“Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, ‘Because it is there.’

Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.” - JFK

Copperheads, no one can sum up the spirit of NASA and of Apollo better than JFK, who fought hard to establish the space agency and to secure humanity’s future among the stars. Check out Kennedy’s famous inspirational Moon Speech in our excellent new video on Space Advocates’s brand new Youtube channel: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G6jhUznonU

Join the THOUSANDS who have contacted Congress and tell them how much we need a Penny4NASA now (www.penny4NASA.org/take-action/). SPREAD THE WORD. DONATE TO THE CAUSE. 

I think all of us out there play the game of “What if?” Our space program is currently going through a bad case of the “what ifs.” What if NASA doesn’t get more money for the budget? What if the Russians won’t accept the contract on the table for $70 million to train and haul our astronauts back and forth to the International Space Station? The biggest “what if” has to do with the 2014 budget for NASA. What if there just isn’t enough money to keep our manned spaceflight program alive or any other NASA program for that matter?

As we look around at other nations, including China, Japan, North Korea and Iran, they are all working on their space programs and sparing no expense in doing so. Yet, the United States is not. Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, one of the most powerful Democrats in the Senate, is asking a big “what if” concerning NASA’s 2014 budget and how to sustain the U.S. space program.

In a recent interview with Aviation Week, Sen. Mikulski said, “NASA’s mission faltering or sputtering really can blow the whole program.” Why is that? The 2014 budget allows for $17.7 billion in funding and NASA is hoping desperately that Congress might cut them some slack and award them something more substantial.

Read more about NASA’s budget woes in our latest blog post: http://www.penny4nasa.org/2013/05/21/what-if-nasa-and-the-budget-woes/

The golden era of space exploration was no doubt in the 1960’s. Many people back in the 1960’s looked forward to space discoveries whereas now it’s fighting to keep its budget. Yes the funding for the space program in the 1960’s were defense-driven but we shouldn’t have to wait for a terrifying war to invest into the space program. Defense can also be interpreted in another way, the defense of our existence on Earth. To even achieve it we must have maximal understanding of Earth’s climate and ecosystem, so that we can minimize self-destruction. Carbon dioxide levels have reached 400 ppm, which is the first in human history, and NASA has taken a budget cut this year. We must start colonizing space in as many places as possible, in order to reduce the chances of our species being wiped out by a collision between Earth and an asteroid or comet. Let’s take this year by storm and progress together. Let’s take action today.

http://www.penny4nasa.org/take-action/

POLL: 76% Of Americans Support Doubling NASA’s Budget For A Mission To Mars

The American public overwhelmingly support a doubling of NASA’s budget in order to fund a mission to Mars, according to a recent survey. The poll, commissioned by Explore Mars, a nonprofit organization, and aerospace contractor Boeing, also demonstrated a high degree of enthusiasm about human exploration of Mars.

The survey found that 76 percent of Americans agree that NASA’s budget should be increased to 1 percent of the total federal budget to fund initiatives, including a mission to Mars. Currently NASA’s budget represents less than 0.5 percent of overall federal spending.

Read more about the poll’s findings in our latest blog post at
http://www.penny4nasa.org/2013/05/15/poll-americans-overwhelmingly-support-doubling-nasas-budget-mission-to-mars/

Write Congress and let them know you support doubling NASA’s budget for a mission to Mars:
http://www.penny4nasa.org/take-action/

America has a choice: Do we move backwards by standing still, or do we move forward with innovation?

If we stand still, we will be surpassed by other nations in space exploration and no longer be leaders in technological innovations. Or worse, we won’t be prepared if we get in the pathway of an asteroid or face another cosmic catastrophe. If we move forward, we can put a base on a moon, travel to Mars, send rovers to new planets. Yes, these are ambitious projects that require funding, technology, and risk. But we are a wealthy country. The technology for further exploration is possible. We have citizens willing to risk their lives for discovery. Now what we need is to make better decisions and provide NASA with more funding.
 
Let’s make the right choice and move forward. Tell Congress to double NASA’s funding.

With the new NASA budget plan released we have a set date for the heavy lift rocket in 2017. NASA is far from standing still and they have a few exciting tricks up their sleeves.

Researchers at Washington University are working on a fusion-powered spacecraft that could turn an 8 month trip to Mars into just 30 days! The spacecraft not only speeds up the trip but also costs NASA less fuel and budget to do it all. For example one small grain of sand of this material is the same as a gallon of fuel that the space shuttle would have used.

“To power a rocket, the team has devised a system in which a powerful magnetic field causes large metal rings to implode around this plasma, compressing it to a fusion state.” 

This is very exciting news for NASA as well as the space industry. For more information check out the original source here: 

http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/04/04/rocket-powered-by-nuclear-fusion-could-send-humans-to-mars/

Spend 5 minutes and make a difference by heading over and filling out the TAKE ACTION form. http://www.penny4nasa.org/take-action/

“Unlike the first ice skates or the first airplane or the first desktop computer—artifacts that make us all chuckle when we see them today—the first rocket to the Moon, the 364-foot-tall Saturn V rocket, elicits awe, even reverence.” -Neil deGrasse Tyson 

Many of us would like to think that the technologies of today are undoubtedly more advanced than those of the past. This simply isn’t true. Case and point: the Saturn V rocket. First launched in 1964 , it remains the most powerful machine ever built. In September 2011, NASA announced plans for a new heavy-lift rocket known as the Space Launch System (SLS). The SLS would be the first to rival the Saturn V rocket. 

Let Congress know that you support doubling funding for NASA:

http://www.penny4nasa.org/take-action/

Learn more here: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/

No one says it better than Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.