

Shuttle Endeavour (OV-105) was built to replace Challenger.

The easiest way to get pictures of each shuttle is from the main NASA or Kennedy Space Center websites at the links below. Each shuttle is listed by mission, and each mission has a complete record of low and hi-resolution pictures available for download by the public.