That's One Small Budget for NASA, One Giant Leap for Mankind

You know when I first started writing this blogpost, it was essentially all just science and no economics. And then it dawned on me, why don't I just talk about the economics of science? Perfect.

One of the best things about space exploration is that it always manages to surprise you. With the constantly improving technology being done over at NASA, us puny humans are able to journey and experience all sorts of wonderful things outside of our little terrestrial abode. One of the most well-known areas of technological advancement in our space program is the International Space Station, or the ISS.

I've always thought those solar panels looked like Kit Kats.

What's brilliant about the ISS is that the station has a long history of astronauts from a number of countries who collaborate to improve not only space exploration, but also life for humans, in general.
And honestly, what's the opportunity cost for not funding space exploration? Oh that's right, just a lot more money spent staying on Earth, probably going towards more unproductive things. The government is in charge of fiscal policy, which includes dividing up funding towards the various government institutions and many other things. NASA gets about less than 3/4 of ONE percent of the total budget to be able to research and perform experiments every year. The work these scientists do goes far beyond building rockets that sometimes fail. Do you know LED's, water filters, artificial limbs, and memory foam were all created by NASA with the help of businesses? It's not just the research the program does by itself, but also with other entities in the nation that help improve the life of people everywhere.

I don't know about you but I kinda like the things made by NASA

 NASA does its best to improve efficiency in technology that humans use everyday, while also innovating new ideas with the small, high-tech businesses. By working with these disadvantaged businesses, NASA can improve the overall health of the nation by bringing attention and aid to small businesses who in turn help to advance technology that will improve the United States's competitiveness in the global market. And it's not just research done on Earth to benefit humanity, there are all sorts of incentives and advantages to performing research in space, like zero-gravity agriculture and robotics. The research being done on the ISS ranges from technology, earth and space science, biotechnology, and the physical sciences. And even more, what's most interesting about those last two is how applicable they are right now.

Astronaut Scott Kelly recently returned from almost one whole year in space, which involved 3 space walks and work on over 400 different investigative experiments. However, what makes him unique -- or rather, what makes him actually very not-unique -- is that he has a twin brother, who is both an astronaut and former resident of the ISS.

Is it just me, or are you seeing two of the same guy?

Since these pairs of twins are, by definition, genetically identical, NASA is taking advantage of the fact they can practically use the same guy twice but under different circumstances. What I mean is, NASA is doing a very unique twin study on a pair of not-unique people to examine the subtle effects by space on after-space life.

Why is this important?  BECAUSE IT'S REALLY COOL. Well, besides that, can you imagine all of the advantages of being able to study these twins who've undergone two unique experiences in space? We can be completely confident in saying that there is a pretty definite scarcity in genetically identical twins who happen to also both be astronauts. I don't know about you, but the chance of that happening is prettttyyyyyy low. Trust me. 

By studying both Scott and Mark Kelly, NASA will have the ability to examine both humans's responses to space flight and the molecular changes that occur in a human body under zero-gravity duress. You just can't really get the chance to test these things if space travel wasn't so possible. 

So, it's a pretty big deal for NASA to be present in our lives, because NASA is indeed present in all our lives thanks to the research and technology they do to make humans better off a species. So, if the government is reading this right now, you better think twice about that fiscal year budget you're writing right now.

There's plenty more space things I could tell you myself, but why don't you refer to each of these links to find out about them yourself.